Can Tummy Tuck Shrink the Waistline?

Thank you for the question. The simple answer is yes, a tummy tuck can definitely help in slimming down your waistline. In order to determine whether you qualify as a tummy tuck candidate, however, we'd have to consider a number of other factors: the extent as well as location of your loose skin, your muscle separation, your BMI, your medical history, etc. For this reason, it would be best to conduct an in-person exam in order to determine your candidacy.Generally, a tummy tuck offers the most effective way to correct loose skin and muscle separation in addition to eliminating excess fat. Liposuction will also remove fat, but it can't address flabby, hanging skin that typically persists after weight loss. For this reason, many patients who have experienced a weight loss or recent pregnancy tend to opt for a tummy tuck. This procedure can also be combined with liposuction for maximum effect.  
An in-person exam with a board certified plastic surgeon is always the best way to fully assess your needs and address your concerns. Best of luck!   

The permanent sutures that are used to flatten and tighten the abdominal wall are typically placed in the midline. The rectus abdominis muscles, prior to pregnancy, are lined up immediately side-by-side. Expansion of the abdominal wall during pregnancy allows the muscles to stretch apart, leaving a weak layer of fascia (connective tissue) spanning the gap between the two muscles – the medical term for which is diastasis. The midline tightening sutures correct the diastasis and bring the rectus muscles back into a 'side-by-side' configuration, flattening the abdominal wall in the process.

Although this midline tightening dramatically enhances the abdominal profile, it often does adequately address the fact that pregnancy can also wreak havoc on the waist, turning what was formerly an 'hourglass' figure into something that is more cylindrical in shape. For several years now I have been using permanent 'internal corset' sutures, placed laterally in the abdominal wall, that draw the waist inward and restore some of the hourglass effect of abdominal concavity at the waistline in frontal view. The addition of these sutures to midline tightening, and in some cases in place of midline tightening, has allowed me to achieve even more impressive postoperative results.