Fat Grafting vs. Fillers: Which Lasts Longer?
If you’re looking for a way to replenish volume and improve contours in your face, you have two highly effective options: injectable fillers or fat grafting. But which one lasts longer? Find out here.
Tummy Tuck Transformation: What to Know Before Your Procedure
If you’re curious about what a tummy tuck will be like, you’re in the right place.
Rafael C. Cabrera, MD, FACS, has extensive experience performing abdominoplasty (tummy tuck surgery). To help you decide if this procedure is right for you, our team at Plastic Surgery Specialists of Boca Raton has created this guide. Our goal is to give you an overview of how a tummy tuck works and what you can expect during and after your surgery.
What a tummy tuck can do
A tummy tuck gives you a way to meaningfully change the shape of your abdomen. It does more than liposuction alone.
You sleep through your abdominoplasty under general anesthesia. As you rest, Dr. Cabrera can use your tummy tuck to:
- Remove excess fat
- Remove excess skin
- Move muscles back into their proper positions
That last step allows him to repair muscles that have separated, stretched, or torn. It ensures that you get a smoother, firmer abdomen. If he removes a significant amount of tissue, Dr. Cabrera can also reposition your belly button to finish off your look.
Some people get a tummy tuck on its own. Women — particularly those who’ve given birth — often combine abdominoplasty with breast augmentation to address the toll pregnancy has on the body. If you’re curious about this kind of mommy makeover, don’t hesitate to ask Dr. Cabrera and our team about it.
Preparing for a tummy tuck
To get the best results from your abdominoplasty, it’s important that you come into the procedure at a stable weight. Part of your preparation might be getting to within about 10 pounds of your goal weight and maintaining it for 6–12 months. Avoiding weight gain after your tummy tuck helps you enjoy the results long-term.
If you’re a smoker, you should also use the lead-up to your procedure to quit. Smoking can seriously impair your body’s healing abilities, slowing down your recovery from surgery.
What to expect after your tummy tuck
When you get your tummy tuck from Dr. Cabrera, you have options afterward. You can spend the night in one of our recovery suites, allowing our team to monitor you. Or you can head home, either with or without one of our recovery nurses.
If you decide to return home the same day, make sure you arrange for someone to drive you. Ideally, they’ll stay with you for the first few days after surgery to help you around the house.
Expect to be sore and to need to take it easy. Dr. Cabrera prescribes medication to moderate any discomfort following your procedure. You’ll likely also have surgical drains, which allow fluid to get out, helping to minimize your swelling. Those usually come out after a week or two.
Most people take at least 10 days at home to heal. At that point, Dr. Cabrera and our team help you safely start to ramp up your activity levels. Getting back to normal usually takes several weeks.
Over that time, your swelling reduces and you’ll get a clearer look at the smoother, flatter stomach you’ve envisioned. Dr. Cabrera’s attention to detail and his careful efforts to provide beautiful, natural looking results mean you can be confident your procedure will be a true transformation.
Dr. Cabrera takes the time to ensure that you know what getting a tummy tuck would mean specifically for your body. To schedule an abdominoplasty consultation, call our team in Boca Raton, Florida, today.
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