A NEW LOOK AT TUMMY TUCKS

The evidence is everywhere.  

America is rapidly becoming The Land of the Obese.  

More and more patients have having bariatric procedures done to lose weight, and I mean a lot of weight, ie, 80, 90 or 100 pounds and more.  More than 200,000 bariatric or weight loss surgeries are performed every year. 

With such massive weight loss, body contouring becomes a top priority and, in some cases, a necessity due to skin rashes and body odor from perspiration trapped under the folds of skin.  As a result, a standard tummy tuck (that is,  an incision across the lower abdomen) may not be enough.  

So one may do a “fleur-de-lis technique.”  This is the same, but it also includes a vertical incision to help get at excess skin vertically as well as horizontally.  The procedure is done, after the bariatric surgery, as an outpatient.

If you would like to know more about Tummy Tucks, call my office and ask for Dr. Brueck at 239-939-5233. I'll be happy to set-up a private, confidential, no-charge consultation. 

Fat is a terrible thing to waist. 

OBESITY – WHAT REALLY WORKS?

Here's another heads-up from Dr. Robert Brueck MD, Fort Myers plastic surgeon who works with patients seeking weight loss.

New studies/reports show that bariatric surgery or weight loss surgery is more effective than medicine in controlling blood sugar in obese patients. The study appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine recently.

WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY - News from Dr. Brueck

Dr. Robert Brueck MD, Fort Myers plastic surgeon, blogs again about news in cosmetic surgery. Dr. Brueck is board certified and also comments on plastic surgery questions at realself.com.

Another term used for weight loss surgery is bariatric surgery. Once someone loses 70lbs, 100lbs or more than 200 lbs they are left with a lot of excess skin. The areas affected by this excess skin may be abdomen, thighs, arms and face.

A recent survey was taken of 425 bariatric surgery patients with 252 patients responding. 74% of respondents wanted some type of body contouring operation. 53 patients (21%) underwent a total of 61 contouring procedures. In my practice, many of my patients will undergo more than one body contouring procedures at one time. For example, a patient may undergo a tummy tuck and a breast lift at the same time.

This survey found the #2 requested procedure was a tummy tuck or abdominoplasty, followed by thigh lifts. In my experience, tummy tuck is #1 followed by some type of breast surgery and suction lipectomy of other areas. There is no question this is a growing area of cosmetic surgery.

Bariatric Surgery Nutritonal Side Effedts

This is the place where Dr. Robert Brueck MD blogs about issues of health from his perspective as a plastic surgeon in Fort Myers, FL

I think everyone can agree we have a “Big” - no pun intended - weight problem in our country today.

In my practice, I am seeing more and more patients who have lost 100-150 pounds or more. I congratulate them all for taking control of their liver and losing all that weight.

A recent study done at Emory University at their School of Public Health found that 12% of 155 patients they were following post-bypass had severe copper deficiency. Copper is an essential trace mineral necessary for normal body functioning. Severe deficiencies, if uncorrected, can lead to irreversible paralysis.

An important lesson to be learned is that after massive weight loss one must be diligent at all times.