Can I Get a Tummy Tuck While Awake?

Tummy tucks are normally done under general anesthesia, meaning the patient is "asleep". I personally have not had any patients ask to be awake, and I would not recommend it. There is a lot of dissection involved, and it is ideal to perform this in a controlled environment.
If all you needed was surgery on a small or limited area, then performing this while you were awake would be reasonable. In that case, you could be given "local anesthesia" where the area that was worked on could be numbed up with injections, and you could be given medications for sedation to make you more comfortable. Another type of anesthesia is "regional anesthesia" such as an epidural, where a numbing medication is injected directly into your spine.
Keep in mind each type of anesthesia has risks and benefits, and the decision should be made between the patient, anesthesiologist (or trusted certified anesthetist), and the surgeon. In any case, you will still have a cost for the anesthesia, and it is best to have your surgery under conditions that are ideal for you and your surgeon.
I would recommend consulting with a board certified plastic surgeon to determine what procedure you really need, and what type of anesthesia would be the safest for you.
Good luck!

You must be administered some type of anesthesia during any type of
tummy tuck to ease pain associated with the surgery and to allow your
surgeon a wider range of access. In the great majority of cases, tummy
tuck surgery is performed with the patient under general anesthesia. You
will be asleep if general anesthesia is administered and, in my
opinion, will find the procedure to be more comfortable and pleasant.
Still, it is possible for a mini tummy tuck to be performed under less
intensive local anesthesia, with the patient “awake,” should find this
option preferable for you. These are options you should discuss with
your surgeon at a consultation or pre-op appointment

Hi there-
I have personally done tummy tuck surgery under all possible anesthetic techniques, and would have you understand the following:
Doing a tummy tuck under local, it is almost impossible to achieve as good an outcome as you can reliably achieve with the patient under general anesthesia. Without muscle relaxation (medication given when under general anesthesia that paralyzes the muscles, making their tightening much more effective), effective muscle tightening is simply not possible as your muscles fight the sutures with every breath, especially if you feel a twinge of pain from time to time (this is inevitable).
If that's not enough to deter you, realize that THERe IS A LIMIT TO HOW MUCH NUMBING MEDICINE YOU CAN HAVE safely, and that if you have too much (because you are in pain and your surgeon is now under pressure to finish the operation he/she started), you could die. In fact, many of the cases of patient deaths during liposuction have resulted from overdoses of numbing medicine.
Tummy tucks can be done with deep sedation and numbing medicine, but again, the outcome is simply never as good.
Take a step back from this discussion for a minute and think about why you are even asking these questions.... I think it's probably safe to assume that you are asking about this because you want your abdomen to look as good as it can, and you would like to be as safe as possible throughout the process, right?
As long as that is the case, your chances of ending up happy are the highest if you find a surgeon certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery and discuss your goals with them. For more on how best to find on you like and can trust, please read this:

A mini-abdominoplasty can be easily done under local. Doing a full abdominoplasty is a bit more work and would likely be uncomfortable under straight local. Doing it with some sedation or perhaps under spinal would be another alternative.

Anlost any procedure can be done under local anesthesia.  It may not be comfortable or pleasant, but it can be done.
Generally it is better to perform this procedure under general anesthesia because the airway can be protected from stomach contents, an unlikely but possible scenario.

I have had a few patients who have asked about this, and I agree that an epidural would really be best. Since I do liposuction with so many of my patients lying face down, it's not practical for me.
Also, I'm not really sure how many patients are truly comfortable being awake and aware of all the things we are doing during a tummy tuck!

Some surgeons, and I was trained this way, perform the tummy tucks under local. For a variety of reasons, I prefer to perform them under general anesthesia. As mentioned by Dr, Rand, some surgeons use "regional" (spinal or epidural) anesthesia but this is frequently associated with bladder problems.

there are a lot of answers to the question you did not ask. ie can it be done under local? the reponse to your question can it be done awake is yes. usually with a spinal and mild sedative. not my choice but to each his own. a better question is "Is it safe to not use general anesthesia? I would argue yes, sometimes even safer to choose an alternative. trust your surgeon and do your homework. Look up the really good work by Mustoe et al.

As with many questions about plastic surgery my answer is : "It depends".
It really depends upon the extent of the procedure that is necessary. For instance a minor tummy tuck without muscle plication and just liposuction with skin excision can be performed under 'local anesthesia". In some cases a lower rectus plication can be performed in some individuals under local anesthesia with the help of pills. Doing a procedure like this with local anesthesia and pills also depends upon the pain tolerance level of the patient.Careful selection is absolutely necessary.
One other consideration is to perform Slim Lipo in cases where skin tightening is desired. In some cases the patient can have a great result without skin excision.
A full tummy tuck with extensive undermining, umbilical transposition and rectus plication is best performed with general anesthesia.

A tummy tuck is a 3-4 hour surgery and involves many steps. It is critical for the patient to be completely still so the surgeon can concentrate on the surgery and not be distracted.
If you want to best result possible, I recommend general anesthesia. I understand this means more cost to you. However, remember you are not purchasing an item which can be returned if defective. Compromising safety and quality on your body is not returnable and often very hard to repair.