Michael A. Bogdan, MD, FACS
Roger W. Cason, MD
2301 Plastic Surgery
2301 Westgate Plaza
Grapevine, TX 76051
Phone: (817) 442-1236
Fax: (817) 531-5851
Monday–Friday: 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Many people are unhappy with the loose skin, lax muscles, and isolated fat deposits in their midsection. Some people simply inherit this body type, and others develop these problems after pregnancy or weight loss. Unfortunately, diet and exercise provide only limited improvement for excess skin and stubborn pockets of fat in this area. That’s why so many people come to 2301 Plastic Surgery in Grapevine, Texas, for abdominoplasty (tummy tuck surgery).
Tummy tuck patients from all over Texas seek out Dr. Bogdan and Dr. Cason for their advanced surgical techniques and compassionate care. In addition to serving the cosmetic needs of patients in the immediate Grapevine area, they also enjoy helping people from these nearby communities:
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A tummy tuck (technically called abdominoplasty) is a very effective surgical procedure that slims and tightens the abdominal area. Almost everyone who has a sagging stomach can benefit from an abdominoplasty, but it is particularly popular among women who have had multiple pregnancies and patients who have experienced significant weight loss, such as post-bariatric patients. The three main components of a tummy tuck are:
Ideal candidates for abdominoplasty have excess skin (usually following a pregnancy or significant weight loss) that may be accompanied by weakened or separated abdominal muscles. They also typically share these traits:
During your personalized consultation, Dr. Bogdan or Dr. Cason will determine if you can safely benefit from a tummy tuck or another body contouring procedure.
The cost for a tummy tuck ranges from $9,000 to $13,000, depending on the specifics of the procedure. When patients from Plano, Frisco, Southlake, and other nearby cities combine abdominoplasty with some type of breast surgery (such as breast augmentation or a breast lift), the combination is called a Mommy Makeover and can range from $16,000 to $26,000. For the best care and tummy tuck results, it’s important to choose a fellowship-trained plastic surgeon such as Dr. Cason or Dr. Bogdan, who will provide a surgical plan tailored to fit your goals. You will be provided with a personalized price quote at the end of your consultation.
Anyone considering a tummy tuck should also seriously consider liposuction of the flanks (aka: “love-handles”). Flank liposuction helps contour the waistline and accentuates the curves of the buttocks. Although most women are focused on the direct effects childbearing has on the front of their midsections, about a year after tummy tuck surgery, many wish they had also addressed the love-handle region.
Patients are sometimes unsure of whether they need a tummy tuck or liposuction to attain their desired improvements. Often a combination of these procedures is best. See the table for a comparison.
| Improvements | Tummy Tuck | Liposuction | Tummy Tuck With Liposuction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tighten Loose Skin | Yes | No | Yes |
| Repair Ab Muscles | Yes | No | Yes |
| Remove Fat | Minimal | Yes | Yes |
| Contour Flanks | No | Yes | Yes |
If you do not mind viewing actual surgery, here are a few links to Instagram videos that Dr. Bogdan has posted which show how he performs the surgery. The first video shows the drawing of skin to be removed, incision, skin & fat elevation, a side view of muscle closure, skin removal, and partial skin closure. The second video shows the final skin closure (the top 2 of 3 layers of sutures). And the third video shows a great close-up view of the muscle closure. Before and after photos show the surgeon’s work, but operative videos are the best way to see how it is actually accomplished.
Dr. Michael Bogdan and Dr. Roger Cason are top fellowship-trained plastic surgeons who specialize in abdominoplasty for residents of Fort Worth, Plano, and other cities near Grapevine, TX. They have extensive training performing tummy tuck surgery, and can help you to regain a tighter, flatter midsection with either a full or partial abdominoplasty. If you would like to learn more about an abdominoplasty, request a consultation with one of our surgeons.
Dr. Cason and Dr. Bogdan personalize a variety of abdominoplasty techniques to the individual needs of the patient. Options include:
Your procedure will begin with general anesthesia, administered by a board-certified MD anesthesiologist. In the case of a full abdominoplasty the incision runs horizontally along the lower abdomen, between the two pelvic bones, and also requires a second incision around the navel. This incision is designed with patient input, as clothing and swimwear preference can affect the ideal scar location. For a partial abdominoplasty—or mini tummy tuck—a shorter horizontal incision is made along the pubic area. Our surgeons are very careful to make the incision so that it is easily covered by underwear or a bathing suit.
The weakened abdominal muscles are then repaired by suturing together the loose muscle tissue. The excess skin is removed, in addition to any fatty deposits along the flanks (love handles) with the assistance of liposuction if it is indicated. During a full tummy tuck, skin is removed from both the upper and lower abdomen, utilizing the second incision around the navel. The incision(s) will be closed with dissolving sutures, and often a small, temporary drainage tube is placed beneath the skin to prevent any fluid from accumulating.
Get to know Dallas-Fort Worth plastic surgeons Dr. Michael A. Bogdan and Dr. Roger W. Cason of 2301 Plastic Surgery. They are highly credentialed surgeons who share a passion for their craft and a genuine concern for each patient's personalized care.
While patient experiences vary, the recovery after a full tummy tuck generally proceeds along the following general timeline:
Yes, a tummy tuck is frequently combined with liposuction and breast enhancement; this combination of procedures is termed a Mommy Makeover. Pregnancy predictably affects both the breasts and abdomen, so it makes sense that women considering abdominal improvement would also desire breast enhancement. Any of the breast operations can be combined with a tummy tuck, including:
Typical surgical times for the Mommy Makeover operation range from 4 to 6 hours.
For some women, having the perfect body comes easily, but those women are the exceptions rather than the rule. For most, attaining the perfect body takes dedication and a lot of hard work. A healthy diet and a regimented exercise program can yield impressive results. But as we discussed earlier, exercise alone cannot overcome the changes caused by childbearing. After children, the “baby bulge” caused by a weakened abdominal wall cannot be fixed by going to the gym—and there is no way the lax skin with stretch marks will go away with exercise. Abdominoplasty is often the solution.
Women who previously loved the way they looked and now are unhappy with their appearance sometimes feel like they must decide between the lesser of two evils: their current post-baby body or the scar that is necessary to perform the tummy tuck. The patients shown here feel confident enough with their scars to go on stage and compete in professional figure competitions. All have undergone a tummy tuck with plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Bogdan, and they love the results. Dr. Bogdan cannot take credit for their bodies (they have earned their figures through hard work), but he is proud that he could help make their abdomens tight and flat.
There are risks involved with any surgical procedure, and not everyone is a good candidate for a tummy tuck. It is important that you seek the guidance of a board-certified plastic surgeon to assist you in determining if an abdominoplasty is right for you.
A tummy tuck removes excess skin from the abdomen, which requires the creation of a scar. The exact location of the scar is something that should be discussed in detail – once you have the scar, you can’t change your mind and move it! This is something worth considering as most of the time placement of the tummy tuck incision is dictated by clothing preference. Dr. Cason and Dr. Bogdan strive to place the incision where it will be covered by clothing such as underwear, swimsuits, and pants.
Bringing the rectus muscles back together is a major component of a standard tummy tuck. The full length of muscles can also be repaired during an umbilical float tummy tuck. The mini tummy tuck typically addresses the muscle below the belly button, so it is only appropriate for patients who have isolated lower abdominal wall laxity without significant skin excess. (Appropriate candidates for the mini procedure are rare.)
A tummy tuck will remove a significant amount of stretch marks on the abdomen; in most cases, all stretch marks below the belly button can be removed. The stretch marks that are above the belly button will still remain but will be moved down to the lower portion of the abdomen where they are hidden by clothing.
Yes. If you are in good health and are undergoing a “routine” hysterectomy, a tummy tuck can be performed at the same time. However, it is safer to separate the procedures by a few weeks. As safety is one of our primary concerns, we recommend waiting at least 2 weeks after a hysterectomy to have a tummy tuck. If you would like to have one of our surgeons perform your abdominoplasty around the time of your hysterectomy (to combine the recovery periods), you should consult with them ahead of time. Together you can discuss the type of incision to be utilized by your gynecologist, so they will have full exposure when performing the hysterectomy. Our surgeons can later remove the incisions when performing the tummy tuck.
You should attain your realistic, maintainable, goal weight before proceeding with any type of body contouring surgery. A tummy tuck will help “re-drape” your skin to match your underlying muscular framework. Generally, patients who are interested in a tummy tuck are bothered by skin excess, stretch marks, and/or abdominal wall laxity. The amount of skin removed during a tummy tuck depends on the elasticity and thickness of the skin. If your weight changes significantly after a tummy tuck (gain or loss), you will be “undoing” the results. In general, our surgeons prefer patients have a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 32 or less for body contouring because the surgical risks are low and the cosmetic results can be quite striking. When patients have undergone massive weight loss, it may be appropriate to proceed at higher BMIs due to the significant amount of skin excess they have.
In general, before considering body contouring surgery, patients should be at a stable weight (for several months) that is within 10% of their personal goal weight. If you gain or lose weight after the procedure, you will be altering the results. (If you lose a significant amount of weight, your skin will look lax, and if you gain a lot, you will be stretching out your skin). Your “personal goal weight” is something that is fluid and changes with time. When someone is first starting to consider losing weight, they can look at a height chart and pick a goal weight. A good way to do this is to use the BMI scale. However, once a large amount of weight has been lost and you have started a healthy exercise regimen, you may find that your weight loss plateaus. If you keep your weight stable for a number of months, while having a healthy diet and maintainable exercise program, it is then reasonable to reassess your goal weight. The BMI charts are a nice guide and tool, but there is no number set in stone as to when you should consider body contouring.
Your body is a very complicated system that is fine-tuned to function normally. At the risk of oversimplifying things a bit, there is a normal way your body handles fluids internally and surgery can disrupt this system. The arterial system brings fluid (blood) to tissues to provide oxygen and healing cells, and the venous system removes this fluid. The system is not perfect, and normally some of the fluid leaks into the surrounding tissues. To account for this, there is a third fluid management system (the lymphatic system) in your body whose job is to scavenge up this extra fluid and return it to the intravascular space. When a tummy tuck is performed, a significant amount of the lymphatic drainage channels are divided, and these take a long time to hook back up and function normally.
The majority of swelling resolves within 3 months, a small amount takes up to a year. A tummy tuck is a major procedure that requires “lifting up” your stomach skin (which divides the lymphatic drainage vessels from under the skin surface), pulling it down to reset the tension of the skin, and then the excess is removed. Basically, the skin from the tummy tuck scar up to your ribcage is in a new environment, where it can only drain fluid “up” and to the sides. Until new lymphatic connections occur across the scar line and down to the stomach muscles, all of the swelling fluid has to run against gravity to get out of the skin. This is one of the reasons that we suggest patients wear compression garments for a period of time after surgery – these garments assist with the “uphill” removal of fluid.
A simple way to judge how you are doing is to look at the indentations that elastic clothing creates on your trunk. On the front, you will see more of a lasting impression than on your back/flank region (even though there is even pressure all the way around your body). This is a way you can monitor the swelling, and you can expect it to go away over several months. After a few months, most of what patients consider “noticeable” swelling has resolved.
Recovery after a tummy tuck really depends on the type of work that you perform. You can not go back to work while taking narcotic pain medicine, as that would be the equivalent of drinking alcohol at work! Since everyone has a different appreciation of pain, this length of time varies. In general, patients need pain medicine for a minimum of 3 days, and most are off medications by 5 to 10 days. After stopping pain meds, patients can work from home immediately, and return to desk-type of jobs between 10 to 14 days from surgery. Because of the abdominal wall tightening component of the operation, I restrict patients from heavy lifting and strenuous exercise for 6 weeks. If your job requires a significant amount of physical activity, you may have to take 6 weeks off of work or modify your work activities. For example, a professional rodeo rider will be taking much more time off of work than a computer programmer.
Patients can begin some light “movement” exercises (elliptical machine, cycling [NOT spin classes!]) at 3 weeks after surgery, but no impact or weight activities until 6 weeks after the operation. The reasoning behind this is that enough healing has occurred after 2 to 3 weeks to make it very unlikely to develop seromas or hematomas, but the muscular repair in the midline is not strong enough to be challenged until almost 2 months after surgery. At that time, it is unlikely that the muscular tightening component of the operation could get damaged or undone. At 6 weeks, patients should move into their exercise regimen slowly, as they are a bit deconditioned. Remember that muscular discomfort tends to show up 2 days after starting any new exercise; so we recommend taking it easy and slow. Within about 2 weeks, most patients are near their normal workout routine.
If you would like further information about tummy tuck surgery, please click here to schedule a consultation with Dr. Bogdan or Dr. Cason, fellowship-trained plastic surgeons in Grapevine, Texas. Our surgeons look forward to meeting with you to discuss your personal goals and establish a treatment plan to achieve them. If you prefer, you can call us at (817) 442-1236 to schedule your appointment.
