Scottsdale – Individuals desiring tummy tuck surgery, often times, request information on the best way to tighten the tummy muscles. There are a variety of ways to tighten the abdominal muscles, but the key is that most people require some sort of muscle tightening to obtain the best results from this type of cosmetic surgery.

The patient should discuss the goals of surgery during the plastic surgery consultation with their board certified plastic surgeon. The plan for the muscle tightening is developed at the time of the consultation. My philosophy is to carefully examine the patient and discuss realistic expectations. This includes a discussion on the best way to tighten to muscles and restore the anatomy to normal.

Men rarely require abdominal muscle tightening, unless they had major weight loss with or without bariatric surgery. During the discussion for plastic surgery after major weight loss, we will address muscle tightening in those men. In males, without significant weight loss, no muscle tightening is usually recommended. It is rare to recommend against muscle tightening in women.

Most women seeking tummy tuck surgery have had children and they have an obvious muscle separation that can be easily identified on physical examination. The separation occurs as the uterus expands to accommodate the baby, and is aided by the hormonal changes of pregnancy. The actual anatomy change that occurs is an expansion of the fascia (a thick layer of connective tissue) between the two rectus or “six-pack” muscles. When this anatomic change occurs, it is not reversible with exercise and diet alone. Unless plastic surgery is performed on the tummy muscles to bring them back into order, the problem will persist.

When the fascia expands, patients will see this as a “pot belly” or “pooch” that doesn’t go away and is especially noticeable when the client relaxes her tummy muscles.

Fortunately, abdominal muscle tightening with permanent sutures offers an excellent opportunity for correction of the tummy muscle weakness. In the average case, the technique incorporates a row of sutures that corrects the fascial expansion. Sutures are placed in the vertical fashion below and above the belly button, until the excess tissue is tightened. Normally, 2 layers of sutures are recommended. A detailed video demonstration of the tummy tuck procedure can be found here.

After about 6 weeks your body deposits enough collagen over the sutures to support the repair and allow the patient to have a long-lasting tight looking tummy. There are situations when the abdominal muscles could “loosen” back up if you are not careful:

  • If you smoke cigarettes.
  • If you gain weight.
  • If you have a collagen disorder.
  • If you have a large volume of fat inside the abdominal wall (apple shaped body).
  • If you do not follow the doctor’s instructions and perform vigorous exercise soon after surgery.

The tummy tuck procedure is one of the most popular operations performed at the AB Guerra Plastic Surgery Center, Scottsdale, Arizona. More blogs on this subject and other important topics will be posted in the near future.