Men and women who have a protruding abdomen due to overly stretched muscles and loose, sagging skin often struggle with achieving a more slender contour. In order to regain a flatter midsection, many individuals seek the assistance of a trained and qualified cosmetic plastic surgeon. Tummy tuck surgery can reduce the appearance of a bulging belly by tightening the muscles and trimming away excess skin.

The following are some tummy tuck facts according to a recent article:

• Tummy tuck surgery is one of the largest-scale procedures that a surgeon can offer a patient.
• Common candidates are those who have lost a good deal of weight or completed childbearing involving large weight gain and loss.
• This is not a weight loss surgery, but rather a body contouring procedure.
• Drains and pump catheters will need to be used for a week or longer.
• When properly utilized, pain pumps can decrease pain significantly. They reduce risk of fluid collections that may interfere with proper healing.
• Not all tummy tucks are alike. Each procedure is catered to the patient’s needs.
• If you go to a “cheap” doctor and experience complications, some may not be correctable later on.
• Smoking can really impair healing and lead to skin necrosis which commonly detracts from the quality of the result and delays wound healing sometimes for months.

If you would like to learn of your options with body contouring surgery, Arizona tummy tuck surgeon Dr. Karl Hiatt can provide additional information. Feel free to browse his website and schedule an appointment.

As medically-supervised weight management grows and changes, so does plastic surgery. Nearly 125 years ago, we saw the advent of the Tummy Tuck, the original body contouring procedure. Some 75 years later, came Liposuction and since then, a whole new crop of body contouring surgeries, such as the panniculectomy, have come and gone.

Today, weight-loss patients and specialists have a new plastic surgery procedure to consider: the Bra-Line Backlift.

The Bra-Line Backlift was developed by Dr. Joseph Hunstad, with the intention of treating excess back skin following massive weight-loss surgeries like gastric bypass. Following massive weight-loss, fatty tissue is suctioned out, using some light liposuction but the Backlift essentially is an upside down tummy tuck, on your back.

Instead of a horizontal incision across the waistline with a tummy tuck, the doctor makes an incision across the upper-middle back (one of the few detractors for men, given the inability to hide the scar with a bra or bathing suit), tightens the muscles and removes excess accumulations of skin.

Dr. Richard D’Amico, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons says that he sees this as more of a “completion procedure”, than anything else. A procedure that might conclude a mommy makeover, for example, as opposed to a primary treatment option.

Do you live in or near the Dallas and Fort Worth areas? If so, and you’re reading this, you’re probably interested in having a tummy tuck or some form of body contouring surgery performed. We reccomend Dallas plastic surgeon, Dr. Robert Schwartz, M.D.

Dr. Schwartz is a nationally recognized plastic surgeon, who frequently contributes to the medical community, via his “Plastic Surgery Today,” radio show and podcasts, authoring numerous plastic surgery articles and frequent medical journal contributions. Dr Schwartz has been serving the Dallas area for over 10 years, performing well over 1000 procedures and setting the standard for tummy tuck surgery in Dallas. Dr Schwartz is double board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS) and the American Board of Surgery (ABS).

As most of our readership already knows, tummy tuck surgery is a major surgical procedure, designed to remove excess skin and fat from the abdomen and tighten the muscles of the abdominal wall. The procedure can dramatically reduce the appearance of a protruding or sagging abdomen.

Dr. Schwartz realizes that the tummy tuck isn’t a one-size-fits-all procedure. He customizes each abdominoplasty to suit the indivdual patient’s body and their cosmetic goals. As a Dallas tummy tuck surgeon, Dr. Schwartz is known for his attention to detail, bestowing effort on the little things — from creating a beautiful belly button to hiding the incision.

If you’re considering abdominoplasty, contact Dallas and Fort Worth tummy tuck surgeon, Dr. Robert Scwartz, today to find out what he can do for you and your figure.

When is a tummy tuck not the most effective means of toning and sculpting one’s midsection? Often, following some pregnancies or massive weight loss surgery such as Gastric Bypass, a traditional tummy tuck might not be the most effective or even the safest way to minimize excess skin and fat deposits in the lower abdomen.

This question is what led body contouring surgeons to develop a new type of body shaping surgery known as a Panniculectomy.

A Panniculectomy is very similar to a traditional abdominoplasty, but differs slightly in that muscle tissue is not tightened or removed, due to strain on the patient’s body. Instead, only excess and localized fat deposits are removed from the body. The Panniculectomy targets the excess skin and fat of the lower abdomen, between the navel and pubic bone: the area w/the largest accumulation of excess skin and leftover fat after massive weight loss surgery or pregnancy.

Commonly, after massive weight loss surgery, a fair amount of other health conditions will continue to affect a patient’s health, including back problems, ulcers and skin disorders, such as rashes and skin tissue depletion. These health concerns are what principally contributed to the development of this procedure.

Before having this procedure done, prospective patients (after having other fat-removal procedures) must stabilize their weight for one year, including sticking to a strict diet and exercise regiment. Only a trusted and highly qualified (board certified) plastic surgeon, who specializes in abdominal sculpting procedures should perform the Panniculectomy, given the unique patient circumstances that would necessitate such a procedure.

Its no secret that plastic surgery is expensive. Plastic surgery cost is one of the leading factors amongst prospective patients in determining if someone follows through with having a procedure performed.

Only a prospective patient can decide whats best for themselves and whether or not the cost justifies the procedure. In many cases, body contouring surgery procedures differs from other aesthetic surgical procedures, because a patient’s health plays a major role in determining if the procedure is necessary to maintain an acceptable level of health.

According to The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), which lists the national 2007 average cost of Abdominoplasty at $5,232, that while the tummy tuck procedure is typically not covered by most medical insurance plans, “In some instances, however, a patient may have a hernia and not just a spreading of the abdominal muscles. Insurance reimbursement may be available for that portion of the [tummy tuck] procedure that is not cosmetic.”

With that in mind, we here, at Tummy Tuck Info encourage all prospective patients to examine their own situation with a critical eye and weigh all the factors in deciding on any body contouring procedure.

While there’s nothing wrong with wanting to look good and feel good, know that having the procedure done for purely aesthetic purposes can be expensive. Shop around by scheduling consultations with as many tummy tuck specialists as possible. Weigh the pros and cons of having the procedure done, but never sacrifice personal safety, just to save a few bucks.

Here’s an informative video, explaining what a tummy tuck is and how it is performed. All too frequently, prospective plastic surgery patients, seeking some kind of body contouring surgery, are not always sure of what procedure(s) they should have performed.

In this video, Plano Texas plastic surgeon, Ronald Friedman, M.D., explains what prospective patients need to know about the tummy tuck procedure. (Unlike most medically-related videos, this one is completely safe to watch at work and easy on the stomach.)

Its probably fair to say that while the number of plastic surgery procedures being performed every year is consistently on the rise in America, a lot of people are in the dark about new procedures or even a little unsure about what more common (albeit similar) procedures are intended for.

Just because most of us have heard of several related or similar procedures, such as Liposuction, Tummy Tuck surgery (“Abdominoplasty”), Body Contouring and even a newer one: Mommy Makeover, doesn’t mean that its common knowledge what these procedures are intended for. Hopefully, this post will help shed at least a little bit of light on the matter…

Liposuction is a procedure where surgical devices are inserted into the skin and are used to “suck” the excess fat cells out of the body. There are many different techniques for this procedure, some relying on laser technology and some that almost or do qualify as “minimally invasive”.

Tummy Tuck is the process of tightening (in some cases removing) excess, hanging skin after weight loss. As is the case with Liposuction, there are a variety of Tummy Tuck techniques, ranging from invasive to minimally-invasive, and some relying on cutting-edge technological advancements.

Body Contouring is actually a combination of procedures that typically can include Liposuction, Tummy Tuck, Gastric Bypass (usually in extreme cases), and even sometimes buttocks augmentation. Body Contouring is also sometimes referred to as a Body Lift and during its inception was used mainly as a treatment for massive weight loss, such as Gastric Bypass.

The Mommy Makeover is a recent development in the world of aesthetic and plastic surgery. This is similar to Body Contouring in that it usually consists of several procedures, performed at one time, but are specifically custom-tailored to new mothers who have trouble returning to their pre-pregnancy figure through natural means alone. Mommy Makeovers frequently include either a breast lift or sometimes augmentation, in conjunction with the above-mentioned procedures.

…Now that we know a little about Body refining plastic surgery procedures, its a good idea, to research further, learn all the pros and cons of every procedure and speak with a plastic surgeon, preferably a board certified surgeon, and ask questions and view their before and after photos, in order to best evaluate their work.