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Why Choose a Tummy Tuck?

If you’re bothered by loose, sagging skin on your stomach, a tummy tuck is a highly popular surgery for slimming, sculpting, and flattening the abdomen. This procedure removes stretched or sagging skin along the abdomen, leaving behind a firmer and much-improved appearance. 

Key Benefits of a Tummy Tuck

  • Tightens loose and sagging skin of the abdomen
  • Restores weakened or separated muscles 
  • Improves the contour of the abdomen 
  • Corrects the C-section scar bulge left from pregnancy
  • Helps with medical issues such as hernias
  • Helps increase tolerance for exercise
  • Boosts confidence
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What Causes Sagging Skin of the Stomach?

The abdominal muscles separate and become very weak when an individual experiences pregnancy or significant weight loss. When this happens, no amount of sit-ups or crunches can do much good, and most of the time, the best course of action is surgery. The outcome can have a considerable impact on a person’s self-esteem and confidence, giving them a new outlook on life. 

The Abdominoplasty Procedure

A full abdominoplasty is performed with the patient under general anesthesia, and involves a two-layer approach that repairs both the muscles and the skin. Your surgeon will remove the excess skin and fat in the torso area and tighten the abdominal muscles—which, for female patients, may or may not be damaged as a result of pregnancy (a condition referred to as “diastasis recti”, or “abdominal separation”). As with every procedure, our surgeons perform each tummy tuck with precision and minute attention to detail, always keeping the end result in mind.

The Mini Tummy Tuck

For patients with a small amount of loose skin, a quicker and less invasive tummy tuck—the “mini” tummy tuck—can tighten the lower abdomen, provide improved shape, and remove loose skin with less dissection than a full abdominoplasty.

Our surgeons often pair hi-definition liposuction and body contouring (which vastly improves size, shape, and definition) with a mini tummy tuck to tighten the abdominal area.

Belt Lipectomy/Full Body Lift

A belt lipectomy or full body lift may resemble a more extensive tummy tuck—particularly since the primary goals are to remove excess fat, tissue, and loose skin. It should be noted that while a tummy tuck is performed only on the front of the body, a full body lift is a circumferential procedure involving an incision around the entire torso to remove fat and tighten skin around the waistline. Our surgical team often recommends this procedure to patients who have experienced dramatic weight loss and therefore carry significant loose skin around the waistline, including those who have fluctuated with weight over time.

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What Compliments a Tummy Tuck?

Our tummy tuck in Chicago can be combined with other procedures for even better results. Two of the most common procedures that are performed alongside a tummy tuck are liposuction and a breast procedure, or both. This results in an overall improvement to the entire upper body.

If you’re interested in learning more about what combination of procedures would benefit you the most or how a tummy tuck can be done as part of a mommy makeover, please let us know during your consultation.

Recovery from Abdominoplasty 

Because different factors (such as your age, state of health, and type of abdominoplasty you’ll be getting) determine how long recovery after abdominoplasty will be, there is no “set” answer for how long it may take. This answer can only be given after your consultation. However, in general, most patients can go back to work at two weeks, and are fully recovered at six weeks. You’ll need to wear a compression garment for approximately six weeks, and will need a helper at home for one week following surgery. Don’t exercise or lift anything over 10 pounds until you are fully recovered (children and pets included). 

Health Benefits

Not only does an abdominoplasty improve the appearance of the body; it also helps it to work better from a medical perspective. When you receive a tummy tuck at Chicago's Beautify at AMS, you can expect health benefits that include:

  • Reducing urinary incontinence
  • Helping with back pain
  • Decreasing the chance of hernias
  • Less bloating
  • Better posture
  • Makes exercise more effective
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Candidates for an Abdominoplasty

If you’re in the Chicago area and you’re considering a tummy tuck, you may be the perfect candidate for this surgery. Those who make the best abdominoplasty patients are individuals who:

  • Are bothered by loose, sagging, or overstretched skin on the abdomen 
  • Are at or close to their ideal weight 
  • Have finished having children
  • Are non-smokers in good general health
  • Fully understand the procedure and recovery process
  • Have realistic expectations for what an abdominoplasty can accomplish
  • Understand that an abdominoplasty is a contouring procedure, not a weight loss procedure

What is the cost of a Tummy Tuck in Chicago?

A tummy tuck is designed to suit your exact needs, aesthetic concerns and goals. Because the procedure is so customized, the cost of each tummy tuck varies. Factors that are taken into account include your current physique and abdominal concerns, your goals for the outcome of the procedure, the complexity of the tummy tuck, and which type of tummy tuck is required for you.

As an important part of your consultation, after your abdominal area is examined, you’ll discuss the details of your upcoming tummy tuck, what type of surgery you’ll need exactly, and the specifics about what the surgery will entail. A treatment plan will be designed for you which will include the exact price of your personal tummy tuck. In general, patients pay between $4,000 and $13,000 for a tummy tuck.

FAQ

Do you have to be at your ideal weight for a tummy tuck?

When is the best time to get a tummy tuck?

Will my belly overhang go away?

Does your vagina get lifted during a tummy tuck?

Does your waist get smaller after a tummy tuck?

Do you have to be at your ideal weight for a tummy tuck?

Patients should be within 10-15 pounds of their ideal weight.

When is the best time to get a tummy tuck?

Fall and Winter are ideal seasons, as this gives you time to fully heal before you reveal your new figure in the summer months.

Will my belly overhang go away?

With a proper tummy tuck procedure, your belly overhang will go away, leaving your tummy flat and firm.

Does your vagina get lifted during a tummy tuck?

The vagina is not noticeably affected by a tummy tuck.

Does your waist get smaller after a tummy tuck?

Yes, your waist is generally smaller–for some patients, the results are more dramatic with inches taken off the waist.

Tummy Tuck at Beautify at AMS

At Beautify at AMS, we believe that it’s priceless when a patient looks in the mirror and likes what they see. This is why we are so results-focused. Our patients know that they can come to us to get the results they want, and a great experience. Surgeries are performed at our beautiful, spacious, accredited surgical center by our exceptional plastic surgeons from the University of Illinois at Chicago, abdominoplasty being just one of our specialties. At Beautify at AMS, you can be assured you will be treated like family. If you’re in the Chicago area and you’re interested in a tummy tuck, we encourage you to contact us to learn more. 

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