Hi Dr Hunt, I am 42 and am interested in a tummy tuck. I have never been overweight (55kgs/164cm) but two pregnancies have left a pot belly, despite 4 years at the gym and good eating. I have seen a surgeon who will do lipo but advises I will be left with saggy skin and recommends a tummy tuck. The scar that goes with this REALLY turns me off and I was interested in your endoscopic tummy tuck. I realise this doesn't remove skin but would rather live with some loose skin than a scar that size. What rules someone out as a candidate for endoscopic tummy tucks? Will endoscopic tummy tuck achieve a greater result than lipo alone? Thanks.
There are a number of different tummy tucks and using the right one for each patient is the answer. It is true that liposuction of the abdomen will leave excess loose skin and that a skin tightening tummy tuck may be needed to achieve a flat stomach. A mini tummy tuck will remove some skin from below the tummy buttom only and has a shorter scar which is located down low just above the pubis. An endoscopic tummy tuck will leave the same scar as skin often needs to be removed, but adds tightening of the loose abdominal muscles. This is opposed to a full or radical abdominoplasty that will remove all the loose skin between pubis and tummy button and so has a longer scar.