If you’re considering a tummy tuck, we believe that it’s vitally important that you understand the procedure from start to finish. In this blog, our board-certified surgeon, Dr. Rudy Coscia explains the tummy tuck process.

Consultation and Planning

The first step in your tummy tuck journey is a consultation with Dr. Rudy Coscia. During this appointment, you’ll discuss your aesthetic goals, medical history, and any concerns you may have.

Dr. Coscia assesses your abdominal area, skin elasticity, and muscle tone to determine the ideal surgical approach for you. He also explains the different types of tummy tucks; for example, full, mini, and extended.

Some patients opt to add other procedures to their tummy tucks. For example, additional liposuction in the thighs, or a “mommy makeover” that includes a breast lift and/or augmentation.

Dr. Coscia helps you decide which approach is best for your personal needs and goals.

Pre-Surgery Prep

Once you’ve decided to proceed, we provide detailed pre-operative instructions. These include guidelines on diet, taking medication, and smoking cessation to optimize your health before surgery. Dr. Coscia also requests any necessary lab tests or medical clearances.

The Tummy Tuck Procedure

On the day of your surgery, you’ll receive anesthesia to ensure your comfort throughout the procedure. During surgery, Dr. Coscia creates a horizonal incision beneath the bikini line. Incision length depends on the degree of correction you need.

He uses this incision to access your belly fat and abdominal muscles. Dr. Coscia removes excess fat using liposuction, repairs weakened abdominal muscles, and trims away extra skin. He sometimes creates an additional incision around the navel, based on the type and degree of correction needed.

After performing all necessary corrections, Dr. Coscia makes small stitches to complete the procedure.

Recovery and Aftercare

Post-surgery, we take you to a recovery room. For the next few hours, we monitor you closely. Before you go home (with a loved one driving), we provide detailed recovery instructions. This includes medication use, surgical site care, compression garment wear, and activity restrictions.

Results and Follow-Up

You can see results almost immediately, though final results may take several months as swelling subsides. Most patients feel more confident in their appearance within a couple of weeks.

Dr. Coscia schedules follow-up appointments to monitor your progress and address any concerns. Following your recovery guidelines, maintaining your weight and staying healthy can lead to long-lasting results.

Tummy Tuck Consultation in Sacramento

Ready to get the taut and toned belly you’re wishing for? Schedule a consultation with Dr. Coscia to start your journey toward a more confident you.

So why doesn’t all this hard work always yield the desired results? Below, Dr. Rudy Coscia explains the underlying factors that stand in the way of success; he also discusses what to do to address the issue of belly fat.

Why Some People Can’t Lose Belly Fat Despite Diet and Exercise

Several factors may contribute to difficulty losing belly fat. One common reason is genetics. Some people may have a predisposition to storing fat in the abdominal region, and thereby making any lifestyle modifications proves futile.

Another reason is hormonal imbalances, such as elevated cortisol levels due to chronic stress. Additionally, age-related changes in metabolism and muscle mass can make it harder to lose belly fat.

Treatments for a Flat Belly

If you aren’t happy with your workout and diet plans, you can try surgical treatments to get a flat belly. One of the most popular treatments is liposuction, which can remove excess fat deposits from various targeted areas of the body, including the abdomen.

During liposuction, Dr. Coscia uses a thin tube called a cannula to suction out fat cells for a more contoured appearance. Liposuction can provide results far more noticeable than what can be achieved through lifestyle modifications. However, while this popular procedure can effectively reduce localized fat deposits, it is not a weight loss solution and is not appropriate for anyone who struggles to maintain a healthy weight.

Another surgical option for achieving a flat belly is abdominoplasty, commonly known as tummy tuck. This procedure is ideal if you have excess fat and skin and weakened abdominal muscles resulting from significant weight fluctuations, pregnancy, or aging. Dr. Coscia can surgically remove excess skin and fat from the lower abdomen and tighten the muscles to create a firmer, flatter abdominal shape.

In addition to liposuction and abdominoplasty, there are minimally invasive procedures available for non-surgical fat reduction. CoolSculpting is an FDA-approved fat removal procedure that harnesses the power of cooling technology to freeze away belly fat.

Book a Consultation With Dr. Rudy Coscia

While getting rid of belly fat can be challenging, it is not impossible. You can rely on the right strategies and guidance to get a flat tummy. If you want to achieve a flawlessly flat belly, book an appointment with Dr. Coscia today. Let our team provide you with personalized recommendations and help you achieve your aesthetic goals.

How Tummy Tuck Benefits

Pregnancy can result in expected and unexpected changes to the body. Weight gain can cause weakening of the abdominal muscles. Loose skin on the abdomen can cause stretch marks to appear there as well as other areas. If you had a C-section to give birth, you may also have a visible scar. Tummy tuck surgery can address these issues and can accomplish the following:

• Remove loose skin: During tummy tuck surgery, excess skin from significant weight changes is removed to reveal a slimmer abdominal appearance.
• Reduce the appearance of stretch marks: Stretched skin on the abdomen may have stretch marks. When the loose skin is removed via tummy tuck surgery, the accompanying stretch marks will also be removed, reducing the appearance of stretch marks on the abdomen.
• Tighten abdominal muscles: The stretched and damaged abdominal muscles are tightened and repaired during surgery.
• Improve posture: With a strengthened abdominal wall, your spine receives more support, which can contribute to better posture.

The Tummy Tuck Procedure

The exact steps taken to improve your midsection depend on the type of tummy tuck performed. During a full tummy tuck, a horizontal incision is made between the navel and pubic area. The weakened abdominal muscles are tightened. Another incision around the navel may be made to address the upper abdominal area. Excess skin is removed, remaining skin is pulled down, and a new navel opening is created. Once everything is in place, the incisions are closed.

How Long Do Results Last?

After tummy tuck surgery, you can expect a slimmed down, improved appearance of the midsection. You may be wondering how long you will be able to enjoy your new look. To maintain your new midsection contour, it is important to closely follow the post-surgical instructions provided by Dr. Coscia. Additionally, for the best long-term results, your weight should remain stable. Subsequent pregnancies or significant changes in weight could lead to stretching and damaging of the abdominal muscles, compromising your results.

Tummy Tuck in Granite Bay and Sacramento

Tummy tuck surgery is ideal for women who may be struggling to regain their pre-pregnancy look. Choosing top plastic surgeon Dr. Coscia can put your mind at ease with the knowledge that you are in skilled, experienced hands. To schedule a consultation, call our Granite Bay location at 916-773-5559 or our Sacramento location at 916-929-1833.

Don’t Underestimate Your Recovery Time

If you are like many of Dr. Coscia’s patients, you probably have “summer” on the brain when you think about tummy tuck. The number one goal is having a smooth, flat tummy for swimsuit season. Unfortunately, some people mistime their tummy tuck by not factoring in adequate downtime. While most patients feel well enough to return to work within a couple weeks, it can take a few months for the swelling to subside, with the possibility of some residual swelling lingering for several months. To ensure that you look your best before you hit the beach or pool, scheduling your surgery for winter is best.

While spring abdominoplasty can be enough time for some patients to be ready for summer fun, one mistake patients make is assuming that they can have the surgery performed almost instantly. As one of Sacramento’s best surgeons, Dr. Coscia has a busy schedule, so you may be booked for a consultation/surgery further out than you originally hoped.

Winter Is More Convenient for Recovery Anyway

Winter is a great time to recover from plastic surgery for a few reasons. First, it’s cold out, so you are more inclined to want to stay indoors anyway. Second, it’s easier to hide your recovering body under winterwear like sweatshirts, sweatpants and other baggy attire. Third, with so many holidays falling in the winter, you may be able to overlap your recovery time with holidays, which means taking fewer days off from work.

Your Timetable May Be Different

Summer may be the top goal for tightening the midsection, but your priorities may vary. For example, if you are most excited about a tropical getaway you have planned for the winter, you may need to shift your timeline and schedule abdominoplasty with Dr. Coscia in the late summer.

Rather than having you guess when the optimal time for tummy tuck is, we encourage patients to schedule a conversation with us so we can offer our professional advice and provide you with the most optimal results possible. To schedule a consultation, please call 916-773-5559 to reach our Granite Bay office and 916-929-1833 for our Sacramento office.

What Causes Loose Skin?

When you put on weight, your skin stretches to accommodate your heavier frame. Later, if you take off that weight, your skin may not be elastic enough to retract and fit tightly around your slimmer figure. This results in excess skin hanging from your body. Unfortunately, that skin can distract from the nicer contours you have worked to achieve.

Can Exercise Help?

While exercise is a terrific way to burn fat, it does nothing to eliminate skin. At best, building muscle can increase your mass to make skin seem less stretched in some areas, but no amount of working out will cause that loose skin to disappear.

Dieting also fails to address loose skin. Restricting calories will prompt your body to burn the fat your body has in reserve, but that has no effect on skin.

What Is the Solution for Loose Skin?

The most effective way to remove unwanted, excess skin is with surgery. Cosmetic procedures can excise loose skin and tighten the skin that remains for a sleeker, toned appearance. Dr. Coscia offers the following procedures to patients who have lost weight:

Thigh Lift

Thigh lift targets the skin that develops around the thighs. Tightening the skin can also improve the appearance of dimpled skin and stretch marks in some patients. Because fat can be especially stubborn in this region, liposuction is often incorporated into thigh lift.

Tummy Tuck

You may find stretch marks or a “pooch” of fat around your belly after losing weight. Abdominoplasty tightens the skin to achieve a flatter stomach. It also repairs abdominal muscles that may have shifted out of place. This procedure is especially popular with women after a pregnancy.

Arm Lift

Weight loss can cause the upper arms to look deflated thanks to dangling skin. Brachioplasty involves making an incision from the armpit to the elbow to remove loose skin and excess fat to achieve attractive contours.

Upper and Lower Body Lift

If you have lost a dramatic amount of weight, it is likely that you have loose skin on several areas of the body. With body lift, Dr. Coscia addresses multiple areas simultaneously. An upper body lift typically focuses on the arms, chest and upper back, while a lower body lift involves the stomach, hips and thighs.

Discuss Plastic Surgery with Dr. Coscia

After losing weight, it can be frustrating to still find yourself dissatisfied with your body. Understanding that surgery is the only real solution for loose skin may be the motivation you need to consult with a plastic surgeon. Dr. Coscia is one of Sacramento’s finest plastic surgeons, and he would be happy to help you complete your physical transformation. Please send an email to arrange an appointment.

If you are concerned about a flabby or saggy midsection, you have several treatment options, including abdominal liposuction and tummy tuck.

Read on as Dr. Rudy Coscia explains what abdominal liposuction and tummy tuck achieve to give you an idea of what might benefit you personally.

Liposuction

Who it’s for: You may assume liposuction is solely a fat removal technique, but it is much more nuanced than that. Think of it more like a contouring tool that gets rid of fat and sculpts the remaining fat to create proportional and smooth-looking body contours.

Abdominal liposuction is best for the candidate who has targeted areas of unwanted belly fat with firm, elastic skin and good muscle tone. Candidates will see the most attractive results if their skin can retract or “snap back” over the smaller belly after fat has been removed.

If you are relatively slender but have always carried weight around your stomach, abdominal liposuction may be your best bet.

What it does: Liposuction removes unwanted fat using vacuum suction. Dr. Coscia creates small openings in the skin and inserts a tube called a cannula through the openings. Without using suction, he moves the cannula to break up the fatty tissue. Then, he applies suction to remove the fat from the body.

Tummy Tuck

Who it’s for: Tummy tuck includes a fat removal component, but it also addresses the abdominal skin and muscles. Tummy tuck is best for the candidate whose stomach looks flabby, saggy or stretched-out after having children or losing a lot of weight.

You will see great results with tummy tuck if you are left with a “pooch” or folds of loose skin on your lower abdomen from childbearing or significant weight loss.

What it does: Unlike liposuction, which is performed through small skin openings, tummy tuck requires an incision from hipbone to hipbone. Through the incision, Dr. Coscia tightens the abdominal muscles and removes excess pockets of fat. He removes excess abdominal skin and tightens the remaining skin. Dr. Coscia can also adjust the position and contours of the navel to create a more appealing shape.

The best way to find out whether abdominal liposuction or tummy tuck will provide the improvements you want to see is to book a consultation with Dr. Coscia. He has spent many years evaluating patients and recommending suitable treatment options. Call or email us today to request an appointment.

If you are planning tummy tuck, it is essential you understand what typically happens in the weeks following surgery and the activities you need to limit as your body heals. Read on as our Chicago tummy tuck surgeon, Dr. Rudy Coscia, explains what you can expect after tummy tuck.

Week One

It is common to experience discomfort, bruising and swelling for the first week after tummy tuck. Your abdomen will be covered with surgical dressings and you may be fitted in a special compression garment that helps minimize swelling and tissue healing. Dr. Coscia will prescribe pain medication to help reduce discomfort.

Expect to rest and relax for the majority of the week. Periodically you will need to get up and move around to keep your circulation flowing. But for the most part, you will spend time resting on the couch or in bed. Having entertainment options like audiobooks, podcasts or movies at the ready will help the time pass. Focus on getting lots of sleep, eating nutritious foods, properly hydrating and following Dr. Coscia’s incision care instructions.

Week Two

During the second week of recovery, discomfort, bruising and swelling start to subside (although you will have to wait a bit longer for swelling to completely resolve). You should continue to rest and relax, although you may have enough energy to take short walks. Continue to follow Dr. Coscia’s incision care instructions.

You will probably feel good enough to cook and shop at this point. Some patients feel well enough to resume work in the second week of recovery, but this is highly individualized. You should not push yourself to return to work or any other activity until you feel ready. You should refrain from driving until you have stopped taking pain medication.

Week Three and Beyond

During weeks three and four of your tummy tuck recovery is when you will likely start to feel more like yourself again. Pain, bruising and swelling should significantly decrease and you may be able to discontinue wearing your compression garment. You may also resume light exercise, as long as you avoid strenuous activity. As you return to regular activities, continue to keep up scar management techniques recommended by Dr. Coscia and do not expose your healing scar to the sun.

Depending on how your abdomen heals, you can resume more vigorous exercise sometime after the four-week mark. Dr. Coscia will provide a more exact timeline based on his evaluations during follow-up appointments.

If you have additional questions about tummy tuck recovery, please call or email our practice today.

If you have gotten down to your goal weight, work out regularly and eat a clean diet, yet do not see the slim, sleek abdomen you desire, you might be a good candidate for surgical improvement with Dr. Rudy Coscia. The Sacramento plastic surgeon offers different options to target your stomach, including tummy tuck. In this post, he describes what you can expect to achieve with the procedure.

Removal of Unwanted Flab

Tummy tuck treats stubborn belly fat that does not respond to diet or exercise. As long as you are in good shape and at (or near) your target weight, tummy tuck is an excellent solution to flatten and firm the abdomen into a more appealing shape.

One caveat to consider: tummy tuck removes some, not all, of the fat cells. Some fat must be left behind to ensure a smooth-looking contour. If you were to gain weight after tummy tuck, the remaining fat cells could enlarge, affecting the appearance of your stomach. All the more reason to maintain your weight after surgery!

Removal of Excess Skin Folds

Tummy tuck is the only way to remove saggy or hanging folds of excess skin left over from pregnancy or significant weight loss. Dr. Coscia carefully removes the excess skin and re-drapes the remaining skin more smoothly over the abdomen. He may also move the skin around the belly button to bring it higher on the abdomen for a more attractive look.

Muscle Tightening

In addition to removing fat and skin, tummy tuck tightens the abdominal muscles that can stretch out and separate during pregnancy or weight fluctuation. Tightening these muscles and stitching them together in a corset-like fashion narrows the waist and eliminates bulging. Keep in mind that should you become pregnant or gain weight after surgery, the muscles can stretch out again.

Does Tummy Tuck Improve the Appearance of Stretch Marks?

It may, depending on whether the stretch marks are on the abdominal skin removed during surgery. If the stretch marks extend outside of this area, tummy tuck will not have any effect on their appearance.

What About Cellulite?

It is common to attribute cellulite to an abundance of excess fat. But cellulite is actually more complex than that — the dimpling is due to fat bulging through fibrous bands under the skin. Simply removing excess fat and skin won’t have a positive effect on cellulite; in fact, it may make cellulite appear worse.

Learn More About Tummy Tuck

To discuss your cosmetic surgery goals with our talented plastic surgeon, Dr. Rudy Coscia, please request a consultation by calling or emailing us today.

However, with significant weight loss comes the possibility for excess skin. This usually happens when the skin doesn’t “snap back” or can’t quite keep up with the rate of weight loss. Diet and exercise can’t target this sagging skin – especially around the stomach – which is why a tummy tuck is one of the best options for getting rid of excess skin after weight loss.

What is a Tummy Tuck?

A tummy tuck – also known as an abdominoplasty – is a surgical procedure designed to accomplish two goals:

• Repair abdominal walls that may have been damaged by weight fluctuations; and
• Removing excess skin around the stomach and waistline.

During the tummy tuck procedure, the plastic surgeon repositions the abdominal muscles so that they lay flat. After this step, your surgeon will remove excess and sagging stomach skin to help show off your new results.

Tummy Tuck Consultations Available

What is the Recovery Time for a Tummy Tuck?

If you’re interested in undergoing a tummy tuck to get rid of excess skin after weight loss, here’s what you can expect from the recovery process:

• You’ll need to take at least one week off from work, as the tummy tuck is a major abdominoplasty procedure. If you work in a more manual job role, you may need to expand this time off to two weeks.

• During the first four weeks after your tummy tuck procedure, your plastic surgeon will advise you to avoid strenuous exercise. You’ll be able to take gentle walks about two weeks after your procedure, which can help get the blood flowing and reduce swelling. Your plastic surgeon will give you the green light when you’re ready for exercise again.
• You’ll see results right away, as your excess skin will be gone after the surgery. However, your final results won’t be visible until about eight to twelve weeks after the procedure, as this is usually how long it takes for most swelling and bruising to dissipate.

Take the Next Step

Want to learn more about how a tummy tuck can help get rid of excess skin after weight loss? Schedule a consultation with board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Rudy Coscia at his new plastic surgery practice in Granite Bay, CA.

The Downtime for a Tummy Tuck

A tummy tuck is a major abdominal surgery, which is why downtime can be a little on the long side. In general, expect to spend about six weeks recovering from your tummy tuck. To help you better understand your tummy tuck recovery, let’s break it down a little more:

• For the first week, you’ll likely be a little uncomfortable, which is why you may be prescribed pain medications. While you’ll be encouraged to move to avoid blood clots, you’ll likely spend a good amount of time recovering in a bed or recliner that allows you to bend your knees. For this reason, we recommend that people take a week off from work (two weeks if your job requires manual work).

• You’ll be expected to wear a compressive garment for about six weeks to help reduce post-surgical swelling, as well as encourage drainage.

• You may have drainage tubes in your abdomen for a few weeks after your surgery; these tubes will be removed by your plastic surgeon at a later time.

Tummy Tuck Consultations Available

In addition to the above, you’ll be expected to have regular appointments with your plastic surgeon to follow up on your results.

*I have consulted with many surgery centers over the past decade, from the Bay Area to LA, never have I found a team of professionals that I’ve liked more than the Plastic Surgery Center! Dr. Coscia is amazing (skill and personality)! I couldn’t be more happy with my results!

Take the Next Step

Want to learn more about the downtime for a tummy tuck? Schedule a consultation with board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Rudy Coscia at his new plastic surgery practice in Granite Bay, CA. Dr. Coscia’s practices also serve Coeur d’Alene and the Sacramento metro area. Granite Bay (916) 773-5559 and Sacramento (916) 929-1833.