Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

PEDRO ORENES LORENZO
Refreshing aesthetic plastic surgery
EXPERIENCE

The abdominoplasty will improve your appearance and self-esteem but you will not necessarily get an ‘ideal’ aspect or change people’s opinions about you. The best candidate for an abdominoplasty is close to his/her ideal weight but has fat accumulation on the abdomen and flaccid skin despite a balanced diet and exercise. It is recommended as much in men as in women although it is fairly useful for women who have stretching or irreversible dilatation of their skin and of the abdomen muscle structure because of pregnancies. It is also useful in great weightloss, the skin has not adapted adequately, therefore it sticks out. Women who are planning to have more babies should postpone this type of surgery since another pregnancy would dilatate the skin and the muscle structure again. Be aware that this process will not improve your relationships with people or give you the perfect ‘silhouette’.

The preoperative consultation is very important, since the extra fat and skin quantities, skin’s elasticity and therefore the incisions’ length and shapes are evaluated. When flaccidity is under the navel, the incision may be as short as the caesarean’s one. In other cases, it will go from one hip to the other over the pubis and around the navel. In some intermediate situations, it can be combined with liposuction and therefore shorten the scar. A normal operation lasts about two hours. The patient is under general anesthesis and has to spend one night at hospital. The skin and fat excess is eliminated and the abdominal muscle structure is tensed again in order to stitch up the lower wound. Finally, the navel is taken out to the surface of the abdominal skin with a small incision.

After the operation, some draining tubes are placed and the patient is put on a compressive banding or girddle.

In the limited techniques, known as mini abdominoplasties, the operation is more simple. The incision is shorter (similar to the caesarean’s one), the surgeon does not remove the navel and if he does, there is no scar, general anesthesis is not necessary. Therefore the patient does not have to go to hospital.

For a few days, you will have a tightness feeling in the abdomen and you will not be able to walk straight. These discomforts may or not be painful but they usually disappear with the medication and do not prevent you from moving around, walking as you want but with some help though. Little exercise after the operation improves desinflammation and shortens the recovery period. You will probably have a normal life, you will be able to go to work about 10-14 days after the operation. Then the abdominal skin’s inflammation will disappear little by little and its aspect will improve slowly; this period may last from four to six months.

You will have your stitches out from ten and twenty-one days after the operation but the scar will not be normal at all after at least six months. Be aware that the abdominoplasty always gives very lasting results as long as you watch your diet and do exercise. If you are planning to have a baby, you should postpone surgery.