Patients who want a flatter belly may know that a tummy tuck would be right for them—but may not realize that there are two options available at Buinewicz Plastic Surgery: a mini tummy tuck and a full tummy tuck. The Philadelphia area’s Dr. Brian Buinewicz explains that while one of the two procedures may be best for a particular person, the best way to determine which is ideal is to arrange a consultation and meet for a personalized conversation.
As an experienced plastic surgeon, Dr. Buinewicz is skilled at assessing a patient’s current appearance, listening to their cosmetic goals, and then recommending a beneficial approach that can deliver beautiful results.
In the meantime, here is a quick look at how mini and full tummy tucks compare:
Purpose
A full tummy tuck is intended to give the belly area a leaner and tighter appearance by trimming away excess skin, removing stubborn fat, and repairing separated abdominal muscles as necessary. A mini tummy tuck focuses only on excess fat and sagging skin below the belly button.
Incision and Scarring
The incision necessary for a full tummy tuck is longer, extending just about from hipbone to hipbone across a patient’s lower abdomen. This allows access to all of the necessary internal structures. The mini version requires a shorter scar, since less internal access is required. This results in less scarring.
Belly Button
The full technique involves the repositioning of the belly button, technically referred to as the navel. This is because the skin and other tissues of the abdomen are pulled tight after the excess is removed, which makes creating a new “hole” for the navel a necessary element. Since the mini approach involves only tissues below the belly button, no repositioning is needed.
Scar Tissue
Some patients are not good candidates for a full tuck due to scar tissue on their abdomen, such as the marks a C-section leaves behind. These patients can be excellent candidates for a mini tuck, especially if their main complaint is a small pocket of unwanted fat and some skin laxity below the belly button.
Recovery
Since the mini tuck comes with a smaller incision and no work on muscle repair, the recovery time needed after is shorter than is necessary with a full tuck. Expect about 48 hours of down time before getting up again, as opposed to a few weeks after the full version.
Results
A patient’s ultimate results depend on numerous factors, but you can generally expect the final look from both types of tucks to be very noticeable—although the full tuck tends to be more dramatic.
Want to learn more about the differences between the two tummy tucks available at Buinewicz Plastic Surgery? Call the office at (215) 647-9668 or send a message online to arrange a consultation and get answers to your questions.
