Abdominoplasty
Radical weight loss, giving birth and aging can leave flaccid excess skin. The procedure performed to remove this excess is called abdominoplasty. This surgery is designed to tighten loose skin, whatever the cause. The body lifting changes the texture of the skin by stretching it, which causes the skin looseness and loss of tone to be less apparent.
Body lifting can be combined with liposuction. Liposuction removes localized fat clusters, but does not tighten the skin. If the skin lacks in elasticity, liposuction can even result in an unaesthetic look. Like liposuction, the body lifting is not a solution to obesity; it is mostly suitable for patients with roughly normal weight.
Although abdominoplasty surgery is sometimes practiced under partial anesthesia, all other lifting surgeries will be practiced under general anesthesia.
The flaccid skin cannot be removed without scarring and body lifting requires long incisions that leave long scars. Your plastic surgeon will do its best to minimize the appearance of scars and to hide them so they are not in a visible spot.
During your consultation, the plastic surgeon will discuss with you the type of scarring that may result from the surgery. The scars fade over time, but they are permanent and their final width, height and color are unpredictable.
The most common complications of body lifting are: hematoma (an accumulation of blood under the skin), accumulation of serosanguineous liquid under the skin, and numbness of the skin. The sensitivity normally comes back after three or four months. Sometimes drainage of blood or serosanguineous liquid will be required. Especially among smokers, healing troubles are possible.
The patient will resume its normal daily activities after two weeks and will often resume work three weeks after surgery.
It can take from 6 to 12 months before witnessing the final result.