When Should I Consider a Tummy Tuck?

Achieving toned, flat abs is hard work. For many people, putting in long hours at the gym and doing countless sets of crunches won’t be enough to deliver their desired results. There are many reasons why this may occur, and you should know that you are not alone if this describes your experience. Fortunately, a tummy tuck can help you put the finishing touches on your fitness efforts so that you can achieve the beautiful midsection that reflects all the hard work you’ve done.

At Midsota Plastic Surgery, we will customize your tummy tuck to address your unique needs and goals. During the procedure, excess skin and fat are removed and loose abdominal muscles are tightened to restore a more toned, flat stomach appearance. Many men and women find that a tummy tuck delivers life-changing benefits, helping them look and feel their very best while providing added motivation to maintain a healthy lifestyle in the future.

While it’s understandable that you may be excited to experience the benefits of a tummy tuck right now, it’s important to understand that there are certain factors that may impact the right time to undergo the procedure. Some of these factors relate to candidacy criteria, while others are associated with certain lifestyle choices you’ve made.

Am I a Tummy Tuck Candidate?

Before moving forward with your procedure, our plastic surgeons must determine whether you are a good tummy tuck candidate. In general, abdominoplasty may be right for you if you:

• Are in good overall health
• Have realistic expectations for the outcome of your procedure
• Live an active, healthy lifestyle
• Are at or near your ideal body weight
• Have loose or stretched abdominal muscles that can benefit from tightening
• Have excess skin and fat in the stomach region
• Don’t smoke or are willing to stop smoking before your procedure and throughout the recovery period

While these are the basic candidacy criteria that must be met, you’ll need to visit our plastic surgeons for a consultation to conclusively determine whether a tummy tuck is the right procedure to address your goals. In some instances, our doctors may recommend a different body contouring procedure that may more effectively achieve your desired outcome.

Are You Done Having Children?

If you are thinking about having children in the future, you should factor these plans into the timing of your tummy tuck. Future family plans won’t rule you out as a tummy tuck candidate, but our plastic surgeons generally recommend that you wait until after having children to undergo your procedure.

During pregnancy, it’s common for your abdominal muscles to become stretched or torn. You may also develop stretch marks and loose, hanging skin in the abdominal region. These changes to your body can make it challenging to restore your pre-pregnancy stomach appearance. In addition, these changes can potentially negate the results achieved by a prior tummy tuck.

By waiting until after you’ve had children to undergo your procedure, you can not only restore your pre-pregnancy figure, but ensure that your results last much longer. A tummy tuck addresses many of the ways in which pregnancy impacts your body, making it an effective way to tighten abdominal muscles, improve the appearance of stretch marks and eliminate excess skin so that you can enjoy a beautiful midsection.

For these reasons, we always recommend that you discuss future pregnancy plans with our plastic surgeons during your consultation. This way, we can help you determine whether it is best to wait until you’ve finished this phase of your life before getting a tummy tuck.

Do You Need to Lose a Significant Amount of Weight?

It’s important to understand that a tummy tuck isn’t a tool for weight loss. It is a body contouring solution that can help you put the finishing touches on your weight loss efforts in order to look your best. There are several reasons why it’s important to achieve your weight loss goals before undergoing a tummy tuck:

• You’ll need to be able to maintain your ideal weight after surgery in order to ensure your results last a long time. Therefore, it’s important to make any necessary lifestyle changes prior to surgery to ensure you will be able to avoid gaining weight in the future.
• Achieving beautiful results requires a precise treatment plan, and our plastic surgeons will need to know the proper amount of excess skin and fat to remove. This can only be determined once you’ve achieved your weight loss goals.

If you’ve recently lost a lot of weight, you may find that your appearance doesn’t reflect your efforts. It’s common to experience loose, hanging skin in the stomach region after weight loss. For this reason, many men and women choose to undergo a tummy tuck to put the finishing touches on their weight loss efforts. The procedure can eliminate this excess skin, providing you with the toned midsection you worked so hard to achieve.

During your initial consultation, our plastic surgeons will review these factors with you to determine the right time for your tummy tuck.

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