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  • A Tummy Tuck Restores Post-Partum Mommy Physiques
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Hi, I'm Dr. Adam Oppenheimer and I'm a plastic surgeon in Melbourne, Florida. I wanted to take a little bit to talk about the tummy-tuck procedure, or the abdominoplastia. The most common patients I see for a tummy tuck are patients who are postpartum, who have had perhaps several children, and have stretch marks of the abdomen, loose skin, and sometimes a C-Section scar that is tethered, causing an unsightly abdominal contour.

The other thing that I see a lot in these women, they have a bulge in the abdomen that they say doesn't go away with exercise. And what that is is it's actually widening with the six-pack muscles. In order to accommodate the baby, the muscles of the abdomen actually have to separate a little bit. And in order to fix that, there's really only one way to fix that and that's with a tummy-tuck procedure.

Generally, the tummy-tuck procedure involves an incision on the lower abdomen, and I use that incision to tighten up the muscles and to remove the extra skin. I make a new hole for the belly-button to keep it where it is, attached on the abdomen, but it comes out through a new spot on the abdominal skin. And generally I can remove all of the skin that previously existed from the pubic hairline all the way to the belly-button, and that's a lot of skin.

Generally, the procedure is among the more painful procedures that we do in plastic surgery, but I've been incredibly excited about a new drug called Exparel. This is a long acting nerve block or a long acting marcaine that has provided 72 hours of pain relief for my patients. It totally eliminates the need for pain pumps and I've been amazed with the results that I've seen with Exparel. And I actually place it very deep towards the location of the nerves and I found it to be incredibly effective.

I think a tummy-tuck procedure is a very rewarding procedure. Women have worked very hard with the pregnancy and the childbirth and it's a great way to reverse the clock and to get a great contour to the abdomen. Again, I'm Dr. Adam Oppenheimer, I'd love to talk to you about tummy-tucks or any other topics in plastic surgery. Please come visit to me in Melbourne, Florida. Thanks for watching.

A Tummy Tuck Restores Post-Partum Mommy Physiques

Dr. Oppenheimer explains how a tummy tuck, or abdominoplasty, can help repair the ab muscles that have separated from carrying a child, as well as tighten the loose skin.