Full or Mini Tummy Tuck? Scar Tissue Involved (photos)

Dear Mommy5100,Thank you for your for your questions. In my opinion, a revision liposuctions of the whole abdomen will give you a nicer and smoother abs. I am saying this because From the picture there are still significant amount of fat left. If do it correctly may be you don’t need a tummy tuck after all

Thank you for the question. Based on your photos, you are a candidate for a full tummy and liposuction. I wish you the best of luck. Vasileios Vasilakis, MD. Double board-certified, fellowship-trained plastic surgeon, Houston. TX.

From your limited photographs, it appears you do not have much vertical excess. If a tummy tuck is done then the incision around the old umbilicus will end up close to the vertical scar below the new umbilicus. I do not believe a mini lift will be sufficient enough to remove all your excess skin. You will need a full tummy tuck and may need liposuction of the flanks to make things better.

Best Wishes,

Gary Horndeski, M.D.

Most plastic surgeons are stuck in a old school mindset that you have to 'get the hole out', leading to high tummy tuck scars or worse, surgeons telling women that they aren't candidates for a full tummy tuck. A mini tuck would be insufficient.

Dear mommy5100,
it is hard to tell for sure without an examination. If you are considering surgery, I would suggest you consult a board-certified plastic surgeon. 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

Thank you for your question and series of photographs.  Nothing replaces an in-person examination, but I think you would most benefit from a full tummy tuck and liposuction of your waist and flanks.  The tummy tuck will tighten your stomach muscles, helping to achieve a flatter appearance, while removing excess skin and adipose tissue.  Liposuction can be used to enhance your tummy tuck results by narrowing your waist and removing isolated areas of diet and exercise resistant fat.  I would favor the full approach because it appears that your skin laxity is present above and below your belly button. Hope that this helps

From your photos it appears you would get the best result from a standard tummy tuck. The mini may not address enough of the loose skin. You can also consider liposuction to the flanks for further contouring of the area.

Hi and welcome to our forum!From your photos, I note the skin and soft tissue irregularity of the supraumbilical area. There is minimal-moderate fullness of the abdomen. There are minimal stretch marks present. There is no significantly lax skin. There is no abdominal apron.A mini-tummy tuck undermines the skin and soft tissue of the abdomen only up to the level of the belly button. It will not significantly tighten the upper abdomen. A full tummy tuck with a vertical midline infraumbilical scar may tighten the supraumbilical skin and soft tissue to a degree but will not totally correct the skin surface irregularities. Removal of scar tissue often leads to development of new scar tissue. The primary purpose of a tummy tuck is to tighten the abdominal wall and remove excess lax skin and soft tissue. Modification of the procedure to use for other purposes may only provide moderate improvement and risk additional scarring.Best wishes...