ABDOMINOPLASTY - LIPOABDOMINOPLASTY (TUMMY TUCK)

Abdominoplasty is the general name of the procedures performed to shape the sagging abdominal skin and the anterior abdominal wall that has lost its aesthetic appearance.  Diet and exercise cause slimming of the abdominal region and waist, while elimination of the saggy skin and the loosened anterior abdominal wall is not possible in most of the time.

In abdominoplasty, it’s aimed to remove some fat tissue also together with the excess and saggy abdominal skin.  Additionally, tightening procedure is also applied for the anterior abdominal wall, leading to slimming of your waist and obtaining an appearance in harmony with your body.  With this procedure, it’s also possible to get rid of the cracks (stria) (generally under the belly button; under umbilicus) in abdominal skin.

AM I CONVENIENT FOR ABDOMINAL AESTHETICS?

Abdominal aesthetics can be applied to both women and men.  Saggy abdominal skin may exist especially in individuals with insufficient skin elasticity who lose excessive weight, and in women who have given birth to a baby.    In these individuals, loosening of the anterior abdominal wall (diastasis recti) can be usually seen in combination with excess skin. Both of these states can be treated with abdominoplasty.

The most important point that has to be known about this operation is the fact that it’s not a procedure for losing weight.  Similarly, procedure of fat removal (liposuction) is not a procedure for losing weight, also.  The common aim of both procedures is to correct the body contours (lines).  In order to undergo abdominoplasty surgery, it’s suggested to be at your ideal body weight.  Otherwise, the waist slimming techniques may not be effective on you, since if you have excessive body weight, fattening around your intraabdominal organs will persist, and it’s impossible to intervene the inside of abdomen (around organs) with this operation.  Therefore it’s suggested that your body mass index (body weight/square of your height) has to be ideally below 25.

Another important point for undergoing abdominoplasty is not smoking cigarettes. Smoking cigarettes may impair your skin circulation.  Therefore Prof. Dr. Kamburoğlu does not perform abdominoplasty in the patients smoking cigarettes.  It’s suggested that you had stopped smoking for a period of at least 4 weeks.

In planning this operation, it’s too important to know if the person will get pregnant again or not.  Since, pregnancy may reverse the outcomes of this operation.  Nevertheless, if there’s a long period as 10 years between your plannings of surgery and pregnancy, you may undergo abdominoplasty with non-permanent suturing techniques. Thus the future pregnancy that you plan to realize after 10 years would not be affected anyway.  However in this case, your abdomen may return to its pre-operative appearance after pregnancy, and an operation may be needed again.  Therefore if there’s a short period as 1 to 2 years between your plannings of surgery and pregnancy, it’s suggested to realize your pregnancy first and give birth to a healthy baby, and to undergo this operation afterwards.

The outcome of surgery is permanent as long as your body weight is kept constant.  Therefore it’s quite important to support the outcome of this operation with diet and sports, and not to gain weight.  After the operation, you may make non-strenuous sports as running within 1 month, and strenuous sports as fitness within 3 months.

ABDOMINOPLASTY

Before the operation, you’ll be examined in detail by Prof. Dr. Haldun Kamburoğlu At the end of this examination, you’ll make a decision together about the abdominal aesthetics technique that will be most convenient for you.  The followings are the techniques which may be applied for abdominal aesthetics:

Liposuction: The procedures of classical, laser-aided or ultrasound-aided liposuction have been described at the liposuction section of the aesthetic procedures.

Complete Abdominoplasty: In this procedure, all of the cracked and saggy tissues under the umbilicus are removed completely (the picture at the leftmost). Concomitantly, the loosening at your anterior abdominal wall is eliminated, which leads to slimming of your waist (the second picture from left). Your abdomen is lifted downwards (the third picture from left), and your umbilicus is removed together with your downwardly lifted abdominal skin, at the same level (picture at the rightmost).

Complete Abdominoplasty with Liposuction (Lipo-abdominoplasty): In this technique, in addition to the procedures described above, liposuction is applied concomitantly to all abdominal area and waist. A more refined and natural outcome is obtained in this way.

Mini Abdominoplasty: This technique is convenient for the patients who are not needed to make an intervention for the tissues above umbilicus.   The tissues located under umbilicus are removed, and if present, the loosening of the anterior abdominal wall existing below umbilicus is tightened from the inside.

In all these techniques, the incisions are designed so that they would remain under your bikini.  The scars heal so well that they are usually can not be noticed; however it has to be kept in mind that the wound healing is also affected by the genetic status, nutrition (especially vitamin C), additional diseases or some drugs.

HOW IS THE RECOVERY AFTER AN ABDOMINOPLASTY SURGERY?

The duration of hospitalization following this surgery is generally 1 to 2 days. Fine tubes called drains are used in order to prevent the accumulation of fluids at interior.   These fine tubes may be removed in about 1 to 2 days.   You can bathe 2 days after the removal of drains.  Nearly a three- to four-day dressing is sufficient in most of the patients. The products you’ll use for dressing will be described by Dr. Kamburoğlu at your discharge from the hospital.

If procedures as tightening of the anterior abdominal wall and waist slimming have been applied, it’s normal to have some pain after the operation.  This pain is relieved using special pain-control machines during your stay in hospital.  At your discharge from the hospital, the drugs prescribed for you are sufficient to relieve your pain.

It’s important to take into consideration your recovery phase following surgery, and to arrange your operation according to your social and professional lives. The patients of Dr. Kamburoğlu may return to their social lives on the 3rd day, and to their works at the 1st week.  It’s suggested not to gain weight following surgery, and to start making non-strenuous sports as running at the end of the 1st month.

You may directly communicate with us to get more information about the Abdominoplasty in Ankara.

We wish you healthy and happy days.