Situations such as giving birth or bariatric surgery that make people lose weight quickly can cause sagging of the skin in the abdominal area. In such cases, a procedure known as the tummy tuck is applied. This procedure involves removing the excess skin in the abdominal area and tightening the muscles under the skin. Thus, the abdominal area is made flat and smooth. However, some candidates wonder whether the skin in the abdominal area will be loose after the operation or not. Is loose skin after tummy tuck normal? What precautions should be taken against such a situation? What should be done? All the details are in our article.
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Why Do Some Women Still Have Loose Skin After Tummy Tuck?
The Tummy tuck procedure provides complete tightening of this area. However, some candidates have significant skin laxity in other parts of the midriff area; this may cause loose skin after the tummy tuck.
After bariatric surgery, an incision should be made around the entire circumference of the abdomen to remove sagging and looseness due to weight loss. And excess skin should be removed from this incision. This procedure which is called arch lipectomy largely meets the expectations. However, sometimes skin folds in the side areas can cause the formation of parts that cannot be removed with a tummy tuck. These are the main reasons why the skin remains loose after the tummy tuck.
What is the Definitive Solution for Sagging Skin after Tummy Tuck?
If sagging skin occurs after the tummy tuck, different methods can be applied to eliminate them. These non-surgical methods mentioned here are effective in tightening the abdominal area. However, it should not be forgotten that these methods are not a solution for excessive skin sagging.
Time
Although it is not easy for you, the first thing you should do at this point is to be patient. The Tummy tuck is a very comprehensive surgery and accordingly, the recovery time is long. So you need to give your body time to heal. In the first periods after surgery, it is almost inevitable to have swelling and similar conditions in your abdominal area. For this reason, it is very important to know that what you see is not the exact result. Please remember that you have to wait at least 6 months to see the definitive results.
The presence of swelling can cause the skin to appear tight. As the swellings go away over time, sagging may occur in the skin after the tummy tuck. Therefore, it is extremely important to wait for the swelling to go away before evaluating the results.
Over time, your body will heal and the sagging skin may recover and disappear. You should not consider skin sagging after a tummy tuck as a serious problem before the healing process is completed or without guidance from your doctor.
Exercise
Strengthening the muscles in the abdominal area by doing exercises for this part can help to eliminate sagging. You can ensure that the effects of the surgery become permanent and your abdominal area look tighter with exercise. The exercise will cause fat burning. Besides, it will help the muscles and skin to look tighter. These effects can provide permanent elimination of the sagging that occurs after surgery.
Exercising is effective in getting rid of these problems, but the recovery process must be completed before starting to exercise. Patients should not exercise for the first 3 weeks and should start light exercises at the end of this period. Besides, exercises in this period should not be for the abdominal area. Abdominal exercises can be performed 6 weeks after the operation.
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Making Expectations Realistic
The result of the operation should be evaluated realistically. Some patients want no skin sagging after the tummy tuck. They can see even the slightest excess as a failure. However, even the thinnest people have their skin gathered in the abdominal area and sag slightly when bending forwards. Therefore, a realistic evaluation of the results can provide an understanding that there is no problem.
The Tummy tuck should be considered as a correction surgery, not as a procedure for making the abdomen area perfect. It should be kept in mind that there should be some skin in the abdominal area for actions such as sitting, standing up, and bending.
Revision
After the recovery process of Tummy tuck surgery is complete, if you are still not satisfied with your new abdominal area and you think you have too much sagging skin, you may need additional surgery. Sometimes, some loose skin may remain just above the incision area, and this can be easily corrected with additional surgery.
At this point, the most important thing is the trust in your surgeon. If you trust your surgeon, you may have the additional surgery in the same clinic. However, if your surgeon does not give you confidence anymore, it will be useful to meet with a different surgeon and get his opinion. We tried to give detailed information about the skin sagging after the Tummy tuck. You can also act in light of this information or contact us to solve your problem in the right way.
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