Abdominoplasty Gallery

A mother of 1 in her mid 40’s who has always been bothered by fullness of her abdomen, even when younger, but now this is worse since her pregnancy.

She is bothered by bulging in fitted clothing and would also like to be able to wear a 2 piece bathing suit.  She had an external laser treatment to reduce fat in her stomach somewhere else but said this was painful and didn’t work.  Sh has also had cool sculpting to her inner thighs, again, without improvement.

She is shown before and again, 7 months after a lipo-abdominoplasty along with liposuction of her medial thighs.  Her weight is up 10 lbs since surgery ( now 5’4” and 150 lbs) but she maintains an excellent contour of the stomach.

Discussion.  Her abdominal skin has excess fat with a caliper pinch of 4.5 cm  I find 3 cm or less to be more idea.  Liposuction can be done separately as another procedure but in some cases can be cautiously added at the time of the abdominoplasty to thin the layer more and give a better result, as we did here.  Despite a significant weight gain she has maintained her contour in the abdomen.

A nurse and mother of 2 in ther later 30’s who had polyhydramnios with her second pregnancy and became quite large.  She has an umbilical hernia, a ventral hernia and a large diastasis of the rectus muscles.  She is frequently asked if she is still pregnant.  She is shown before and again, 6 months after abdominoplasty combined with umbilical hernia repair.

A mother of 3 in her mid 30’s who is bothered by the appearance of her stomach and the shape of her hips after her pregnancies.  She is shown before and again, 4 ½ months after abdominoplasty combined with liposuction of her hips and flanks using power assisted liposuction and the S.A.F.E. technique..  (Separation/Aspiration/Fat Equalization)

Exparel was used to limit postoperatibe pain. Tattoos are blurred for her privacy

A mother of 1 in her mid 40’s who was bothered by fullness of her abdomen before pregnancy but even more since her pregnancy.  She has tried a laser fat reducing procedure in a spa elsewhere but described it as painful and stated that it didn’t work.

She has also had cool sculpting elsewhere to her inner thighs but did not notice an improvement.

She is shown before and again 4 ½ months after lipo-abdominoplasty combined with liposuction of the inner thighs.  She can expect continued improvement in swelling over the next 2 months but is already thrilled with her improvement and just got back from a beach vacation where she felt happy to be comfortable wearing a bathing suit.

A mother of 3 in her mid 30’s who is bothered by the appearance of her abdomen as well as “muffin tops” fullness in her hips.  She is shown before and again, just 6 weeks after abdominoplasty combined with power assisted liposuction of her hips.  Close inspection of her preoperative photo will show that her umbilicus ( belly button) is deviated to her right.  At the time of surgery I used a “plumb line” suture to guide the plication of her loose muscle wall to bring it back to the midline.  Scars are typically at their worst at 6 weeks and there is also swelling in the abdomen and flanks.  The swelling generally resolves by 6 months and the scar continues to fade and improve for 2 years.  She is already thrilled with her improvement and loves being able to grab something from her closet and not worry about whether or not it will hide the bulging of her abdomen that she had after her three pregnancies. She had a breast reduction with us at the age of 18, and it has held up well through her pregnancies.  Tattoos have been blurred for her privacy

A nurse in her mid 50’s and mother of 4, including twins, who is bothered by bulging and looseness of the abdomen after pregnancy.  She had a breast reduction with us 15 years  before.  She is shown before and again, 8 ½ months after an extended abdominoplasty.  She had a history of a primary relative with an unexplained blood clot so she was treated in the postoperative period with Lovenox per the University of Michigan protocol, and had an uneventful postoperative course

There is a small vertical scar in the lower abdomen from the original opening around her umbilicus/ this allowed us to place her main horizontal scar in a “thong” position where it is low enough to be hidden by her clothing.

A mother of 1 in her early 40’s who is bothered by bulging of her abdomen. Although she is not significantly overweight at a BMI of 28, she has excess fat in the abdominal area. She is 4’(“ and 129lbs and is shown before and again, just 6 weeks after an extended lipoabdominplasty with the removal of 2 liters of fat and 1440 grams of skin from her lower abdomen. Scars are typically at their worst at 6 weeks and then will fade and improve over the next 2 years. There is significant swelling still at 6 weeks that typically takes 6 months to resolve. She is already thrilled with her early result and at 6 weeks is eager to resume her zoomba classes!

A nurse and mother of 2 in her early 40’s who had a gastric bypass and lost 126 lbs. She is shown 13 months after mastopexy/brachioplasty and 5 months after Fleur de Lis abdominoplasty with the creation of a new umbilicus. She is thrilled with her new contour. Scars will typically continue to fade and improve for 3 years. A fleur-de-lis abdominoplasty trades a vertical scar for additional tightening of the upper abdomen in a vertical direction.

An early follow-up on A mother of 2 in her mid 30’s who has had 6 pregnancies and 4 miscarriages. She is troubled by the wrinkled appearance of her abdominal skin as well as bulging of the abdomen which makes it difficult for her to wear fitted clothes. She mentions that each time that she looks at her abdomen, it reminds her of the many miscarriages.
She is shown before and again, just 7 weeks after abdominoplasty. It is important to place the scar in a low, “thong” position even if it means closing the umbilical aperture as a small vertical slit in the lower abdomen. Scars typically get thicker for 6 weeks and then begin to fade and improve over the next 2 years. Swelling, especially in the lower abdomen takes 6 months to resolve after surgery.
Already she is thrilled with her early result. She shared with me that she finally had the confidence to apply for a job that she wanted and got it!