Tummy-tuck vs Liposuction
Even after dieting and exercise have helped you reach your ideal weight, many people are plagued by a small amount of extra fat or too-loose skin around their midsection. Liposuction and tummy tucks can both help improve body contour, but how to know which one is the best for you? Let’s break it down together.
What is a Tummy Tuck?
A tummy tuck, also known as an abdominoplasty, is a surgical procedure that removes excess, stretched, or sagging skin from the abdomen in order to restore a flatter, tighter abdomen. A tummy tuck can also help to repair weakened or stretched abdominal muscles. Sagging, stretched “flaps” of skin around the stomach can result from pregnancy, aging, and significant weight loss. Liposuction may not be the best treatment in these cases because the excess skin is better addressed with procedures such as a tummy tuck.
Candidates for tummy tucks have often:
– Lost weight already through dieting and exercising or weight loss surgery.
– Been dealing with stretched, sagging, and loose skin caused by weight loss or pregnancy.
– Always had a protruding belly, even when they’re in the best shape.
– Experienced one or more pregnancies.
What is Liposuction?
Liposuction is a minimally invasive surgical treatment that suctions extra fat away from the body permanently. When it comes to cussed deposits of stomach fat, there are few treatments which could deliver results like liposuction. Though liposuction is not supposed to be considered a weight loss alternative, it is a first-rate treatment for spot-reduction of exercise-resistant fat stores that typically develop around the stomach.
Liposuction is ideal for people already at or very near their target weight with good skin elasticity and muscle tone, removing isolated fat deposits in a variety of targeted areas including the abdomen, chest, and hips. Liposuction does, however, offer relatively short recovery times.
Tummy Tuck vs. Liposuction
The best choice for you is based on a number of factors unique to your body and goals. Both a tummy tuck and liposuction can deliver great results for achieving a flatter, leaner abdomen. To answer the question of which treatment is right for you comes down to the issue of excess skin versus excess fat.
Liposuction: Fat removal and reduction
Tummy-tuck: Skin reduction and abdominal muscle repair
You may benefit from liposuction treatment if you:
– Are in good overall health
– Do not have sagging skin around the abdomen
– Have excellent skin elasticity
You may be better served by a tummy tuck if you:
– Are in good, overall health, close to your ideal body weight
– Have a “paunch” or excess flab of sagging skin around the abdomen
– Have completed your last pregnancy
– Are open to a surgical procedure that will involve significant recovery time
