Tummy tuck, also known as abdominoplasty, is a surgical procedure that is aimed at flattening the abdominal area by removing excess skin and fat. Abdominoplasty is recommended for patients that have tried and failed to remove excess skin and fat on their stomach through conventional means of exercise and dieting. It should not be seen as an easy way out of being overweight, but as a procedure to help people that are fit and healthy remove unwanted fatty deposits around the abdominal region that cannot be removed through exercise alone.

A tummy tuck surgery is a major surgical procedure done under general anesthesia. As with any surgical procedure there are some risks involved, but you should consult your surgeon about this.

A tummy tuck procedure helps to adjust the skin in the abdominal area. In many cases, skin is removed to help reduce or eliminate stretch marks. There are generally 2 incisions made on the stomach during surgery, one at the bottom of the abdomen and one around the belly button. The surgeon will then remove the fat and skin as necessary to appropriately contour the abdomen.

The total time of the surgery is not set to a specific amount of time, but depends on how much work needs to be done. In most cases, the surgery is an outpatient procedure. While at home, it is your responsibility to stick to the stringent guidelines set by your surgeon to keep yourself from contracting infections and complications after the surgery has been performed.

The recovery time from a tummy tuck surgery once again varies depending on the patient and how much has been performed. It is usually between a couple of weeks and a couple of months. The recovery is dependent upon the extent of the surgery, the patients overall health and physical state before surgery, and how the body reacts to healing.

It is important that you keep to a healthy and active lifestyle so that your tummy tuck works in the way it was aimed at. Gaining weight after surgery has been performed is going to effect your long term results after surgery.