Let’s say you have decided to get a tummy tuck surgery but you are not sure if you need to get the full treatment. Or, alternatively, you might think that you require more than what the usual abdominoplasty can provide. At North Texas Plastic Surgery, we offer extended and mini tummy tucks in Fort Worth so that you have the choice of getting the one that best aligns with your current goals.
Set up a consultation with a member of our team in Fort Worth, or in one of our other locations in Dallas, Plano, or Southlake.
A mini tummy tuck is a smaller procedure that involves removing a small amount of skin from the area of pubic bone, in addition to repairing the abdominal wall muscles in the midline where they may have frequently been separated due to pregnancy or weight loss. The potential advantage of a mini tummy tuck for Fort Worth patients is that it does not involve a scar around the belly button, which is a positive for those who like to visit the beach or wear clothes that reveal the lower abdomen. It also involves a much shorter scar!
The best candidates for a mini tummy tuck have just a small amount of excess skin above the pubic bone or above a c-section scar, and are very close to their ideal weight.
A mini tummy tuck differs from a full abdominoplasty in that there is a smaller amount of skin and fat removed and there will be no scar around the belly button. However, both procedures involve sewing the abdominal muscles back together, so the functional benefit remain.
Many patients come into our office requesting a mini tummy tuck over a full abdominoplasty due to the size and position of the incision scar. We are happy to accommodate those wishes, although we do stress that the full procedure tends to produce better results for most individuals.
The recovery time for mini tummy tuck is the same as the full version. Patients will generally take 10-14 days off from work or primary child care duties. They should take pain medications for the first week and then gradually increase their physical activity as they are able to from frequent short walks on the day of surgery to regular life.
An extended tummy tuck in Fort Worth involves removing more skin and fat than a standard tummy tuck, and also addresses placing the abdominal muscles back in the midline. This allows for increased waist contours and will make the back and hip contours better as well.
An extended tummy tuck removes excess skin from the area of the belly button to the pubic bone, and out over the hips as well. By doing this, it also allows for the abdominal muscles to be sewn back together in the midline to increase the integrity of the abdominal wall.
Just like the regular and the mini tuck, the recovery timeline is generally two to three weeks before returning to work and somewhere around 7 to 10 days of using pain medication.
The best candidates for an extended tummy tuck are those patients that want not just improvement of extra skin and fat above the pubic bone and lower abdomen, but also want improvement on the flanks (sides) and lower back as well.
Whether you have just a little bit of extra skin and muscle separation, or you have a lot of extra skin that extends all the way around the waist, we have the perfect regular, mini, or extended tummy tuck for you! Call us and we can set up a time for an experienced plastic surgeon to go into more detail about extended and mini tummy tucks in Fort Worth.
