Would a mini tummy tuck remove my stretch marks with where they are located? (Photos)

Hi. A mini tummy tuck will not remove all of your stretch marks. It would remove approximately the lower half of skin between your belly button and pubic area. In order to remove all of your stretch marks, you would need a full tummy tuck. This would require a scar around your belly button. Talk to an experienced plastic surgeon in-person so you can get a better idea of what to expect with each scenario. Best of luck!

The short answer is no. Your stretch marks involve almost the entire lower abdomen. It would not be possible to remove all or most of them without altering your belly button.

Striae, also known as stretch marks, are tears in the skin that goes through the dermis, but leave the epidermis intact. The analogy I use is imagine that your baby was playing with a knife and made a little cut in the deeper layers of the skin, but left the superficial skin intact. Based on your pictures, it appears that most of your stretch marks are localized to the lower abdomen. The degree to which you can remove stretch marks is dependent on their location and the amount of laxity of the entire abdominal wall. Without the benefit of being able to examine you, I would say that the vast majority, greater than 75% should be able to be removed with a well-planned tummy tuck.

A mini-tummy tuck will remove half of the stretch marks below the umbilicus. The only way to remove the stretch marks would be in the form of skin excision with umbilical transposition so the entire swath of skin below the umbilicus would be removed. This would be a long run for a short slide though. Having said that, it can be considered with an exam with a plastic surgeon with experience in this area. Thank you.

Dear CatElls,
it is hard to tell for sure without an examination. Based on your photos, it looks like mini tummy tuck wouldn't completely remove stretch marks. 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, MDCertified, American Board of Plastic SurgeryMember, American Society of Plastic SurgeryMember, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Fractional laser is an amazing and highly effective treatment in our office. We use the laser treatment to help with acne scars, large pores, fine wrinkles, tissue collagen loss, scars, sebaceous hyperplasia, active acne, and for brightening dark pigmentation. Although there are very strong fractional lasers such as CO2 laser, we use lighter treatments for corrective skincare and maintenance of results. Our Thulium fractional laser, clear and brilliant laser, and Ultra Thulium laser are excellent options in our clinic. We also perform CO2 fractional and erbium depending on skin tone and tolerance for downtime. Patients do have to use a Melarase cream before and after treatment to help further reduce pigmentation after laser. Melarase AM, Melarase PM, and Melapads can seriously improve surface sun damage and UV related pigmentation. Dark spots can improve with these treatments. I recommend fractional laser for incisional scars as well, especially after plastic surgery.
Best,
Dr. Karamanoukian
Realself100 Surgeon

Hi - thanks for the question. Your stretch marks are almost at the level of the belly button (umbilicus), so they would not be completely removed using a mini tummy tuck approach (because in order to completely remove them without re-positioning your umbilicus, the umbilicus would be too low). Therefore, if pursuing a surgical approach where the aim is to remove the stretch marks, you would be best served with a full abdominoplasty.

A mini tummy tuck will remove a portion of your stretch marks. However based on your photos you are a better candidate for a full tummy tuck. This will remove the majority of your stretch marks and give you the most complete result.

A minituck does not allow skin to move from above the belly button downward, so the tops of those stretchmarks will be more or less in the same position afterwards. A full tuck is the only way to allow true transposition of the stretchmarks downward, allowing either full or partial removal, with those still remaining being far lower and further away from the belly button.

You really need a full tummy tuck to get the best result. A mini tummy tuck will result in some improvement but be disappointing in the long run