Plastic surgery of the abdomen can accomplish many things that you cannot accomplish on your own - no matter how much you diet and work out. Dieting and working out may tone your muscles and help you lose weight, but they will not tighten your loose skin, nor will they tighten your loose inner girdle. A tummy tuck can give you a flat stomach by tightening your inner girdle. Tummy tuck also removes loose skin of your lower abdomen and tightens the skin of your upper abdomen. Abdominoplasty can also remove nearly all the fat of your lower abdomen as well as the stretch marks. In fact, there is practically nothing that pregnancy can do to your abdomen that a tummy tuck can't fix.

Abdominoplasty does have limitations. (Here comes the bad news). It will not remove stretch marks of your mid or upper abdomen (but it will shift them lower on your abdomen). If you have a thick layer of fat in your upper abdomen, a tummy tuck will not reduce its thickness. If you want lipo for this, you may be out of luck. Aggressive liposuction of the upper abdomen at the same time as a tummy tuck is ill-advised because it can interfere with circulation and cause complications. If your fat is very very thick, you may be advised by your plastic surgeon to avoid a tummy tuck completely because of a high risk of healing problems. In this case, you may be offered a panniculectomy, which involves removal of skin and fat only, with no tightening of your inner girdle (fascia).
 

Will extend across the lowest part of your abdomen, just above your bikini line. You will (typically) have another scar around your belly button. These scars are commonly hidden by swimming suit. Many heal discretely, but others remain quite visible. Regardless, you are more likely to look (and feel) better with a flatter abdomen and scars than you are with a bulging belly.

 

Everyone has an inner girdle. The inner girdle extends from your rib cage down to your pubic bone and from one side of your abdomen to the other. The inner girdle is made of the same stuff as gristle on a steak. It is situated between your rectus muscles and your abdominal fat. It is tough and serves to support the contents of your abdomen so that they don't bulge outward. Surgeons refer to this layer as "fascia." (FYI, a hernia is actually a hole in the fascia or inner girdle).
The inner girdle stretches during pregnancy to accommodate the enlarging uterus. After pregnancy, your muscles may regain tone (with some effort), but your inner girdle is not quite as resilient, nor as elastic. Often the inner girdle fails to regain its shape, even though your muscles may be toned. This is where a tummy tuck can really help. In a tummy tuck, your plastic surgeon will imbricate (tighten) your inner girdle to make it flatter. By the way, if your plastic surgeon explains that he is going to "tighten you muscles" during your tummy tuck, just nod and smile. He is actually going to tighten your inner girdle but is too lazy to explain the difference (muscles are below the inner girdle and are never exposed during the operation).
 

Anesthesia is usually general, but it can sometimes be performed under heavy sedation. Length of surgery is 1-3 hours. You may stay overnight for pain control. Discomfort is moderate to severe. The tighter your surgeon makes your inner girdle, the greater your discomfort will be. Anticipate 3-8 days of prescription pain medication. Bruising does not usually occur. Abdominal numbness is expected and will last for 6 months or longer. Bandages are removed in 1-4 days. Stitches are removed in 7 days. Drains will be placed at the time of surgery to prevent postoperative fluid collections, called seromas. They will be removed between 2 days and 2 weeks following surgery. You will be presentable in a bathing suit within a month of surgery. Your abdomen will immediately look better in most one-piece bathing suits than it did prior to surgery. You may return to work in about 7-10 days, as long as your job requires no lifting or manual labor. If so, wait 4-6 weeks or get an excuse from your plastic surgeon so that you can be given a non-lifting job during that time. Driving may be resumed in 7-14 days, provided you have stopped taking prescription pain medication. Exercise may be resumed in 4 weeks.Your final result will be evident after your scar has matured, approximately one year.