The traditional view of an Abdominoplasty or a tummy tuck is that it is strictly a cosmetic procedure.
The popular purpose of the surgery is used to tighten muscles as well as remove saggy skin and fat from the abdomen.
Read on to find out why this is not quite the whole truth! See important facts of Tummy Tuck Results on this cosmetic surgury site.
The overall goal of both the patient and the cosmetic surgeon can be to create a flat, nicely toned appearance to the abdomen, but there can be other advantages to this procedure, far beyond the common cosmetic one.
Orlando Cosmetic Surgery Blog has featured this surgery in special association with our beautiful mommy make-overs that restore feminine figures after pregnancy. Likewise, it is well-known that abdominoplasty is a great help to patients that have undergone extreme weight loss in a short period of time.
Beyond The Cosmetic: Surprising Medical Results
1. Stand Up Tall and Be Counted! It really is not a secret that abdominoplasty will bring you improved abdominal tone, but many patients have discovered that they are able to maintain better posture after their recovery.
This is why: After losing an extreme amount of weight or giving birth to several children, stomach muscles can become extended.
Some patients diet and exercise, but to no avail. Nothing seems to help their stretched out abdominal muscles or the annoying pain in their back.
Weak abdominal muscles often contribute to a condition known as lordosis. To put it simply, this is a sway back effect. The procedure of the abdominoplasty tightens those same over-extended, weakened muscles that cause lordosis.
After the surgery, patients may notice that their posture has improved significantly due to the support given the spine by the newly tightened muscles.
“The improved support and better posture can have the added benefit of relieving certain types of back pain.”
2. About Those Ladies’ Room Trips:
Coughing, sneezing, laughing or exercising can bring on “Stress Urinary Incontinence” in women who have had vaginal births.
Quite simply, this is “a bladder control problem associated with uncontrollable leakage.”
Many patients enjoy good results with non-surgical treatments for their SUI. Other patients just need more care. Several studies have revealed that a tummy tuck can help SUI patients if they have not had a caesarian section. The care comes in the form of a special surgical aid that can be done during the abdominoplasty procedure.
Fixing the SUI problem requires that “During the abdominoplasty procedure, a slight bladder obstruction is created using soft tissue near the pelvic area, thereby reducing incontinence.”
3. Ventral Hernia Correction
Another medical condition that can be helped with abdominoplasty is A Ventral Hernia. This is a pocket or sack of intestinal or abdominal tissue that has broken through the abdominal wall. Sometimes this condition is caused by abdominal weakness from a patient’s loss of a large about of weight. It can also be provoked because of surgeries like C-sections or appendectomies.
Surgery to correct the ventral hernia is very similar to abdominoplasty.
“Both surgeries correct weakened adnominal muscles and pressure on the skin. No matter the cause, whether pregnancy or weight, a weak abdominal wall will allow a hernia to form.”
This uncomfortable condition can develop again, after correction. You and your surgeon can discuss the possible benefits of using the additional surgical procedure of abdominoplasty to:
A. Repair the hernia repair and strengthen the abdominal wall.
B. Prevent future occurrences of the formation of another Ventral Hernia.
C. This surgical combo is not rare. It is safe, and it logically saves the patient medical expenses and recovery. Combining the procedures is not only safe, but very practical, as it can reduce medical expenses and recovery time.
4. Analyzing Your Risks and Rewards: Orlando Cosmetic Surgery Can Help!
The term “tummy tuck” might be an unfortunately simplistic choice of name for the abominoplasty because it minimizes the extent of this surgery. You should know that this is not a simple surgery.
It could take one to five hours in the operating room, and general anesthesia is required.
Dr. Jeremy White, MD of Aventura, Fla., in his recent article on the surgery puts it clearly. We summarize the steps below,
and you will see there is a lot of cutting necessary in the “tucking” action behind the name of this surgery.
Orlando Cosmetic Surgery does not give you this information to scare or discourage you, but to simply inform you of your options.
In abdominoplasty, your surgeon cuts away up to 10 pounds of stomach fat “by disconnecting the skin from the underlying tissue.”
Then he must suture the actual abdominal tissue, and cut away any extra skin.
You should be prepared for full recovery to require several weeks.
You will face the common complications of infection, just like you would in any other major abdominal surgery.
Here at Orlando Cosmetic Surgery, you and Dr. Orlando Cicilioni can discuss the many medical and cosmetic benefits
of a tummy tuck.
As you see from the comments above, your abdominoplasty can be customized to fit your needs and personal goals, both medical and aesthetic.
No decision about a surgery should be rushed.
No surgery should be entered into blindly.
You and Dr. Cicilioni will consider your realistic end-case objectives.
Listen to the advice of Dr. Cicilioni, and consider his evaluation of your general physical condition as well as the procedure in detail.
You might be surprised at the medical as well as cosmetic advantages offered by this surgical procedure. Then you can decide if the Tummy Tuck is a good option for you, from both a cosmetic and a medical point of view.