Congratulations! You’ve finally declared victory in your weight loss efforts and now you want to show off your great results. But sagging belly skin stands in the way.
Or, perhaps you’ve been through your last pregnancy and your tummy has some extra folds of skin that haven’t bounced back.
Unfortunately, these reminders of your larger self — in the form of loose abdominal skin folds — won’t usually go away on their own, no matter how many sit-ups you perform. But there is another way with a tummy tuck.
Cosmetic Surgery Center’s Dr. Trent Fogleman has performed scores of tummy tucks procedures, (also called abdominoplasty), helping his patients to achieve the flat bellies of their dreams.
Here’s a look at how a tummy tuck can put some final touches on your weight loss.
We outlined a couple scenarios above, and those are the two main drivers behind the nearly 162,000 tummy tuck procedures that are performed each year in the United States — weight loss and post-pregnancy body changes. And we believe that this number is going to rise as new drugs are hitting the market that are helping make a big dent in the weight problem in the US.
Nearly 1 in 3 American adults are overweight and 2 out of 5 tip the scales into obesity, and these numbers have remained fairly constant in recent years. Thanks to the new weight loss and diabetes medications, we expect (or at least hope) to see them start to fall.
While getting to a smaller size is certainly great, there can be some lasting effects from carrying extra pounds or going through pregnancy — loose belly skin.
Like a rubber band, this skin has been stretched beyond its limits to bounce back, and no amount of toning exercises will tighten up these folds. But we can with a tummy tuck.
While tightening up loose abdominal skin is the primary goal of a tummy tuck, we go about it in a comprehensive way to give you results that last.
For example, during a typical tummy tuck, we make an incision low on your belly and roll your abdominal skin upward. With your belly exposed, we make any necessary adjustments, such as removing excess fat through liposuction and restoring weakened abdominal muscles.
Often, when you gain weight quickly, such as during pregnancy, your abdominal muscles can separate, making it difficult for you to restore a flat abdomen. This is why many women include a tummy tuck as part of their mommy makeover after they’re done having children.
Once everything beneath your skin is ready, we draw your abdominal skin back down, remove the excess tissue, and reattach the two ends to create a tauter, tighter belly.
Then, after a recovery period of a few weeks, you’ll be ready to show off the full effects of the new, smaller you.
If you have more questions about the tummy tuck and whether it’s the right procedure for your body-shape goals, we invite you to contact our office in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to schedule a consultation.
