Tummy Tuck in Mexico by Dr. Manuel Gutierrez Romero

The operation describe as tummy tuck in México is design to eliminate the excess of skin located in the lower part of the abdomen usually from the belly button down to the pubic area, and re enforce the abdominal wall, the objective is to eliminate the excess of skin, obtain a more flat and firm abdomen

How is a good candidate?

Typically are females how have had multiple of pregnancies, the skin stretch during the pregnancy, and they end up with sagginess and redundancy of skin, fat deposits and stretch marks, mostly in the lower part of the abdomen? Well there are many other circumstances way patients will need a Tummy tuck: patient male or female how gain and lost substantial amount of weight, or those ho have gone to mayor weight lost (gastric bay pas or lap band). These areas persist beside the exercise and appropriate diet; these areas can give the appearance of disproportion with the rest of the body.

The best way to know if you need a tummy tuck is: remove your close, sit down is a chair and pinch the excess of skin in the lower part of your stomach, if you are able to grab enough excess of skin, you are a good candidate. Part of the evaluation is to look for previous abdominal operation or hernias, we also evaluate the different fat deposits, and discus with the patient all of this advantages a disadvantages.

When is the best time to have a tummy tuck?

The best time to have a tummy tuck is you are a female that has have pregnancies it is always advisable to wait after you decide to have no more babies.

The otter type of patients are those how are in the process of loosing weight, it is very recommended to get to your ideal weight before getting your tummy tuck, you will just get the best result.

The operation is technically very simple: usually under epidural anesthesia place by the anesthesiologist, we begin with a incision in the lower part of the abdomen (it can be design to the type of underwear you like) we proceed to undermine the skin and fat, from the abdominal wall, realize the belly button, and continue with the undermining up to the rib cage. We proceed to tighten muscles:

vertical abdominal muscles that have been stretched and weakened over time are tightened, restoring the appearance of a firmer, flatter abdomen. We proceed to tighten the muscles, vend over the operating table, and stretch the excess of skin, we resects the excess, and make a small incision to pop up your belly button in the same location, the wound is closed in 4 different layers. We all wais live a small drainage.

There are some technical refinements in a tummy tuck that will make the operation stand more then any average tummy tuck; In order to eliminate the excess of skin on the corners (call the ear dogs or folds of skin) we must extend the incision as far as necessary; a small incision most likely will have those excess in the corners.

Other important problem is: a lot of fat in the pubic area, most of the Dr. don’t remove the fat in the pubic area with result in a flat stomach with a large and bulgy pubis. The way to address this problem, is at the time you do the incision in the center we elevate all the pubis, trim half of the fat and then we elevate the excess of kin (all of our patient love this procedure).

The last refinement is small belly button: at the time we undermine and realize the belly button, we cut in a triangular shape, then at the time of stretching the skin, we do another incision in a inverted V incision, this will adapt nicely to the triangular. The result is a small incision in triangular with is less likely to close or show a large scar.

Tummy tuck procedures can be performed alone, but are often performed with liposuction to further improve body contours. A tummy tuck should not be considered as a treatment for obesity, or a substitute for proper diet and exercise. Individuals considering a tummy tuck should be healthy and relatively fit. Future pregnancies and substantial changes in weight following a tummy tuck, as well as the presence of scars from prior surgeries may decrease the effectiveness and longevity of treatment.

After completion of the operation the patient is transfer to recovery room with stery strips in the wound, drainage, and a compression garment. The patient must slip and rest at 45 degrees on the next morning must walk and must have a daily shower.

P.O. Instruction

Daily shower, (no bath) blow dry the tape cover the wound, clean your belly with q-tip and hydrogen peroxide once a day, take your meds according to prescription ( antibiotic 3 times a day, pain relieve medication alternate up to every 4 hrs) empty the drainage 3 times a day, sleep at 45 degree, you could sleep on your side not on your belly, must have a bottle of water every 2 hours, and every 2 hour must walk to the bathroom, eating any thing except hard things to digest ( reed meat…) must wear a firm compression all day and night for 4 weeks, don’t exercise for 4 to 6 weeks, the first week only small walks in site the house, we ever resting keep your legs elevates to your hips, avoid constipation, if you suffer begin prevention on day one ( papaya, plums, orange juice, fiber, and the most important this avoid dehydration) . Avoid walking a lot, up and down the stairs, no walking the dogs, etc. never apply any heat on the abdomen. You can begin exercise after 4 to 6 weeks, and if you had your muscles tight abdominal work in 3 months.

In the long run patient can have a permanent numbness in the lower part of the abdomen, the scar is permanent and the best result of the scar is after one year, it you want to have the best result of the scar you must wear the tape for the first month, and after you must wear the silicon sheets, this is a self sticker made of silicon that will create pressure in the wound, it will control the production of collagen and improve the result of the scar, you must wear it for 4 to 6 month non stop.