Tummy Tuck vs Liposuction: Which Is Right for Me?

The debate of tummy tuck vs liposuction is one of the oldest in plastic surgery. Both surgical techniques can change the size, shape, and appearance of your waist and abdomen. Both operations claim to make your tummy smaller, tighter, and flatter. Plastic surgeons perform both procedures, and health insurance covers neither surgery. So, which one should you choose? Even though liposuction and tummy tuck procedures sound alike, they are quite different and for different types of patients. This article will outline some of the fundamental similarities and differences between these procedures.

Liposuction Procedure

If you want to get rid of small fat deposits around your stomach, buttocks, thighs, or hips, then liposuction is an appropriate fat-reduction plastic surgery. This procedure will remove fat pockets from the targeted areas and reduce the “love handles” or bulges while improving the overall contour in patients with good skin elasticity. 

However, it isn’t a weight-loss tool. There is a vast difference between body contouring and losing weight. Liposuction works best for diet-resistant areas where the skin is tight and likely to shrink back when the fat is taken away. It is used to treat the superficial areas you can grasp externally, not the fat that lives inside the abdomen such as in a patient with a “beer belly”

In this procedure, once the patient is under sedation, the surgeon will make small cuts around the site of targeted fat pockets. Then, a thin tube-like instrument will travel beneath the skin to loosen fat cells. Finally, a surgical vacuum extracts specific deposits of fat. 

Results: The goal is to enhance body contours that live underneath the treated areas.  For example if a woman has hip curves that can’t be seen because of overlying fat, liposuction may make those curves more visible.While results are permanent patients can fail if they don’t maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle. Fat that remains after liposuction can enlarge if diet is not healthy.

Recovery: Recovery after a liposuction can vary but because it is a superficial operation most patients recover quickly. You may experience some oozing at the site of your incisions and swelling at the site of your fat removal most surgeons recommend a compression garment to help.

Since this surgery is less invasive, most resume your daily activities in a few days, but should hold off on extensive cardio or heavy weightlifting for about two weeks. It takes about six months for patients to see final results as the body heals and swelling diminishes. 

Tummy Tuck Procedure

A tummy tuck is appropriate for people who are healthy but where the issue is one of loose skin. Liposuction which removes volume, but not skin will make loose skin looser, not tighter. Tummy tuck removes fat but takes the loose skin with it.

Sometimes, significant shifts in your weight, such as pregnancy, can stretch out the skin around your abdomen. A tummy tuck surgery not only removes loose skin and fat but also allows the opportunity to tighten abdominal wall muscles overstretched during pregnancy.

It is an effort to restore the appearance of a contoured and flat midsection. 

Results: The results of a tummy tuck are usually permanent. The extra skin will not come back unless your weight fluctuates again.

Recovery: After your tummy tuck operation, clinical dressing covers your incisions a gently compressive binder is applied. Most patients are up and walking on the day of undergoing the procedure, but it takes six weeks and several follow-up appointments to get over the initial recovery period. It is important to have a helper and coach early in recovery. Most patients take off about two weeks.

Liposuction and Tummy Tuck Surgeries With AT Cosmetics

Both tummy tuck and liposuction procedures aim to make a more contoured patient but in very different ways. If you would like to learn which is best for you We have two convenient office locations. Call us today at 301-656-6398 and 703-442-4919 or contact us online

May 8, 2020 12:48 am
Categories: Liposuction, Tummy Tuck