Liposculpture Guide

What is a Mini Tummy Tuck?

benq — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 03:47:26 +0000

A mini tummy tuck is a cosmetic surgery designed to reduce excess fat and skin around the waist while at the same time firm up the abdominal area. It’s popularly used as a method of removing loose skin following pregnancy and birth or as a means to removing excessively saggy skin that can come about if a person quickly loses a large amount of weight.

The technical or proper name for a mini tummy tuck is “abdominoplasty”.

The procedure is done by making an incision above the pubic area. The skin and fat around the lowers abs are then detached. Extra or excess skin is then removed and the remaining skin is stretched down. This newly stretched skin is the put back into place and stitched together with the surrounding skin where the incision was originally made.

Depending on the physical appearance and desire of the patient, the cosmetic surgeon or doctor may also move the belly button lower as to make it appear in a more natural spot following the removal of so much skin. Sometimes the muscles of the abs (specifically, the fascia wall) are also tightened as part of the mini tummy tick procedure.

A mini tummy tuck is commonly combined with liposuction body contouring, wherein which fat is removed and the skin is stretched and sculpted to improve its appearance.

This type of surgery is known as outpatient surgery, meaning a patient is not kept overnight. The surgery takes up to 3 hours and after this, patients are sent home and should refrain from anything physical. The main or worst part of the mini tummy tuck recovery lasts about 2 weeks, although full recovery can sometimes take half a year. The first two weeks include strong swelling, pain, numbness and general discomfort in and around the abs, hips, and waist. These effects are temporary. Full recovery is posted at 6 months in the sense that at this point, a patient should feel no effects whatsoever from the surgery, even miniscule effects.

The cost of a mini tummy tuck varies by location, patient health, and the skill and reputation of the surgery. At the same time, since complimentary cosmetic surgery procedures such as liposuction are often combined with a mini tummy tuck, this can obviously greatly change the cost of the surgery bill.

The tummy tuck is by far more popular in women than in men, but men are becoming more and more inclined to consider such cosmetic surgery procedures in an effort to improve their appearance as well.

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Mini Tummy Tuck Recovery Information

benq — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 03:43:48 +0000

Like any surgery – whether it be for cosmetic reasons or health reasons, recovery is part and parcel a fact of the experience just as much as the procedure itself. Receiving a mini tummy tuck is no different and any patients having had this procedure will go through a post-surgical recovery period.

What can someone expect when dealing with recovering from a mini tummy tuck? To an extent, the health of the patient plays a role but there is a common narrative that follows basically all recovery times for a mini tummy tuck.

The surgery itself takes only a couple of hours. Patients are not kept in the hospital or operating room over night i.e. this is a outpatient surgery.

After the tummy tuck, patients are sent home should expect to experience the following side effects as part of their recovery:

Swelling of the area around the abdominals, hips, and waist. This swelling is temporary and perfectly normal.

Pain and Discomfort around the abdominals, hips, and waist.
While unpleasant, it’s a natural effect of the surgery to feel some pain and discomfort in the area that was treated. Again this is temporary and a normal part of the recovery experience.

This same area may also experience a level of numbness, strangely juxtaposed against the pain and discomfort simultaneously felt from the same area.

It’s common for doctors to prescribe prescription strength or extra strength over the counter pain medication for this discomfort, such as skelaxin, percocet, or vicodin.

At the same time, a patient will be wearing what is known as a compression garment in this area of the body. A compression garment is used to protect the area post-surgery. This will often be worn for usually two but on up to three weeks following a mini tummy tuck.

And along this time frame, recovery in general takes about 1 to 2 weeks. This means the pain and discomfort, along with the swelling, should subside within this time frame.

It’s recommended that patients avoid serious physical activity during recovery, as it could interfere with the body’s ability to heal itself, and, worst case scenario, could complicate the healing process or cause a problem.

Immediately following the outpatient surgery, patients are not expected to return to work and are advised to simply go home and relax. Some people may want to have a day or two off from work following surgery or schedule the surgery on a day when they do not have to go work thereafter, such as a Friday surgery followed by two days off for the weekend.

It’s also important to think ahead a bit for the immediate days following surgery and have any details taken care of in your day to day life that are necessary but may not contribute well towards recovery. By this it’s meant simple things, such as having groceries on hand, prepared meals (or someone else preparing meals), and having pets tended to so that the main focus on the patient is to simply relax and not push themselves.

All in all, compared to many other types of cosmetic surgery procedures, such as liposuction, the recovery period and recovery experience is comparitively mild for a mini tummy tuck.

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Mini Tummy Tuck Prices

benq — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 03:39:55 +0000

When looking at mini tummy tuck prices, there are multiple variables that effect the total cost of the surgery. Because of this, national averages relating the cost of a mini tummy tuck vary wildly.

For instance, the minimum cost of such a procedure is pegged at right under $2,000 at $1,800. At the other end of the cost spectrum, the maximum amount paid tops out around $6,000. All in the all, the average cost of the surgery is roughly $4,000. This is probably the best “rule of thumb” price or cost of surgery to take into consideration if you are researching the price of such a procedure.

The reason for such a discrepancy or range in price for the same procedure are due to many variables on a per person and per doctor (or clinic, etc) level. For instance, a patient with more skin and fat to remove is likely to end up with a higher bill versus someone with less skin to remove. Additionally, the overall location of the clinic relative to the local real estate market can greatly effect the price. This means that having a mini tummy tuck at a prestigious cosmetic surgery facility in Hollywood is going to cost far more than the same procedure in a smaller town of moderate real estate value. Also, the surgeons fee fluctuates greatly and can make up a considerable portion of the total cost.

Another factor to take into consideration is that many people compliment the results of a mini tummy tuck with other cosmetic surgery. For instance, liposuction may be used to assist in shaping the waist following a tummy tuck. This is known as body contouring. At the same time, many women consider this an opportunity to have work done on the shape or size of their breasts at the same time as the tummy tuck. This is known as breast augmentation. This additional services will add on thousands of dollars to the total cost of cosmetic surgery.

A final word on prices:

When it comes to cosmetic surgery, getting a “good deal” shouldn’t be so much a concern as getting the proper surgery and the results desired. When it comes to working, literally, with the body, cutting it open, etc, saving money isn’t where our energy should be focused!

The real concern is finding a qualified, reputable surgeon with the skill and expertise behind him or her that can give you the confidence you want that your surgery will result in your desired physical appearance, an expectation of realistic results obtainable from a procedure like a mini tummy tuck.

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Risks Inherent in a Mini Tummy Tuck

benq — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 02:54:15 +0000

Surgery is a major medical experience, and this certainly includes surgery done for aesthetic reasons (i.e. cosmetic surgery) along with health related surgical procedures.

Risks inherent in a mini tummy tuck include those risks inherent in all invasive surgeries. While rare, it’s important to be aware of such risks that patient faces when receiving the surgery for a mini tummy tuck.

Some of the risks or complications possible in the procedure include:

Infection from the Incision
Blood Loss and Bleeding from the Incision
Negative Reaction to the Anesthesia Used for Surgery
Slow or Delayed Wound Healing Resulting in Scarring of the Skin
Unfavorable and Unanticipated Reactions to Drugs Used for Surgery or Following Surgery (such as pain medication)

Let’s take a look at some of these risks in closer detail.

The possibility of an infection exists for all surgeries, and is something that certainly all surgeons are aware of and do everything possible to prevent. Methods or action which lower the risk of an infection include sterilization of equipment and the overall proper care and sanitation of the operating room and all instruments, tables, and anything else that comes into contact with the patient and tools used for surgery. Interestingly, an operating room that is somewhat warmer is beneficial in reducing the possiblity of infection as well.

These details relate to what the doctors do to keep infection at bay – but what are the patients responsibilities in this regard? The fact is that the majority of infection problems come about when the patient is sent home and then does not follow the doctors advice related to caring for the wounds, sutures, and garments worn following surgery.

Fever-like symptoms are an indication that the area is infected.

If the incisions take a very long time to heal, this can be considered a complication in multiple ways. One, it increases the time frame in which an infection could occur, and secondly, it can promote scarring of the skin.

Other risks such as blood clots and medication reactions are hard to pinpoint and often relate to the personal health history of the patient.

For these reasons, some patients to be may actually be disqualified for having a mini tummy tuck if the doctors find evidence that they are at an elevated level of risk for all these factors. Doctors will assess the risk factors of a patient during various pre-surgical consultation and tests. At this time it’s also important for the patient to ask any questions he or she may have related not just to the possible risks or complications from a mini tummy tuck, but how their current health and personal health history play into those risks and possible complications of mini tummy tuck surgery.

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Differences Between a Full and Mini Tummy Tuck

benq — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 02:50:26 +0000

The term tummy tuck has entered popular culture, much as the general term of liposuction is well known and understood by just about anyone today. But what about the specifics here of a tummy tuck. And more specifically, what is it that makes a mini tummy tuck different from a full tummy tuck?

The difference in large part relates to the scope and “size” of the work being performed. In a standard full tummy tuck, the initial incision made into the body is larger and more prominent, extending above the pubic area from one hip to the next. This results in a large portion of skin to work with, or, in other words, a larger portion of skin to remove.

Additionally, while the abdominal muscles may or may not always be tightened in a mini tummy tuck, in the course of performing a full tummy tuck, the doctors have the ability to access and tighten more muscle, more easily, than they do when performing a mini tummy tuck.

Another difference relates to the that of the belly button. Because a tummy tuck targets the excess skin around the waist, upon its removal, it’s common for the surgeons to move the belly button by creating a new belly button hole and reposition the belly button stalk to this new hole. When performing a full tummy tuck, this is always part of the procdure, whereas when performing a mini tummy tuck, the belly button may or may not be repositioned, as needed.

Other differences include how the surgery is combined with other procedures. Patients are more likely to extend the services of the surgeon performing a full tummy tuck with other cosmetic surgery procedures, such as work on the breasts (not simply breast implants necessarily but work effects the size as well as the shape of the breasts) and the removal of additional body fat (via liposuction).

Finally, another difference is in the cost of these two procedures. As you can imagine, the cost of a full tummy tuck runs highter than how much a mini tummy tuck costs.

The mini tummy tuck is truly a miniaturized version of the full tummy tuck, and many of the differences can be thought of in this way, with all the details being relative from one procedure to the other in scope, size, cost, and recovery.

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Is a Tummy Tuck Worth It?

benq — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 02:19:05 +0000

If you’ve looked around at the articles on this site, it’s clear there’s a lot to take in in regards to cosmetic surgery and how much it costs. Ultimately it’s really hard to come to a price quote that personally means anything unless that quote comes from a one to one evaluation between the doctor and the patient.

Is it all worth it? Are the effects of the tummy tuck surgery worth the price?

Many people seem to think so. While tummy tucks are the 5th most popular surgery (in the cosmetic surgery category), that still amounted to more than 145,000 people receiving a type of tummy tuck in just 2008 alone. (It’s interesting to note than the number one and two surgeries in the USA – breast augmentation and liposuction – saw more than double the amount of patients receiving these treatments, respectively.)

The tummy tuck came in as the 4th most popular invasive cosmetic procedure when the numbers look only at female customers. For men, it doesn’t even rank in the top 5. Interesting, the numbers show than 2008 had about 143,000 female tummy tuck customers, leaving just a few thousand out of the total number of procedures for male tummy tucks.

Recovery from a tummy tuck is often considered more mild and rapid than that of other surgeries, such as liposuction. For this reason, it’s popular, but either way, the degree of discomfort and length of the recovery period seems not to matter so much considering that liposuction is by far more popular than a tummy tuck.

Is is all worth it then to you?

This is a question that only a person can decide for themselves. The answer should come after careful research and consideration, and should also be finalized with thoughtful conversation and input between the doctor and the prospective patient. Additionally, it’s very important for a person to realize what the realistic results would be from their surgery. The majority of patients who are not satisfied with cosmetic surgery, be it liposuction, rhinoplasty, or a mini tummy tuck, is a misunderstanding of the results. This means they overestimate the effects of what the surgery can accomplish. If you do decide to seek a tummy tuck, take a careful look at before and after tummy tuck pictures, especially those done by the doctor whose services you will be using.

I hope the articles and information on this site are enough to get you started. In the end, it’s something that should be decided between a patient and a doctor.

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Other Factors Effecting Tummy Tuck Prices

benq — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 02:15:32 +0000

In part one of this article series, we address how the patients age and health effects the price of a tummy tuck. Now we will look at the clinic directly and what kind of fees we see here and how it relates to the cost of surgery and other bills the patient is ultimately responsible for.

Location Factors

The location of the clinic is a large factor in how they’ve structured their prices. This is true from the level of one country to the next, but also from one town to the next within a country or state. Places associated with cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery, such as LA, Hollywood, and Beverly Hills, have many, many doctors offering these services. In one perspective, the competition here could keep the prices down. Yet when factoring in the cost of living and high real estate values in this area, the cost is driven up. To this extent, a clinic in an “average” city is likely to offer lower prices than in a place such as Beverly Hill, despite their being many more cosmetic surgeons per capita in Los Angeles than elsewhere.

Clinic Fees

Other factors here relate to the surgeons fees. Surgeon charge a fee for their services and this fee is up to the surgeon or clinic themselves. In this regard, a doctor with a reputation and a big marketing campaign is likely to be able to charge more for his or her services.

Other fees include things such as garment fees, operating room fees, fees for the anesthesia, and fees for the person dispensing and monitoring the anesthesia – AKA the anesthesiologist. These types of fees will either be included in the fee for the tummy tuck or tacked on as separate fees in and off themselves. This is why a prospective patient should verify what’s included in the tummy tuck quote, as it doesn’t necessarily always tell “the whole story”.

Follow Up Services

After receiving a tummy tuck, a patient is going to visit the doctor once or more for an assessment of how the body is healing and doing post-surgery. This visits are going to cost the patient additional money. If the visits turn up a problem that needs to be addressed, again this is going to mean another expense that’s not part of the original tummy tuck price. Some clinics have a deal where corrective or follow up surgeries and visits may be part of the original value service – if so, be sure to verify, as this could mean a big difference in one clinics services to the next.

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Patient Factors Effecting Tummy Tuck Prices

benq — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 02:12:57 +0000

One of the biggest hurdles in assessing the cost of a tummy tuck from a generalized, broad perspective, is that the price or cost of such a procedure is largely dependent on several factors related to the patient and the clinics structure for pricing. What does this mean exactly? Let’s address the question from the two points – the patient and the clinic, and look at the different factors for each and what it means in relation to the overall expense of the surgery.

Patient Factors

The goal of a tummy tuck is to remove excess skin that hangs from the stomach. This is often caused by losing a large amount of weight in a short amount of time. It’s also a common way women remedy the physical effects that pregnancy can cause on the body and the waist, leaving the skin stretched in an unwanted appearance. To this end, we can imagine that no two people are exactly alike, and come into the surgery differently with although broadly similar, different specific needs.

To this end, the amount of excess skin that is removed effects the price. The more skin being removed means that the procedure involves a bit more skill on the part of the surgery team, as well as taking more time. This translates into a higher cost.

Additionally, if the patient desires that the fascia wall muscles be tightened, this means a large incision will be made (as is done for a full abdominoplasty, but not a partial or mini tummy tuck) in order to access this area. This also can increase the overall cost of the surgery.

The overall health of the patient is a factor too. Risk factors due to surgical complication increase in tandem with the overall good health or bad health of the patient. Doctors must spend more time and attention to ensure a successful surgery is maintained when the patient is not in very good health. As you can imagine, this extra time and attention translates to a higher fee for the patient.

In our next article we will look at other factors effecting tummy tuck prices beyond the patients health. Specifically, these factors relate to the fees charged per clinic, the location, and follow up services.

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Tummy Tuck Prices

benq — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 02:10:28 +0000

In this article we’ll address the cost of a tummy tuck. As mentioned, there are different types of tummy tucks, and the prices vary depending on many things, the type of tummy being one of them. That being said, when most people refer to the tummy tuck (or abdominoplasty) procedure, they typically are discussing a full tummy tuck. This article will look at the price of a tummy tuck largely from this perspective. Also, unless otherwise cited, tummy tuck prices here are quoted in US dollars and from the perspective of the procedure being performed here and not abroad as part of “travel surgery” deal.

How much does a tummy tuck cost? According to Wikipedia and several other sources, the average price of a tummy tuck costs $4,000. Yet the article also mentions that it can cost as much as $20,000! This is huge price range, and it attests to the problems of trying to find a one size fits all answer to a question that really depends on several different factors.

This price range reflects that the age, health, and current weight of the patient, as well the surgeons fee and the location, reputation, and marketability of the clinic effect the price.

Other data on tummy tuck costs show that the average price again is about $4,000, yet can be as cheap as $2,000 and is usally no more than $6,000.

These prices do not include such expenses as follow-up visits to the doctor or corrective, additional surgery work that may or may not need to be performed.

The best way to find out how much a tummy tuck would truly cost is to consult with a cosmetic surgery clinic and have them quote a price based on your health, age, and needs (including what type of tummy tuck you’re interested in) in relation to their own set of fees and expenses charged for services. It’s easy to work with a clinic and agree to a no obligation quote. In fact, most cosmetic surgery facilities would be more than happy to discuss these arrangements with a potential customer!

When consulting with a medical professional or clinic in this regard, it’s important to ask what the quote includes and what it does not include. For instance, does it include operating room fees, fees for pain medication used after the surgery, garment fees, and so on. Once these answers are in, a prospective patient has a lot more information to work with in deciding whether or not they can afford the cost of a tummy tuck.

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Different Prices for Different Types of Tummy Tucks

benq — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 02:06:52 +0000

Prices for a tummy tuck vary depending on several factors. One of these factors is the actual type of tummy tuck being performed.

The tummy tuck, also known as an abdominoplasty procedure, is used to broadly describe several variations of how the procedure is performed. In this group we have the full tummy tuck, the partial tummy tuck (often described as “mini tummy tuck”), an extended tummy tuck, and a circumferential tummy tuck or circumferential abdominopasty.

Here’s a quick description of each type:

The full tummy tuck is called a complete abdominoplasty. In this cosmetic surgery procedure the incision is larger, more skin is removed, and the doctor has the ability to tighten more muscles in the abdominal area (the muscle here is called the fascia wall.) Additionally, the belly button stalk may be relocated to accomodate the removal of skin so that it appears in the “correct” place.

In a mini tummy tuck, what’s done can rightly be thought of as a minitiarized version of a compelte abdominoplasty or full tummy tuck. The overall incisions are smaller, the amount of skin removed is smaller, and doctors are not able to work directly with the fascia wall as much insofar as tightening it.

The next next types relate to the use of a tummy tuck and an additional procedure as well, grouped together as part of the abdominoplasty procedure. Let’s take a closer look at what this means.

An extended tummy tuck procedure means the patient receives the full tummy tuck and in addition to this, what’s known as a “lateral thigh lift”. This one-two surgery allows for additional aesthetic sculpting of the waist and smoothing the skin of the upper lateral thighs.

Finally, the fourth type of tummy tuck is known as a circumferential tummy tuck, or as a circumferential abdominoplasty. When many think of someone getting a tummy tuck, a common reason cited is to remove skin due to massive weight loss. The circumferential tummy tuck addresses this reason more than the other 3 types of abdominoplasty procedures because in addition performing the extended tummy tuck, which is the full tuck plus work on the thighs and waist, this procedure also involves a buttock lift. This is sometimes also called a Belt Lipectomy, probably due to the scar that runs around the body much like a belt from the incisions.

When researching the cost of a tummy tuck, it’s vital to first establish what type of tummy tuck it is that’s being addressed, as prices for these variations in the procedure create a wide pricing scale for a tummy tuck.

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