One of the most common questions we get is: Can liposuction be combined with a tummy tuck? The short answer is yes, liposuction is often combined with a tummy tuck because there is a transition between trying to remove as much skin or tissue as possible, to pulling the skin tight to contour, shape, and sculpt the entire abdomen and torso. This is where the revolution in body-contouring has really come. We have changed from just trying to remove skin and fat to contouring, shaping, and sculpting the entire body.
With a tummy tuck, liposuction will typically be performed on the flanks, the love handle area, and the upper back, depending on the patient’s desires. Liposuction may also be performed on the abdomen to create a little bit of definition, which gives it a very athletic, very natural appearance. This can improve the overall contour of the abdomen and ensure they get into a great spot. The original idea behind not performing liposuction with a tummy tuck was to preserve the blood supply, but without question, this is still absolutely critical to make sure the patients heal safely and get a great result.
As we continue to have a better understanding of the anatomy of the abdomen and torso, we have been able to further improve the results of our tummy tucks. There are still ways to preserve this, but we still need to be cautious and judicious with how we are sculpting and shaping.
When we discuss combining liposuction with tummy tucks, it is really important to think about it in several parts. One is sculpting of the back and flanks, because everything transitions together. When we talk about a tummy tuck, we obviously are talking about the abdomen, but this can also refer to the entire torso.
If you do not address the love handles or the back, the tummy can look really flat and nice; however, this can also create a slight rectangular or square appearance. This can often disappoint the patients when they see their final results, and makes it important to liposuction the love handles and the upper back, which gives that nice transition and overall shape to the abdomen.
If we are talking specifically about the abdomen, there are a couple of things that can be done to enhance its appearance. There is some direct excision that goes to the abdomen to help thin and shape the abdomen, but then there are traditional liposuction procedures we could perform.
This has to be done very cautiously, safely, and in moderation, but it can really give a stunning result and improve the overall shape of the abdomen.
When contouring, these tummy tucks are combined with some type of energy device, such as NuEra, because the skin typically stretches without the weight loss. It has lost some elasticity and skin bulges and needs some extra help to be able to shrink back down.
Because the art of liposuction is to get both of these areas sculpted, we use the tummy tuck to pull that skin in and shape and drape it over the new contour of the abdomen. Liposuction is used to create a subtle, sexy, little bit of definition and to create a natural look that avoids the appearance of an overly fake tummy tuck.
Combining this with a really well-designed belly button can result in an athletic-looking abdomen after a tummy tuck. The days of these overly fake, just pull-tight, flat-out-looking belly buttons are gone.
Our tummy tucks include a lot of things, such as muscle tightening, progressive tension sutures to avoid drains, techniques to make your recovery a lot faster, and combinations of lipo-sculpting. All of these factors have evolved as our understanding of anatomy has become better to provide more natural-looking results. We hope this helps you understand why we have started to include liposuction in your modern tummy tuck to improve your overall results and shape.