What is a Tummy Tuck?

A Tummy Tuck, or Abdominoplasty is a procedure for women who wish to have their loose skin around the tummy area tightened up. Dr. Foster serves patients in Reno, Nevada, in addition to his offices in Lake Tahoe and Sacramento, for Tummy Tucks and other procedures.

The Tummy Tuck procedure is carried out in small, medium and large versions, depending on the needs of the patient. A mom who has finished having babies may like to have her loose tummy skin tightened up again. Or, a woman who has undergone drastic weight loss after a gastric bypass may have an apron of loose skin hanging down almost all the way to the knees. In such a case, the size of the procedure could be three times the size of a smaller woman, and it may take two or three times as long to do the surgery.

As a part of the procedure, Dr. Foster cuts off all the loose skin between the belly button and the pubic hairline, and pretty much from one hipbone to the other. The surgery also removes all the fat that is attached to the skin. However, this does not mean that a Tummy Tuck is all about excising the skin and fat. A major part of the benefit comes from the replacement of abdominal muscles back into their original position prior to the pregnancy. Just one pregnancy will spread the muscles which as a result will go up and down on the front side of the abdomen. Exercising cannot help bring back those muscles to give a flat abdomen. A Tummy Tuck procedure helps to do that, and unless the patient becomes pregnant again, it will stay that way for the rest of her life.

There is also a new version of the Tummy Tuck that can help women wear bikinis without showing a scar. In such a procedure, the scar falls right in the groin, and the surgeon actually removes an inch to two inches of the hair bearing part of the pubic area. This way, the scar, even though it is a fine line, gets concealed under the bikini.

Back to tummy tuck home page