I had plastic surgery. Ask me anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So how does a tummy tuck work? Do they cut skin away, to make the abdominal skin more taut? Where is the incision, is it like a c -section incision -- laterally, right above bikini line?

My understanding is that in a classic tummy tuck, they cut off a swath of skin between your belly button and your bikini line. Depending on whether you need it, they will do fat removal and sew together your ab muscles, and then pull the skin down, make a new hole for your belly button to stick through, and sew down the skin. The incision is like a c-section incision but much longer -- often from the side of your body to the other side. In some cases, people with lots of loose skin can warrant "extended tummy tucks", in which the incision will extend onto the back.

I had a sort of hybrid/mini tummy tuck because I didn't have an immense amount of loose skin. He took less skin -- probably only halfway up to my belly button. He detached my umbilicus to gain access above, and did lipo in the upper abs and sewed the muscles together all the way down. In the process of pulling the skin down, he "floated" my belly button so it's probably about an inch or so lower than it was. The incision is on the bikini line, but is about 10-12 inches long.

[Anonymous]

PP is correct. A classic tummy tuck basically combines a hernia repair and a removal of excess skin, repositioning the belly button and resulting in a long horizontal incision amidst a taut belly.