Losing a large amount of weight is a major achievement, whether you reached your goal through diet and exercise, weight loss medication, or bariatric surgery. For many of the people I see in my practice, that achievement comes with a frustrating physical reality. Once the weight is gone, the skin
A fleur de lis abdominoplasty is a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) that removes excess skin in both vertical and horizontal directions. A standard abdominoplasty uses a horizontal incision low across the abdomen to remove skin that hangs downward. The fleur de lis adds a vertical incision up the midline, which allows
Dual vector abdominoplasty is an operation I developed for post weight loss patients whose excess abdominal skin runs in more than one direction and extends into the upper abdomen and lower chest. It combines a Fleur de Lis abdominoplasty with an upper abdominal lipectomy in a single operation, removing skin
A pubic lift (monsplasty), also called mons pubis reduction surgery, treats excess fat, excess skin, or a lowered position of the mons pubis. The mons pubis is the fatty pad that sits over the pubic bone, at the junction between the lower abdomen and the genital region. After significant weight
After pregnancy, the skin across the lower abdomen can stay stretched once the uterus has returned to its usual size. The 2 rectus abdominis muscles that run down the midline can also separate, a change called muscle separation (diastasis recti). Both are common after pregnancy and childbirth, and both are
In my practice, one of the questions I hear most often from women considering an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) after having children is whether liposuction is a separate operation added on top. It is not. In the majority of post pregnancy cases, ultrasound-assisted suction lipectomy (VASER liposuction) is part of the
After a post pregnancy abdominoplasty (tummy tuck), the incision runs low across the lower abdomen and heals under some tension once the loose skin has been removed and the remaining skin drawn down and closed. How that closed incision is dressed and supported in the first week is part of
Many women notice that the skin across the lower abdomen stays loose well after their most recent pregnancy, sometimes 2 years on or more. This is a normal variation. Pregnancy stretches the abdominal skin and the wall beneath it across 9 months, and how far things settle afterwards differs a
Pregnancy stretches the skin of the abdomen and separates the abdominal muscles (diastasis recti) down the midline. For many women these changes settle in part over time, and for some they do not. When a patient decides on an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) after pregnancy, one of the practical questions that
This is a step by step account of one body contouring operation I performed for a post pregnancy patient. It is written to show what actually happens during surgery, stage by stage, using photographs taken during the case. Every patient is different, and this account describes one person’s operation, not