Pregnancy stretches the abdominal skin and can separate the abdominal muscles down the midline. It can also change the position and shape of the belly button (umbilicus). These are normal changes after having children, and many women settle back close to how they were before. In others, some of the
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
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
In Australia, about 1.5% of women who give birth have a multiple pregnancy, and almost all of these are twins (1). Carrying more than one baby stretches the abdominal wall further than a single pregnancy, so separation of the abdominal muscles (diastasis recti) tends to be both more common and
One of the most common questions I hear from women after having children is how soon they can have abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) surgery. It is a fair question, and the answer is that there is no single number that fits everyone. Timing is a clinical decision. It depends on your
In Australia, a post pregnancy abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) usually costs somewhere between about $6,000 and $30,000 or more. That is a wide range, and it is wide for good reasons. The final figure depends on the operation you actually need, whether a Medicare item number applies to your muscle repair,
Losing a large amount of weight is a real achievement. Whether you reached your goal through bariatric surgery, weight loss medications, or sustained changes to diet and exercise, the effort involved is considerable. Many of the patients I see in my practice have lost 30, 50, or more than 70
Why loose skin develops on the abdomen and back after weight loss When you lose a large amount of weight, the skin that was stretched over your abdomen and back for years often does not shrink back to fit your new shape. The skin has lost some of its elasticity