Tummy tuck surgery is a hot topic in plastic surgery and one of the most popular cosmetic surgery operations performed around the globe today. There are different procedures which are used and if you are not familiar with them, it can be impossible to understand what you are hearing or reading about this area of plastic surgery.
This article aims to explain what a mini tummy tuck is, what benefits it aims to give patients, the way it generally performed and the ways in which it differs from the full tummy tuck operation. This can help you very quickly understand the essential differences between these two very different procedures.
The mini tummy tuck is likely to be advised only for patients looking to remove excess tissues between their belly button and the top of their bikini line (generally at the level of the pubic bone). A typical surgical candidate might be a lady who has had two or three pregnancies and finds it now impossible to regain tight abdominal muscles by using dieting and exercise that used to work for her. Patients of mature years also sometimes choose the operation as their abdominal muscles may naturally become less firm with time. Or it may be chosen by someone who has ongoing but mild fluctuations with their weight. Whatever the reason, everyone wants the same thing – a flatter, toned looking tummy again.
The surgery generally involves an incision of around 10 to 15 centimetres length being performed horizontally on the skin above the bikini line. Then the surgeon cuts away excess skin and any unwanted adipose (fatty) tissue, perhaps also employing liposuction during the operation. Liposuction means a cannula is manipulated within the adipose tissues to loosen them before they are entirely removed by suction through the body of the cannula for disposal. Patients with damage to their abdominal muscles can have them strengthened with suturing techniques during the same operation, for example, ladies with damage through multiple childbirths. Although it still uses incisions and tissue removal, the operation is different to a full tummy tuck in many respects.
The operation takes much less time on average then the full tummy tuck. It may last an hour or so, whereas the tummy tuck tends to push more over the two hours marker. The navel is generally not repositioned, whereas this is more often needed during the full tummy tuck and accounts for some of the reason why the time on the operating table is quite different. The incisions used also tend to be smaller than those for the full tummy tuck.
Despite the name, a mini tummy tuck is still a full blown operation under full anaesthesia. Any operation, cosmetic or not, carries risks that can never be eliminated from the equation, even with the best surgical team in the world. Good patient education by the surgical team before the operation is therefore ethically essential. This article should have informed you about the mini tummy tucks effects, how it is generally performed, how it is different from the full tummy tuck and that it still carries risks despite its friendly sounding name. To obtain more precise information, of course, patients need to see their doctor and/or their surgeon.
RS Brown blogs as part of determined team writing calm balanced words on services people try to feel younger and more attractive. The team expose the benefits and the important risks of the tummy tuck surgery and give timely exposure to evidence on the contraversial world of medical tourism.