Can I get a mini TT or LIPO? Will either help me? (photos)

Question

31, super fit, workout 4-6 days a week. Lower stomach always bulges. Endometriosis and tilted pelvis MAYBE it’s my organs but I feel deformed. Friends of mine who are much bigger than me still have stomachs that go flat down. Look pregnant at all times and worse when endo flares up. Have been looking at BA to balance out but thinking maybe I am candidate for a mini TT. Thoughts?

Gianfranco Frojo, MD · Answer

You h ave great quality skin. I would recommend likely just abdominal liposuction I would highly recommend seeing a board eligible or board certified plastic surgeon for a physical exam and accurate analysis with safe recommendations for potential surgical options. Best of luck!

Yily De Los Santos, MD · Answer

Thank you for your question and pictures. I would recommend you to get a full Tummy Tuck with a lipo for better results. If you're willing to travel, Surgeons in the Dominican Republic have experience and very high standard of excellence when it comes to plastic surgery. I'm positive you can get what you're looking for.

Vaishali B. Doolabh, MD, FACS · Answer

Hi lovilovilovi,
I do not recommend a mini tummy tuck because you have no extra skin hanging, however examination of muscles in more important.  You might benefit from a little bit of liposuction and radiofrequency helium plasma (Renuvion) subdermal coagulation to help manage skin looseness that can develop with liposuction-can't tell in pictures, your plastic surgeon will be able to comment during examination.  Good luck-Dr. Doolabh

Daniel Barrett, MD · Answer

Dear lovilovilovi,
it is hard to tell for sure without an examination. Based on your photos, it looks like you would benefit from liposuction. If you are considering a surgery, I would suggest you to consult a board-certified plastic surgeon. Only after a thorough examination you will get more information and recommendations.
Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Nelson Castillo, MD · Answer

Thank you for sharing your question and photographs.  Depending on an in-person examination it appears that you would be a good liposuction candidate to reduce the lower abdominal fullness.

George Marosan, MD · Answer

Thank you for your question and photos. Based on these photos, you would get a great result with VASER Hi Def lipo 360 degrees. You do not need any excisional surgery. We do this type of surgery under deep intravenous sedation, not general anesthesia and via 1 cm stealth incisions which leave no stigmata that you had surgery.
See a board certified plastic surgeon experienced in advanced body sculpting techniques for an in person consultation/evaluation. Good luck.
See attached web reference.

Camille Cash, MD · Answer

An examination is needed to determine if the contour of your lower abdomen is from muscle wall laxity or excess fat.  If it is laxity then a mini tummy tuck would address that.  If it is simply a resistant fatty area then liposuction should give you good results.

Connie Hiers, MD, FACS · Answer

You need an examination to see if the fullness is above or behind the muscle. If the fullness is from weak muscles, then a tuck would be helpful. If the fullness is from an extended colon, you probably have food allergies that you are not addressing.

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

First things first and that’s making an assessment. In other words a correct diagnosis and the kids the best course of treatment.

For aesthetic purposes there are four variables that contribute to shape and contour of the abdomen.

Desire skin laxity, subcutaneous fat(The kind you can pinch), muscle separation from previous pregnancies card diastasis a recti and lastly visceral or intra-abdominal fat.

At tummy tech treats muscle separation and skin laxity. A mini tummy tuck primarily only treats skin laxity below the belly button(there are variations), liposuction reduces subcutaneous fat and visceral fat can only be reduced through weight loss.

I’m assuming you have not had term pregnancies so based on that the bulging of your lower abdomen is most likely subcutaneous fat though it could be a slight bit of excess visceral fat.

It doesn’t look like you have skin laxity. If you do then that would typically go hand-in-hand with a history of significant weight loss in the past(or pregnancies).  Most likely Liposuction is your best option.

It really requires an exam to get an accurate assessment. I’ll patient’s abdomen‘s in regards to aesthetic reasons can be explained with the above four variables.  The correct treatment has to follow the correct diagnosis in order to get the anticipated results.

I typically don’t like spot treating the torso and instead treat the torso as a single anatomic unit treating all of the torso or not treating it at all. There are always exceptions but I personally would avoid doing liposuction of for example just the lower abdomen.

My practice has been specializing exclusively in Liposuction and fed transfer procedures for over a decade.  I have done a lot of these procedures more than most providers will do in the lifetime and then some.

Liposuction results vary immensely among different providers. if you’re thinking about having that procedure then I would encourage you to be very careful of how you choose your provider.

The following are some general recommendations you may find helpful.
1. I recommend patients avoid traveling long distances for elective surgical procedures. There are of course instances where there is a lack of local talent and traveling to some degree is inevitable. If traveling for the procedure patients should be ready to travel to have the consultation, post operative appointments and follow up should there be issues or complications.
Patients sometimes do not appreciate the importance of in person consultations, that complications do happen or the number of people who have issues with their results or need revisions.

2. Schedule multiple consultations with different providers in your area who seem to have a good reputation for the procedure you’re interested in. Starting with at least five consultations seems like a reasonable number to me.

3. Whenever possible schedule in person consultations.  
4. During in person consultations ask each plastic surgeon to show all of their before and after pictures for the procedure you’re interested in.

The goal is not to see the best results of their career but to get an idea of what average results look like and get some type of confirmation of how many of these procedures that provider has performed.

Ask to see results that were not as good as the doctor would’ve hoped for and talk about the differences in outcomes.

Honest and experienced providers should have no problems presenting this type of information.

A highly experienced plastic surgeon should have hundreds of before and after pictures for the procedure you’re interested in. At a minimum at least 20+.

5. Read all the reviews on various physician review websites paying close attention and avoiding providers with any significant number of justified negative reviews.  Providers with an abundance of reviews often have aggressive marketing campaigns.

The plastic surgeons I respect most all have the single variable of not having justified negative reviews on their online profiles. 
In my opinion justified negative reviews are far more telling than an abundance of positive reviews.

6. Avoid scheduling for surgery or making a deposit on the day of the consultation.  Give yourself some time to think about the decision and make sure you finished all scheduled consultations before committing to having surgery that will permanently and irreversibly change your body.

When in doubt slow down and schedule more consultations.

Choosing the right plastic surgeon is the single most important variable to having a positive experience.

7. Don’t go chasing after technology or names of certain equipment. Instead focus all your efforts on finding the most experienced and talented board-certified plastic surgeon.

Best,

Mats HagstromMD

Can I get a mini TT or LIPO? Will either help me? (photos)

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