Will Losing Weight After a Tummy Tuck Lead to Flabby Skin?

Dear worrier,

    Well, I will try to make you feel better after the negative answers that you recieved in regard to weight loss after tummy tuck. My experience in over 1000 tummy tucks, is that the overwhelming  majority of the patients are doing fine after significant weight loss from tummy tuck.  The only ones who might have skin redundency after surgery are those with massive weight loss, like after bypass surgery, because their skin elasticity is impaired. As long as your  surgeon is an experienced board certified plastic surgeon and he tightens your muscles and skin adequately  , you should not have a flabby skin after surgery. I would also strongly recommend to you the book 'Sugar busters'. If you will follow the book recommendation and change your eating habbits, there is a very good chance that you will lose a lot of weight.

             Best of luck,

                                       Dr Widder

Great question! Losing an additional 30 pounds after a tummy tuck will most likely improve your appearance even more.  It is unlikely that you will need the surgery done all over again because of looseness of skin.  Even more importantly, make  sure you don't gain weight after the surgery which is a much more common problem we see.  Good luck! I'm sure your surgery will go great.

Thank you for your question.

In general, it is in every patient's best interest to achieve a stable weight  (where they plan to be long-term, without  significant fluctuation)  before undergoing elective plastic surgical procedures. This stable weight will minimize the chances that post operative weight changes will compromise the end results (one way or another); therefore minimizing the chances that further surgery will be necessary (at least for weight gain/loss reasons).

If you do proceed with surgery and then lose 30 pounds, you may have skin laxity that may require revisionary surgery.

I would suggest that you discuss this with your surgeon so that he/she can help you make a good decision.