Am I a candidate for a mini or FAB tummy tuck? (photos)

An abdominoplasty is performed to
improve the contour of the belly by removing excess skin and fat and by
tightening lax abdominal muscles. There are two main types of abdominoplasties
– the mini and full.



A mini abdominoplasty is a
fine-tuning procedure performed for a small subset of patients who have no
abdominal wall laxity, no excess skin above the belly button, and a small pouch
of excess skin and fat below the belly button. This procedure results in a
short bikini line scar from thigh to thigh and no belly button scar. A mini
does not, however, allow tightening of the belly muscles and it does not remove
many of the stretch marks of pregnancy.



In contrast, a typical full
abdominoplasty is often performed after bearing children or after moderate
weight loss. It can be a powerful procedure that can flatten and remove excess
skin and fat from both above and below the belly button and tighten the
abdominal muscles. The trade off is a scar in the bikini line that extends hip
to hip and a scar around the belly button.



There are slight variations to the full abdominoplasty based on
the anatomy of the patient. One of these variations is a floating
abdominoplasty – FAB. This is a full abdominoplasty in which the belly button
is cut at the base and “floated” down with the belly skin. This technique does
not require a belly button scar, however, the amount of skin tightening is
limited by the position of the bellybutton. This procedure is for patients with
high belly buttons, minimal excess tissue above and below the belly button, and
few stretch marks, who need a little overall skin tightening but would benefit
from a full belly muscle plication.



A
detailed examination will help delineate the best surgical treatment.
Consultation with a plastic surgeon would be the next best step.

please add pictures to your question as it's impossible to give you an answer without seeing your abdomen.