photos courtesy of Dr. Daniel Suver, Plastic Surgeons of Alaska
Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck)
This mother of three experienced significant stretching of the skin and abdominal wall after her pregnancies. She has a significant abdominal diastasis, which is a condition where the ligament between the abdominal rectus muscles stretches out. This is a common problem after pregnancy, although hers is more dramatic than most. While exercise can sometimes help flatten the abdomen, it typically does not tighten the stretched ligament and fix the root problem. She was treated with abdominoplasty, or tummy tuck. Excess stretched skin and fat was removed from the lower abdomen, and the abdominal wall and its ligaments were tightened and repaired surgically. The scar was placed low in order to keep it hidden by underwear and swimsuits. She is very pleased with her new body.
This woman in her 30’s has had significant stretching of the abdomen from multiple pregnancies. She has irreversible wrinkling of the lower abdominal skin, and her pregnancies have stretched and separated her abs (rectus abdominis muscles), which results in a ballooning out of her abdomen. This woman was incredibly fit, but even with physical therapy, exercise could not restore a flat contour, because the ligament between the muscles had been stretched apart by the multiple pregnancies.
I performed a tummy tuck, or abdominoplasty. In this procedure, the irreversibly stretched, lower abdominal skin is removed through a low incision that can be hidden by underwear or swim wear. The abdominal muscles are brought back together to restore a normal flat abdominal contour. She now has restoration of her youthful flat abdominal profile and a smooth abdomen.
This young mother has very lax tissues. Pregnancy has irreversibly stretched the skin of the lower abdomen and has separated the rectus abdominis (six pack) muscles by stretching the central connecting ligament. Despite returning to an appropriate weight, her abdomen has not returned to how it was before pregnancy.
Abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) moves the rectus muscles back to the middle and removes the stretched skin. This returns her to a flat contour and removed all of the stretch marks below her belly button. The scars are kept low to allow her to cover them with swimwear and underwear.
This young woman has has developed significant sagging of her skin and bulging/laxity of her abdominal muscles after a massive weight loss and multiple childbirth. Abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) removes the excess stretched out skin of the lower abdomen and allowed me to tighten her abdominal muscles down the middle to give her a flat profile and an hourglass waist. The incisions are kept low, just below the panties, so that they can remain innocuous, even in swimwear.
This 45 year old woman has had trouble with her tummy since giving birth years ago. As is common with many mothers, her skin had stretched and she had a stubborn roll of fat that would not change. She was treated with abdominoplasty, or tummy tuck. The excess skin and fat was removed. Liposuction would have been a poor option, because while fat could be removed, the excess skin would have just deflated and hung down further. Recovery was uneventful, and she is happy with trimmed profile.
This middle age woman has had significant stretching and sagging of her abdominal skin and fat with time. Further weight loss, unfortunately, will do nothing to retract the overhang. Abdominoplasty allows for removal of this skin and fat excess giving her a much more trim profile.
This 50 year old woman developed excess, sagging skin and fat of her lower abdomen and bulging due to a diastasis. She had one child years before and has lost 50# from her maximal weight. I performed an abdominoplasty to correct the diastasis (bringing the abdominal muscles back together down the middle) and remove the stretched out skin and fat.
