Body Contouring
Resetting the "Start" Button on Your Body

Widening midriffs have long been associated with middle age, but women today often experience a more distressing phenomenon. Some call it a "pouch" - that protrusion below the waistline that happens after a few pregnancies or yo-yo dieting.

The muscular corset has been stretched so far, and so often, that it's lost its elasticity. The skin has stretched and contracted too, and reached the point where it shows permanent laxity.

No amount of exercise seems to resolve the problem.

Tummy Tuck - Who Is It For?
These are the people for whom a "tummy tuck" (abdominoplasty) is a perfect solution. Tummy tucks work best on patients who:

• Have excess or loose, sagging abdominal skin
• Have weakened abdominal muscles that don't respond to exercise
• Are not planning to become pregnant in the future
• Are not planning to lose a lot of weight - their weight is stabilized

How It's Done
The tummy tuck requires a horizontal incision across the abdomen (within or above the pubic area).

The vertical muscles in your abdomen will be pulled together and stitched in a new position, close to where they were in your youth. Excess skin will be removed along the incision. In some cases, an incision around the navel is made so that the excess skin above the navel is pulled downward and removed. The navel's position remains unchanged.

Depending on how much fat is present, liposuction may be used in conjunction with the tummy tuck.

Mini-Tummy Tuck
If your skin laxity and muscle weakness are confined to the area below your navel, a mini-tummy tuck might be a good option for you. The scar will be a great deal shorter than the full tummy tuck scar, and an incision around the navel is not required.

Abdominoplasty Before	Abdominoplasty After

Can You Handle a Scar?
If you can live with having a scar on your belly, and you prefer it to your chronic problem with excess skin and a "pouch" belly, then you're a good candidate for tummy tuck.

The scar will be placed where it can be hidden by panties or a swimsuit. Although it's considered permanent and visible, it will fade over time.

How Long Do These Procedures Take?

• Complete Tummy Tuck – 2 to 3 hours
• Mini tummy tuck - 1 to 2 hours

Recovery

• Within two weeks the drainage tubes put in to prevent fluids from accumulating will be removed.
• You will wear a support garment for two weeks after surgery. You should be able to return to work or school after that.
• You'll have to avoid exercises that work the abdominal muscles for six to eight weeks. Low-impact exercise can be resumed within 2-3 weeks.
• High-impact exercise may be resumed within 6-8 weeks.

Your Results
Abdominoplasty produces long-lasting results, as long as you can maintain your weight and do not become pregnant. As with all cosmetic procedures, the final result will be apparent after about one year.

Abdominoplasty Before	Abdominoplasty After

Bonus - Stretch Marks Can Be Removed
Stretch marks on the lower abdomen can often be removed during the procedure. However, it may not be possible to remove all of the stretch marks.

What About Liposuction Alone?
If you've never been pregnant or fluctuated in weight, but your body seems to be storing more fat every year, you may simply need some body contouring with liposuction.

That Last Ten Pounds
Liposuction is especially helpful to people who struggle mightily, year after year, to lose "that last ten pounds."

Those ten (sometimes 15) pounds make the difference between being able to flaunt their bodies or hiding them; between loving to shop for clothes and dreading it; between having real gusto for social occasions and feeling conflicted over them.

Diet and Exercise Gurus Have Them by the Short Hairs
People living under the "last ten pounds" stricture are often slaves to the multi-billion-dollar diet industry, with their expensive books, prepared meals and supplements. They're also bilked by exercise gurus selling videotapes, expensive machines and - yes - more books.

These unfortunates may get temporary help from this or that diet or exercise program, but the results never last.

Liposuction of hips, thighs Before	Liposuction of hips, thighs After

Get Off the Merry-Go-Round
Are you one of these people? Are you tired of the game? Do you wish there were one area of life where you could stop fighting with yourself?

Most of the patients who come to my consultation room to talk about liposuction are at exactly this stage of exasperation. They've tried every diet on the planet. They exercise a few times a week. But those stubborn areas of fat won't disappear.

They want an answer.

Liposuction is often the answer they've been waiting for. After their surgery, their contours are improved, misplaced fat cells have been permanently removed, and they no longer face a daily struggle against the inevitable.

Exercise and a Healthy Diet
My patients continue to watch what they eat and exercise regularly. Liposuction isn't a reprieve from self-discipline.

But it evens the playing field. It presses the "re-start" button on your body so you continue life on a maintenance program - not an uphill sprint against reality.

Power-Assisted Liposuction
Are you ready to break through the barrier? With my help, 2007 could be the year you stop resolving and start living.

I use Ultrasonic Liposuction and/or Power Assisted Liposuction in those areas where the fat is more fibrous and more difficult to remove, such as men’s “love handles” and breasts and women’s backs.

• Improved Safety
• Shorter Procedure
• Less Bruising and Swelling
• Faster Recovery
• Less Discomfort
• Smaller Incisions
• Greater Precision

The PAL suction device glides through fat easily, allowing for a level of precision in body sculpting not previously possible. It's a major advance for aesthetic surgery.

Anesthesia for Liposuction
Various types of anesthesia can be used for liposuction procedures. If only a small amount of fat and a limited number of body sites are involved, liposuction can be performed under local anesthesia, which numbs only the affected areas.

However, if you prefer, the local is usually used along with intravenous sedation to keep you more relaxed during the procedure.

Regional anesthesia can be a good choice for more extensive procedures. One type of regional anesthesia is the epidural block, the same type of anesthesia commonly used in childbirth. However, some patients prefer general anesthesia, particularly if a large volume of fat is being removed. If this is the case, a nurse anesthetist or anesthesiologist will be called in to make sure you are completely asleep during the procedure.

How Long Does It Take?
The time required to perform liposuction may vary considerably, depending on the size of the area, the amount of fat being removed, the type of anesthesia and the technique used. Most procedures last from one to three hours.

What Will My Recovery Be Like?
You will wear a snug elastic dressing, girdle, or body stocking over the treated area for the next several weeks. You will go home after the procedure and rest for at least 24 hours, after which you may gradually increase your activity as tolerated.

Is It for You?
If you've had it with "Abs" classes that exhaust you without giving you results, yo-yo dieting, wearing loose, unfashionable clothing, and feeling inferior to the slender people around you, you may be ready for liposuction. We've done it on dozens of satisfied patients who tell us the results are well worth the down time.

The great thing is that once the healing is over, you've gotten rid of a chronic and annoying problem forever.

Learn more about Abdominoplasty

Learn more about Liposuction