What is the best option for my stomach: Thermage, Tummy Tuck or Fraxel?

Tempting to try thermage or fraxel,  but they won't do anything for your abdomen.  A tummy tuck will give you a flat abdomen but as you know, it  is an operation requiring a pretty long scar.

It is great that you are in such good shape after 2 pregnancies. While I completely understand the desire to avoid surgery, the alternate procedures you mentioned will not remove stretch marks and tend to be quite costly. I can't be sure without examining you, but from your photo, it is possible that you have separation of your abdominal wall muscles called rectus diastasis. This muscle separation is fixed only with tummy tuck surgery, and would be another reason that tummy tuck may be your best option. See a surgeon certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and learn about your options.

Forget about Thermage and Fraxel.  Modified fitness type procedure best if you want to see and feel a difference, provided pregnancy is not in your future.

Hi, Lululi.  Yours is a very common scenario and request that I see.  After two pregnancies, there is stretching of your abdominal wall which results in lower tummy bulging, loose skin, and stretch marks.  Even in thin and fit women, there is no great non-invasive techniques to treat these problems.  I don't think Thermage will give you any appreciable long term results that truly fix these problems.  A tummy tuck will solve a couple of these problems by flattening your tummy, tightening the skin, and removing the stretch marks below your belly button.  Some of the stretch marks above your belly button will not be removed, but will be shifted down towards your bikini line.  The downsides of tummy tuck are the scar -- but will be below your bikini line so you'll still be able to wear a two piece and conceal the scar -- and the down time for recovery.  Because you don't have much extra skin, the skin around the belly button would be sutured together as a short vertical line that would be positioned along the midline of your body just above the lower incision.  An in person consultation is the best way to show you what you can reasonably expect, and if interested, I can put you in touch with several of my patients that presented with similar body types and underwent tummy tuck surgery.

   There may not be a great option aside from tummy tuck.  You may not be a candidate for tummy tuck.  I would go for consultation and get examined to determine what may be best for you.Kenneth Hughes, MDLos Angeles, CA

When I look at your photos you can see that you are in amazing shape and do not need to do surgery such as an abdominoplasty.  The best way to reduce the stretch marks is with eMatrix.  It will take several treatments to help this area and take around six months to see a difference.  Thermage will tighten the skin around it as well and produce new collagen and you are the perfect candidate for this procedure.  Best, Dr. Green

There
are no realistic comparable alternatives to a tummy tuck. Patients with minimal
laxity of skin may, however, get a mild benefit from skin tightening procedures
like Exilis, a radiofrequency technology that is non-invasive. It may require
more than 1 treatment session and you need to be very realistic about your
expectations. Non-invasive treatments like Fraxel or Thermage will not tighten significant laxity,
remove stretch marks, or repair separated abdominal wall muscular that can
result from pregnancy.

Keep in mind that following the advice from a surgeon on this or any other
website who proposes to tell you what to do based on two dimensional photos
without examining you, physically feeling the tissue, assessing your desired
outcome, taking a full medical history, and discussing the pros and cons of
each operative procedure would not be in your best interest. I would suggest
you find a plastic surgeon certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery
and ideally a member of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery
(ASAPS) that you trust and are comfortable with. You should discuss your
concerns with that surgeon in person.

Robert Singer, MD FACS

La Jolla, California

Thank you for your question and photo though an examination is really needed.  That said an abdominoplasty willprobably end up being your best optionDr Corbin

It looks like you would be an excellent candidate for a TT. I also do Thermage/Fraxcel but they can only tighten somewhat and less than would significantly help you! There are several variations that I use on my TT which should hopefully give you what you want!

I can appreciate your desire to avoid surgery and the attendant scars, but anything else would be a total waste of your money. There is no nonsurgical way to repair the damaged skin.