I have Lost my Waistline After Tummy Tuck, Will Lipo Help Contour?

Tumescent liposuction is such a great contour procedure under local anesthesia and shapes the waistline easily- especially after tummy tucks.  You can be back to work in 2 days and easy to undergo.  Sincerely,

David Hansen,MD

Liposuction is great for contouring the abdomen after a tummy tuck.  I frequently combine these two procedures and the patients love the look that they get.  It's hard to give you an exact answer without seeing you, but it sounds as though liposuction is the way to go.

Thank you for the question.

Although it is not possible to give you precise advice without direct examination,  it is very  likely that liposuction surgery will improve contours of the abdominal wall and flank areas after tummy tuck surgery.

It will be in your best interest to meet with well experienced board-certified plastic surgeons in person to discuss your goals.

Best wishes.

Without photos or a face to face examination it is impossible to know what is going on what surgery if any would be helpful. The upper abdominal prominence you describe can be anything from loose muscle that can be tightened by revision abdominoplasty, fat that can be liposuctioned, excess skin that can be removed by revision abdominoplasty to a hernia that can be repaired.

I hope you realize that this format of posting questions and receiving answers lacks the face to face direct communication required for you to make an informed decision regarding your surgery.

My response to your question/post does not represent formal medical advice or constitute a doctor patient relationship. You need to consult with i.e. personally see a board certified plastic surgeon in order to receive a formal evaluation and develop a doctor patient relationship.

This question is hard to answer without photographs or a personal examination. Liposuction can contour the waist line and the upper abdomen if the upper abdomen fullness is due to fatty tissue and not abdominal wall laxity. As always, it is best to be close to your ideal body weight before any plastic surgery procedure, especially liposuction.

Without a physical exam  it is hard to say  what would benefit you.  Liposuction can be helpful in some situations.

It may.  If you have enough extra fat in the right areas - and in this case that means in between the skin and the abdominal wall - then removing some of that fat should help produce a better contour at your waistline.  But if relatively more of that fat is deep to the abdominal wall (ie it's around your intestines) then it's not going to be accessible via a liposuction.  It may be hard for you to make that determination but it's pretty straightforward.  Grab the area in question and then tighten your abdominal muscles.  The more if it that's still there, the greater the likelihood that lipo will be helpful to you.  And for an even more precise determination, a few consults with PS's should be enough to give you the info you need.

I hope that this helps, and good luck,
Dr. E