Why get a Tummy Tuck? What are the pros and cons?

A tummy tuck does three things - removes excess skin, flattens the abdominal wall, and reshapes the belly button. Liposuction can only remove excess fat, and cannot accomplish these things listed above.

The motivations for surgery vary from patient to patient. Most commonly, people pursue tummy tuck surgery to rid themselves of excess lower abdominal skin and stretch marks, correct separation and laxity of the rectus abdominus muscles, and improve the overall contour of their abdomen. 

Whether or not you should undergo a tummy tuck is really completely up to you.  The operation effectively deals with loose skin and fat of the abdomen, as well as muscle weakness.  If these things bother you, you would be a good candidate for a tummy tuck.

Tummy tuck procedure is so popular because of the benefit it offers against the easy to control cons. The mayor pro it offer is the reshape of the abdominal wall. After pregnancies and with the age the abdominal wall tends to loose strength and to gain skin-fat. With the tummy tuck, we (plastic surgeons) are capable of remove the excess of skin-fat below the umbilicus and fix the distended abdominal wall. The result is a flat abdomen with no stretch marks or loose skin. The cons are basically are the risk of any surgery: bleeding, seroma, infection, skin irregularities or bad scaring. All the cons should be prevented and the rate of complications is lower than 1-3%. The key of the success of this procedure are patients with abdominal diatesis and saggy skin, which a TT  is the only way to obtain such a nice result because diet or exercise wont.

Loose skin and abdominal wall laxity would be the two main considerations.Kenneth Hughes, MDLos Angeles, CA.................

Tummy tucks are performed to improve the appearance of the tummy. It usually includes the removal of excess skin and the tightening of loose muscles. There are several variations of the procedure so the exact type of tummy tuck should be selected after a good examination. Liposuction is also frequently added to help enhance the results. Most patients would not be able to achieve the results of a tummy tuck without the surgery, regardless of how much dieting and exercise they might do. The "cons" are simply the recovery, temporary discomfort, cost and general risks of surgery. The reason tummy tucks are so popular is because the "pros" far outweigh the "cons". 

A tummy tuck is usually sought for some combination of three possible benefits.1.  Removal and tightening of loose abdominal skin2. Removal of some excess abdominal wall fat3. Tightening of the abdominal muscles to improve the overall contour. Cons are the risks of this and any surgery, including bleeding, infection, dissatisfaction, blood clots. A more complete review can be found via google, or better yet in the setting of an in person consultation with a plastic surgeon.All the best.