Tummy Tucks in Fort Myers and Southwest, Florida

Tummy Got You Down?

There used to be a time when women who gave birth viewed their stomachs afterwards and concluded there is nothing they could do about the residual skin and stretch marks. Similarly, women (and men) who lost weight and ended up with loose skin and stretched abdominal muscles had the same problem. Last year, however,  more than 150,000 American women and men had abdominoplasty surgery. 95% of those who had it said it was “worth it”, according to realself.com,  Abdominoplasty is also known as a tummy tuck. It is not an “instant fix” or replacement for weight loss. It is important to lose the weight first.  You should be in good health before having any surgery. The more weight you lose, the trimmer you will look. It's important after surgery to have a good dietary regimen in order to control your weight. It is common to think  you’ll be bedridden recovery for days after surgery. But, as a plastic surgeon, I recommend getting up the day after surgery to promote circulation. This encourages the area to receive much needed blood to promote healing. This also helps you feel better after surgery and gets you back on your feet. Within six weeks, most patients are able to do cardiovascular exercises like running and elliptical machine exercise. Caution: weight-lifting requires too much exertion and could strain the sutures and incisions. If you’re unsure of whether or not a tummy tuck is right for you, look at before-and-after photos either on my  website or on a patient education site like www.surgery.org. Tummy tuck photos can show you pictures of individuals who might have a similar body type and their results after surgery. Of course, the most important patient safety tip is: see a board-certified plastic surgeon.