Eating Right and Exercising May Not Be Enough to Tone Your Tummy

This year’s swimsuits have officially hit the department stores! All the bright colors and different styles can be a lot of fun to shop, or they can be a glaring reminder of what makes you unhappy about your body. Wearing a swimsuit means showing off the majority of your body which can make you feel insecure, self-conscious, and uncomfortable. Those feelings can be especially frustrating if you’ve been following a healthy lifestyle by eating right and regularly exercising.

Here’s the thing – diet and exercise aren’t always enough to give your body a toned and slim appearance! However, you can boost the results of your healthy lifestyle with different cosmetic procedures. To get your middle looking fit and trim, consider getting an abdominoplasty, commonly referred to as a tummy tuck.

Why Your Healthy Lifestyle Isn’t Doing What You’d Like

Your body changes a lot in your lifetime. It grows and shrinks with aging, changes in weight, pregnancies, and even due to certain illnesses. Your skin also expands and contracts, picking up extra fat deposits along the way. Over time, gravity and body changes cause your skin to hang loose around your hips, thighs, and abdomen. The extra fat deposits settle in these areas, too, and are very hard to burn off. This is especially true if you were once significantly overweight.

Pregnant women also struggle with regaining their pre-pregnancy body after having children. Pregnancy causes the skin around the abdomen to expand in order to accommodate the baby as it grows. This causes stretch marks and extra areas for fat to accumulate. Even after the baby is born, many women’s bodies aren’t able to rebound to what their figures were like prior to the pregnancy, resulting in areas of loose skin and scars from the stretch marks.

How Abdominoplasty Can Help

You could exercise every day and do all kinds of muscle toning and strength training but still have trouble making your abdomen look trim and fit. That’s where an abdominoplasty can help. In one surgical procedure, a doctor can remove extra fat and skin tissue, repair your abdominal muscles, and improve the look of any scars from pregnancy or surgery. During your patient consultation, your doctor will do an assessment of your abdomen and determine the best way to get you the best results.

The procedure itself is done on an outpatient basis and takes about 3-5 hours to complete. The surgeon accesses your abdomen through incisions made along your hip bones, across your pubis bone, and around your belly button. After tightening and repairing the muscles and removing any excess fat, the skin is lifted and pulled down to the incision site. Excess skin tissue is trimmed and a new belly button is created, then everything is sutured into place. The result is a smoother, flatter abdomen that looks fit, toned, and healthy.

Recovery from an abdominoplasty takes about six weeks, though most patients are able to go back to their normal routine after the first two. There will be some pain, swelling, and maybe even bruising during the first few days. Your doctor will prescribe some medication to help with this and give you a full set of post-surgery recovery guidelines.

If you are interested in getting a tighter, flatter abdomen through abdominoplasty, contact Weniger Plastic Surgery in Bluffton, SC at (843) 757-0123 to schedule an initial patient consultation. You’ll meet with Dr. Fred Weniger, a board-certified plastic surgeon with the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Dr. Weniger is well-known among his patients for his commitment to providing a quality experience with outstanding results. Call today to set up your appointment!