Is a Tummy Tuck the only way? just want to flatten belly and lose the love handles

A healthy diet and exercise are always the key to success when trying to lose weight after children.  You are young and you probably still have a fairly good amount of elasticity in your skin.  If the skin is stretched though; for instance, a lot of stretch marks and saggy skin, a tummy tuck may be the best answer for you.  Maybe finding a plastic surgeon in your area and having a consultation would at least allow you to see what the possibilities are for you.  You may just be a candidate for liposuction.  This option will also allow you to have more children some day if you so desire.  Good Luck!

It’s a good idea to start a diet and exercise regimen that strengthens your core and helps you firm up your mid-section a bit. At your young age, your body would respond better to this lifestyle choice. While it may not be sufficient to totally flatten your stomach and get rid of your love handles, it may make a positive enough impact that you won’t want to pursue surgery. If after months of exercising and dieting don’t help, you may want to consider a tummy tuck or liposuction then.

With proper athletic training, you will probably be able to make improvements in your overall body shape, including your tunny and love handles. If your skin in wrinkled or stretched out, a tummy tuck may be the only option to get that pre-pregnancy tummy back.

A tummy tuck does 3 things that you can't accomplish with diet and exercise: First, it removes any localized fat in the abdominal area; you can't "spot reduce" with exercise. Second, if the muscles have been pushed apart from the pregnancy (what is called a diastasis), they cannot be pulled back into place with exercise. Third, if the skin is loose, particularly if you have stretch marks, it will usually not snap back. I would encourage you to get in good shape though so that you know that you have done what you can for yourself before deciding on the tummy tuck./

See the video below for the various tummy tuck options available. In the meantime, consider flattening the stomach using a Yoga or Pilates regimen of core strengthening exercises.

 Thank you for the question. For patients who present with abdominal wall muscle laxity after pregnancy and/or weight gain/loss, there is no good noninvasive modality to improve their situation.  This includes cool sculpting, which targets diet and exercise resistant adipose tissue ( assuming good overlying skin elasticity).  Although there are a lot of gimmicks that come and go, there is no good alternative to tummy tuck surgery to remove excess skin/adipose  tissue and tighten abdominal wall muscles after pregnancy or weight loss. Be careful: if it sounds too good to be true, it is!  Best wishes.

No.  A tummy tuck is not the only way to flatten your belly and lose the love handles.  Diet and exercise are the best way by far to attack these issues.  If these problems persist after diet and exercise, then surgical intervention can fine tune them, and since you are in better shape from diet and exercise, the surgery should be safer for you as well.For more information, please go to my website at:WirthPlasticSurgery.com

Thanks for the question.

Assuming you don't have excess abdominal skin, you do have options outside of a tummy tuck. The one that comes immediately to mind for me would be to undergo lipoplasty of your love handles. Combine this with a sound exercise program focusing on core strengthening ( pilates and/or yoga ) and I think you would be very satisfied with the results. 

Best of luck,

Glenn Vallecillos, MD, FACS

if your tummy skin is in good shape ( without excess or striae), diet/exercise and/or liposuction may be the answer. If you have loose skin or your tummy muscles are spread apart you may require a tummy tuck to achieve your goal. This is a big procedure with recovery but the results are fantastic

No, tummy tuck is not the only way.  A "flat" belly can also be achieved with liposuction.  The main issues; however, are whether you have too much loose skin, and intraabdominal fat.  Good luck!