Are Tummy Tucks a good way to get a flat stomach?

featured in Healthy You Magazine - 01/12/2008.

For many, the New Year is time of reflection and an ideal opportunity to take charge of your life and make improvements to how you look and feel. You look in the mirror and think: "I want to change how I look, how I feel, I want to look at myself and not hate what I see."

For many, dieting, exercise and a new image will do the trick. But for others, it's not as simple as that. If you have already lost a lot of weight in recent months, you might have excess skin hanging in front of your abdomen or no matter how many sit-ups you do, you just cannot achieve a flat stomach. While dieting and exercise can tone the abdominal muscles, they won't do much tor that loose sagging skin. Sound familiar? If so, a tummy tuck might be an option for you.

Abdominoplasty, more commonly referred to as a tummy tuck, is a serious medical procedure where a general anaesthetic is necessary. It is not a weight reducing procedure as the surgeon only removes the excess skin, the overhang or "apron". If the surgeon examines you and finds that you are large all over, but have a tight tummy area, they will send you home and tell you to loose weight. If you have a lot of loose skin and not much fat however, you are a good candidate for the procedure.

Once you have made the serious decision to go ahead with a turnmv tuck procedure, the next step is to ensure that you choose the right plastic surgeon.

other training in cosmetic surgery other than formal training in plastic surgery. Anyone describing themselves as a "cosmetic surgeon", a "cosmetic doctor" or a "specialist with interest in cosmetic surgery" is not qualified to carry-out the operation.

All consultant plastic surgeons are listed on the specialist registers of the Irish Medical Council (IMC) under the heading "plastic reconstructive and aesthetic surgery". If an individual has not trained as a plastic surgeon, they will not be on the specialist register and are therefore not qualified to carry-out cosmetic surgery. To ensure that your surgeon is a fully-qualified, specialist registered plastic surgeon in Ireland, check out the following weblink and use the search directory:

The next step is to make sure that your surgeon is a permanent resident in Ireland and doesn't just fly into the country once a week to conduct operations. Your surgeon needs to be living here so that they can attend to you if there is any medical emergency.

You also need to ensure that your procedure will be carried out in a hospital not in an unregulated premises, such as an office building or basement Currently, there is a severe lack of regulation in Ireland in relation to the cosmetic surgery industry and this needs to be urgently addressed. In fact, cafes and corner shops that handle food are more regulated than the Irish cosmetic surgery sector.

Remember that all reputable surgeons will only operate in hospitals.

At River Medical Group, all our procedures are carried out in major private general hospitals including Clane General Hospital in Kildare and we only employ consultant plastic surgeons who are resident in Ireland.

The combination of all of the above does not eliminate the risks of surgery. but it will help to minimise them.

During an abdominoplasty procedure, all loose excess skin and fatty tissue are removed through an incision, which extends across the abdomen, usually from hip to hip (across the bikini area). The procedure takes three-to-four hours and usually requires one to two overnight stays in hospital. No one can guarantee the quality of the scar. It could be a fine line or a red raised thick scar and will very much depend on the type of skin you have. Put simply, some people heal better than others but, in general, scars will improve overtime.

It is important to remember, however, that there are always risks associated with surgery and some of the risks associated with a tummy tuck procedure include:

This is a collection of blood caused by bleeding occurring beneath the abdominal flap after the operation. It is a rare complication that may appear in the first 24-to-48 hours and this is why you need to stay one to two nights in hospital. If this complication occurs, it can very easily be addressed in a hospital.

This condition is quite common. It is a collection of fluid between the muscles and the skin. It can happen in the first few days or weeks because the body cannot absorb quickly enough the fluid it generates. This can be drained with a syringe in the surgeon's rooms. It can be repeated until your body builds a new mechanism of absorbing it.

This can happen but is easily treated with antibiotics and Dressings.

This occurs when there is an area of dead skin that slowly gives away to new healthy tissue. It might take a long time to heal and needs high-tech dressings from specially trained nurses. This is very rare.

When choosing a cosmetic surgery clinic for your tummy tuck procedure, do not go for the cheapest option in the market. Always remember that you are investing in your health. There are very few consultant plastic surgeons operating in Ireland and they are expensive because they are qualified and good at what they do. Having the procedure done in a general hospital is also expensive- The cost of a surgeon and hospital should be around 70 to 80 percent of the overall price you pay.

Some clinics will often use a surgeon with questionable credentials to keep costs down. This so-called surgeon is paid a lot less; often tax-free, and then boards a plane out of the country after he has conducted your procedure. But remember, that if you develop a post-operative problem. they are not on hand to help you.

If you cannot afford to have the procedure done by a proper consultant plastic surgeon in a proper hospital environment wait until you can afford to do so. Do not play with your health.

Cosmetic surgery is big business in Ireland and many clinics are driven by sales targets instead of their patients health. Don't fall for the sales patter and make sure you do your research before you sign on the dotted line.

Labros Chatzis MD, PhD. Bplas