Mini Tummy Tuck Before and After Transformations

44-year-old female underwent BBL revision to correct poor lower lateral buttock fullness and to provide her a more aesthetically pleasing lower back to buttock transition. Patient also tolerated HD VASER liposuction of the abdomen, flanks, lower back, upper back, and scar revision of the abdomen with an abdominal flap advancement and mini tummy tuck.

What a mini tummy tuck removes

A mini tummy tuck before and after comparison is a lower-abdomen comparison. Mini abdominoplasty takes excess skin and fat below the belly button in a person who does not need a full tummy tuck. The useful candidate is already close to a stable weight and still has a lower-abdominal problem that diet and exercise have not changed. The operation uses a smaller incision than a full abdominoplasty, and it does not reposition the navel, so there is no scar around the navel from moving it.

The skin that comes out runs from below the belly button down to just above the pubic area. Dr. Sabo describes that field, and the operation that removes it, as typically lasting 1 to 3 hours. A ride home is arranged before surgery, because driving is not permitted after anesthesia. The procedure itself is a mini tummy tuck.

The examination is a pinch and a look at where the looseness stops. Thin skin below the belly button, with little fat, is a skin problem. Thick fullness that is still elastic may be fat, and fat alone is not a reason to cut skin out. Looseness that continues above the navel is not solved by a lower-only excision. Weight that is still changing is a reason to wait, because skin that has been tightened can be stretched again.

The photograph is a combined case, not a diagram of the incision. It shows a BBL revision for poor lower lateral buttock fullness and for the transition from the lower back to the buttock, HD VASER liposuction of the abdomen, flanks, lower back, and upper back, scar revision of the abdomen with an abdominal flap advancement, and a mini tummy tuck. The buttock change and the VASER of the trunk are part of the same plan as the lower-abdomen skin removal. A reader who looks only for a flat lower abdomen still has to read the buttock and the liposuction in the same picture.

Swelling is why a mini tummy tuck before and after photograph is not the final contour on the day of surgery. Most people return to daily activity in two weeks or less. Complete healing takes several months, and the remaining swelling settles over that time. An early photograph still holds some of that swelling.

Scar revision with an abdominal flap advancement means an older abdominal scar is carried with the skin this operation already advances toward the pubic area. The buttock revision corrects the lower lateral fullness and the transition from the lower back. Those steps share one anesthetic with the lower-abdomen excision. They are separate contours, and the scar on the lower abdomen does not explain the buttock.

How the mini operation differs from a full tummy tuck

A full tummy tuck often removes more skin and fat and tightens muscle across the entire abdomen. That muscle tightening is a plication, used when the abdominal wall has separated into a diastasis. The mini operation removes less skin and less fat, because its field is the lower abdomen only. How those two operations divide the abdomen is the difference in a mini versus full tummy tuck.

Leaving the navel where it is does not mean the muscles were ignored by accident. The change this operation is built for is loose skin and fat below the belly button. Whether any muscle tightening belongs in a particular mini operation is a separate exam, covered with whether a mini tummy tuck tightens muscle. A full tummy tuck remains the operation when skin and muscle laxity cross above the navel.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons describes abdominoplasty as removal of excess abdominal skin and fat, with tightening of the abdominal wall when that wall is weak. That description is the full operation. The mini operation on this page is the smaller skin-and-fat removal below the belly button, without moving the navel.

The scar and the first weeks

The scar is small and sits below the bikini line, where underwear or a swimsuit can cover it. It is lower and shorter than the scar of a full abdominoplasty because less skin is removed and the navel is not moved. How that line is expected to settle is discussed with the tummy tuck scar.

For about two weeks the trunk stays bent at the waist. That posture keeps tension off the incision while the closure is new. Standing fully straight in those first days pulls on the repair. A compression garment is then worn continuously for six weeks. The garment helps fluid drain and supports the tissues while they heal.

Walking soon after surgery, and compression stockings when the surgeon recommends them, is how blood-clot risk is lowered. Clots are a risk after this operation, and they are less common than after a larger abdominal operation. The garment and the bent posture are the recovery plan. They are part of protecting the closure, starting the day of surgery.

Daily activity at two weeks is a return to short walks and desk work, with the garment still on. It is not a finished contour, and it is not a return to exercise that loads the abdomen. The several months of settling are when the swelling leaves and the lower abdomen shows the shape the excision was meant to leave. Judging the operation in the first fortnight judges the swelling.

What the settled result depends on

A mini tummy tuck before and after change is often on the order of 1 to 2 clothing sizes. The amount varies with the person and with how much lower-abdominal skin and fat were actually removed. Size change is not a promise that every closet drops by the same amount.

The result is generally long-lasting when weight stays stable. A large weight gain can stretch the remaining skin again. Childbirth and a large weight loss are common reasons the lower skin was loose in the first place, and the same stretch can return if weight swings after surgery. Follow-up visits are when a healing problem is seen early, including a scar that is pulling or a contour that is still swollen.

Mayo Clinic describes a tummy tuck as removal of extra abdominal skin and fat and repair of weakened muscles. On this page the skin-and-fat removal is the mini field below the belly button. Muscle repair across the whole abdomen is the full operation's added step, not the change a lower-only skin excision is asked to produce. Skin removal is the step that takes the fold. Heat and exercise do not delete skin that has already been stretched past retraction.

Risks named for this operation

Infection can follow the incision, as it can after other operations. Many infections are treated with antibiotics. A severe infection can need further care, including a return to the hospital. Wound care as directed is what lowers that risk. Healing can also leave a thicker scar or a change in skin sensation around the incision. Those sensation changes are less common, and they are still part of the consent.

General anesthesia can cause nausea or vomiting, and it can cause a more serious allergy or a breathing problem. The medical history is reviewed with the surgeon and the anesthesiologist before the day of surgery so those risks can be planned for. The fee for this operation, including how added procedures change it, is kept on the mini tummy tuck cost page rather than guessed from a photograph.

Who the operation is for

What qualifies

A mini tummy tuck before and after plan fits minimal excess skin and fat in the lower abdomen. It is the option when a full abdominoplasty is not required. Minor skin laxity and extra fat below the belly button are the findings. Skin and muscle laxity above the navel are not.

People who ask for this operation have usually already tried diet and exercise. The lower fold remains because it is skin, or a small amount of fat under skin that will not retract. A full abdominoplasty is the conversation when the upper abdomen is loose or the muscles are separated across the whole wall. Choosing the lower field when the problem sits above the navel leaves that upper problem in place.

How long it lasts

The contour lasts when weight is held steady with diet and regular exercise. The surgery does not lock the weight. A later pregnancy or a large regain can loosen the lower skin again.

What the clothing size means

Often the change is 1 to 2 clothing sizes, and often it is not, because the starting skin and fat differ. The examination, not a size chart, decides whether the lower abdomen is the right field.