A tummy tuck, or abdominoplasty, restores a tighter, flatter stomach and a more slender waist by removing excess skin and tightening the six-pack muscles of the abdomen. Many people choose to get liposuction alongside their tummy tuck to enhance the slimming effect.
Should you add liposuction to your tummy tuck? Here’s what the two procedures each do for your body and why you might consider combining them.
How Are a Tummy Tuck and Liposuction Different?
A tummy tuck and liposuction are both body contouring procedures. Both can reshape parts of your body to give you a slimmer, younger-looking profile when you are close to your ideal weight, but still have diet- and exercise-resistant bulges of fat. But the two procedures don’t follow the same steps, and they aim to produce different results.
A tummy tuck is a surgical procedure that tightens skin on your abdomen that has become loose and saggy after weight loss, pregnancy, or as a result of the aging process. When part of your stomach bulge is due to weakened or separated stomach muscles — another common effect of pregnancy and significant weight change — the procedure can reconnect and tighten the abdominal muscles for a firm, toned look. A tummy tuck surgeon may also surgically remove some fat, but only pockets in the center of the abdomen, within the direct scope of the surgery.
Liposuction also involves surgery but in a less invasive form. A surgeon only needs to make tiny incisions in the skin, just large enough to insert a thin tube called a cannula. The cannula breaks up areas of excess fat and removes them using suction. Liposuction can improve the contours of almost any part of the body, including the abdomen, waist, back, hips, thighs, arms, neck, and chest.
Why Add Liposuction to a Tummy Tuck?
As you learned from reading the descriptions of the two procedures, a tummy tuck and liposuction have different purposes and produce different results. A tummy tuck removes loose skin, tightens abdominal muscles, and can pare some fat in the center of the abdomen. Liposuction is purely a fat-removal procedure with no skin-tightening effects and can reach areas that a tummy tuck can’t.
If you have loose skin on your stomach, a bulging belly from stretched abdominal muscles, and excess fat in your midsection and around your waist, a tummy tuck with liposuction may be what you need to restore your figure.
Here are some benefits of combining the two procedures:
- One surgery. You’ll only need to schedule a single surgery.
- One recovery. When you have both procedures at the same time, you’ll have one recovery period, comparable to recovering from a tummy tuck alone.
- Cost savings. You’ll see some financial savings by combining the two procedures: a single charge for anesthesia, for example, and possibly some other efficiencies. While cost shouldn’t be your only deciding factor in plastic surgery — choosing a skilled surgeon with a record of safety and excellent results is far more crucial — it makes sense to spend your money wisely.
- More comprehensive improvements. By combining the two procedures, you’ll get the tummy tuck’s skin-tightening and muscle-toning effects, plus the slimming effects of liposuction in your waist and beyond the center of your abdomen. The combination can give you a flatter, firmer abdomen, a tighter waist, and younger-looking contours overall. Liposuction can also extend your body contouring to other areas — your thighs or arms, for example.
Have a Tummy Tuck Consultation in Annapolis
At the Sandel Duggal Center for Plastic Surgery in Annapolis, Dr. Claire Duggal’s signature abdominoplasty technique improves your outcome and speeds up your recovery. Call us today at (410) 266-7120 or contact us online to schedule a consultation and learn more.