Renuvion vs Tummy Tuck - which procedure is best for me? (photos)

Question

Hello, I am 42 with 4 kids and 5'7" about 118lbs...I have loose skin and am pretty physically active. I just don't know which procedure is best! Help - lipo with renuvion vs a full tummy tuck.

George Marosan, MD · Answer

Thank you for your photos and question. Renuvion is NOT interchangeable with a tummy tuck. A tummy tuck addresses the muscle and skin laxity vs Renuvion for skin laxity only. To get an athletic, flat abdomen and an hourglass figure, you would do best with VASER Hi Def Lipo 360 degrees and a tummy tuck with a low pubic bone level incision. This is a 3D transformation of your torso vs a standard tummy tuck which is a 2D operation.
See a board certified plastic surgeon experienced in advanced body sculpting techniques for an in person consultation/evaluation. See attached web reference. Good luck.

Daniel Barrett, MD · Answer

Dear Dawncm,
based on your photos, you look like a good candidate for a TT. Full tummy tuck should tighten your abdominal muscles and remove the excess skin. Flanks liposuction would give you a better shape. I would suggest you to consult a board-certified plastic surgeon because only after a thorough examination you will get more information and recommendations.
Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Connie Hiers, MD, FACS · Answer

Liposuction with Renuvion could give good results, but you would get your tightest abdomen with a tummy tuck. If you chose the first choice, EMSculpt could later be done to help tighten your abdominal wall.

Andrew Kornstein, MD, FACS · Answer

Your abdomen looks great after having had four children. 
Your skin excess seems to be minimal when standing but is "probably" worse when flexed or seated.
The four children have stretched your abdominal muscles(in the lower belly) elevating the position of your belly button. 
What I offer my patients is J Plasma/Renuvion to tighten the abdominal skin along with a small(C-section incision for muscle tightening from rib to pubis); in this way your skin and muscles are reconstructed with only a small well concealed incision.
Hope this helps

Shawna R. Kleban, MD · Answer

Renuvion (formerly J plasma) tightens the skin using helium plasma and radiofrequency. The advantages to Renuvion are: smaller incisions and less downtime. Renuvion cannot treat underlying rectus diastasis (muscle separation common after pregnancy) which is treated with a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty). I recommend speaking to a board-certified or board-eligible plastic surgeon about your options and individual priorities to come up with the best treatment plan.

Drew Varano, MD · Answer

A tummy tuck will give you a full correction as it will address the diastasis (muscle separation) whereas Renuvion will not .  Both procedures will address skin laxity , with the tummy tuck excising the skin and Renuvion causing skin contraction. Your skin is in good condition for having multiple Pregnancy's and no visible stretch marks /loss of elasticity . A tummy tuck will not address the flanks /sides as well as Renuvion can if treated . Recovery rates are different for each but the bottom line is you have to decide what is best treatment to fit your expectations or goals.

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

My personal first-hand experience with Renuvion  was that it delivered nothing more than increased surgical and post surgical pain.  I literally did not see any skin tightening both by subjective and objective measures on any patients using this device while I owned it.

In my opinion it doesn’t work and device fails to deliver what the company claims.

There been devices in the past making radical claims of skin tightening. One of the more infamous one and being “smart Lipo”(trademarked by the laser company Cynosure).  This “revolutionary” new technology was supposed to be the answer for all patients with mild to moderate skin laxity but in the end the device failed to deliver and you can now buy these hundred thousand dollar machines for less than $1000 on eBay because they simply don’t work.

I predict the Renuvion  device will fall the same fate as the cynosure smart Lipo lasers.

The device may retain its value because it is an electrocautery  unit which can be used for general surgery and it still has its original application used to treat endometriosis which is what it was developed for.

If you want a tight flat abdomen you should get a tummy tuck.  if you want to reduce your subcutaneous fat then get liposuction.

My personal belief is that J plasma by Renuvion will leave you disappointed other than what the Liposuction can deliver for you.

Liposuction results vary immensely among different providers. If you opt for Liposuction I suggest interviewing lots of providers and confirming that they have the skill and experience to deliver quality results.

Do that by asking each provider to show all of their abdominal liposuction before and after pictures. An experienced provider should have no difficulty showing you 50 or more sets of abdominal Liposuction before and after pictures.  highly experienced surgeons will have hundreds or even thousands.  you should also ask the provider to show your results that turned out less than what they had hoped for and discuss the outcomes of why the results look the way they do.

An experienced honest and confident provider will have the before and after pictures and will be comfortable talking about undesirable outcomes which is part of the learning curve in mastering body contouring.

Some providers are inherently more talented than others and some had better experiences during their training.

In the end to master body contouring requires experience and there’s no substitute for it.

An experienced provider can accurately assess each and every patient.  They will know in advance exactly what the results will look like and can convey that by showing previous patients before and after pictures with similar body contours.  I would also read all the reviews on various physician review websites and avoid providers with any significant number of justified negative reviews.

Truly great plastic surgeons are able to get through a career without upsetting patients enough to go out and slander them on the Internet.

An excess of reviews typically means the provider it’s trying to drive and aggressive marketing campaign to grow their business.

In my opinion the absence of justified negative reviews is far more important and far more telling than the presence of an abundance of positive reviews.

In the end most patients are well served by scheduling multiple in person consultations and comparing notes to find the best provider.

These procedures are permanent and irreversible. It behooves everyone to take the vetting process seriously and put in their due diligence to find the best provider to minimize the chance of an unhappy outcome.

These are just my opinions and I’m sure that others will differ especially those who recently spent  $100,000 buying the renuvion.

Best,

Mats Hagstrom MD

Renuvion vs Tummy Tuck - which procedure is best for me? (photos)

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