Tummy tuck surgery (“abdominoplasty”), a popular outpatient procedure for both men and women, can dramatically improve your appearance and enhance body contour.

Tummy tuck can tighten abdominal muscles, flatten your abdomen and reduce excess fat and unsightly stretch marks that often result from dramatic weight loss or pregnancy and cannot be resolved by diet and exercise.

Ideal Candidates For Tummy Tuck

A good candidate for tummy tuck has one or more of these:

• Sagging or excess abdominal skin
• A protruding abdomen out of proportion to the rest of your body
• Separated or weakened abdominal muscles
• Excess fat around your abdomen

Tummy Tuck Consultation

Dr. Minniti determines whether you’re a good candidate for this procedure during your initial consultation. After reviewing your medical history, the doctor examines you for signs of other pathologies and recommends the best surgical or non-surgical options.

Surgical Techniques

With his experience and knowledge, Dr. Minniti determines what techniques will achieve your goals. The standard procedure requires a horizontal incision within or above the pubic area whose length varies depending on your abdomen’s structure and style of undergarments or bathing suits you wear.

If you have loose skin above the navel, an incision may be made above the navel and excess skin or fatty tissue reduced or pulled down. Stretch marks may be repositioned into the lower abdomen, often resulting in an improved appearance.

The underlying muscle can be tightened to improve the flatness of the abdomen.

Mini Tummy Tuck

Where incisions are made and what techniques are used are choices your doctor makes based on years of experience. When possible, the doctor uses a less invasive technique known as a “mini tummy tuck”, requiring a lower, less extensive incision and often combined with liposuction to reduce fat.

Preparation

You’ll receive detailed pre-operative instructions from the doctor. If you smoke, stop smoking well in advance of the surgery. Avoid aspirins or other anti-inflammatory medications.

Make arrangements for someone to drive you home, stay with you overnight, and drive you to Dr. Minniti’s office the next day. If you require more extensive post-surgical care, the doctor will refer you to an aftercare facility near the surgery center staffed by registered nurses.

Surgery

Surgery is performed in Dr. Minniti’s office building in an accredited surgical facility in Beverly Hills, CA. An experienced anesthesiologist administers a general anesthesia so you sleep through the procedure. You’ll be closely monitored for one or two hours after surgery.

Small tubes placed beneath the abdominal skin drain excess fluids and pump anesthetic medication possibly reducing your discomfort. Gauze dressings cover the wound; your abdomen is held in shape with an elastic binder.

When your recovery room nurse clears you, you may be able to go home or to an aftercare facility overnight.

Recovery

Taking short walks the day after surgery may  improve circulation. Straining, bending, lifting, and sitting for long periods of time should be avoided for several days; this may increase swelling or cause bleeding.

Dressings are changed the day after surgery by Dr. Minniti. You return to Dr. Minniti’s office three days after surgery to examine the anesthetic catheter and drains. The compression binder possibly comes off one or two weeks after surgery.

Time for recovery varies depending on the extent of your abdominoplasty and your physical condition. You may be able to return to work 1-3 weeks after surgery and possibly resume most normal activities including mild exercise after a few weeks. There may be mild discomfort, swelling or numbness in the abdomen for a few weeks. Report severe pain to your doctor.

Risks & Complications

You can avoid surgical complications by carefully following the doctor’s instructions. Potential risks include fluid that accumulates under the skin, which can be reduced but requires several visits to the doctor.

More serious complications include bleeding, infection, and reactions to anesthesia. Tissue loss along parts of the horizontal incision is also possible, particularly when surgery is extensive, which can delay healing and prolong recovery. Revisionary surgery is helpful when incisions have healed poorly.

Diabetes or other medical conditions and smoking increase your risk of serious complications.

Results

Tummy tuck may enhance your body contour. With a flat tummy, you may be more comfortable in your clothing and more confident about your appearance.

Incision lines may fade over time. The doctor takes care to position them in places possibly concealed by bathing suits and undergarments.

Your abdomen may remain firmer for years unless you gain or lose a significant amount of weight or undergo pregnancy after tummy tuck.

The doctor’s office, conveniently located in Beverly Hills (Los Angeles), offers complimentary parking.

See Dr. Minniti's Before & After Tummy Tuck Photos Here

Contact Us to discuss your plans for a Tummy Tuck.