Tummy Tuck

If you have a significant amount of excess skin and fat in your abdomen, diet and exercise may not be able to give you the results you’re looking for. In such cases, surgery is the best option. At our West Hills Hospital & Medical center cosmetic surgery practice, patients can undergo a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) procedure in order to remove sagging skin and small pockets of fat from their lower abdomen. A tummy tuck can give patients the flat, tight midsection they’ve always wanted by trimming away any excess skin and strengthening the muscles beneath their abdominal wall.

Candidates for a tummy tuck procedure include anyone with a significant amount of excess skin and fatty tissue in the abdomen. If you have given birth multiple times or lost a large amount of weight, a tummy tuck may be the ideal procedure to help your body bounce back. At our West Hills Hospital & Medical center practice, a tummy tuck can be combined with targeted liposuction for body sculpting purposes. However, we urge our patients to keep in mind that the goal of a tummy tuck procedure is not to remove an excessive amount of fat, but rather to eliminate unattractive, stretched skin and small amounts of stubborn fatty tissue in the lower abdomen. Because a tummy tuck requires an incision across the abdomen, there may be significant scarring. Our surgeons in West Hills Hospital & Medical center do their best to minimize incision length during a tummy tuck procedure, and we offer the latest techniques to minimize post surgical scarring.

Patients who choose our West Hills Hospital & Medical center center for their tummy tuck surgery can expect dramatic and life-changing results. Contact our plastic surgery center in West Hills Hospital & Medical center today for further information about tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) procedures.

Candidates

Candidates for a tummy tuck are ideally non-smoking adults that are in good health, at a stable weight, and do not plan on future pregnancies. These candidates have usually been unsuccessful in toning their abdomen, even with the help of healthy diets and exercise.

What to Expect

Either general anesthesia or local anesthesia may be used for your tummy tuck. A partial tummy tuck could take only an hour or two, while a complete tummy tuck may take two to five hours. Depending on the extent of your procedure, you may be released in just a few hours, or you may be hospitalized for two to three days. You will receive directions on how to change your dressings, and your stitches will dissolve on their own.

It could take you a while to feel like yourself again; your abdomen will probably be swollen for the first few days and you are likely to experience some pain or discomfort. You may be given medication to help manage this pain. Some patients are able to return to work two weeks after their tummy tuck, but some take three or four weeks to recuperate. It could take your scars nine months to a year to start becoming noticeably flatter and lighter.

Before & After