Extended Tummy Tuck

Q: Dr. Eppley, I was in your office a few weeks ago originally for a consultation about liposuction. However after speaking with you, you informed my that the best procedure for my goals would be the extended male tummy tuck. I’m still considering this procedure however, I’m getting a bit nervous as while I have had surgical procedures before, this would be the very first one that is considered “elective”. While I have a few more questions about this procedure and your practice.

I’m not sure if I should email you these questions or if I should schedule an appointment to meet with you. Therefore, I figured I would try email first and if you recommend me coming in, I’m willing to do that as well. Please see the below:

1. I was looking through your website and while I see some of the procedures you have done with respects to this procedure with women, I didn’t see any regarding men. Are there significant differences between performing this procedure on men then women? Also, if I can ask, how many of these procedures have you performed on men?

2. What would be my realistic outcome should I have this procedure done? I realize that you would have to remember speaking with me regarding this question. However, in the event you do I figured I would ask in this email. I have looked online and have seen many success stories regarding this procedure. However, I have also seen many not so successful stories where the outcome had’t met the patients expectations. 

A: In answer to your questions:

1) About one-third of extended tummy tucks that are done (usually due to weight loss) are in men. I have done many. What prospective patients fail to appreciate about any plastic surgery website is that any photos shown are just a small fraction of what has been done and are only there to provide a general idea of the procedure. Also plastic surgeons can only post pictures that patients will allow to be posted and that is often a very low percentage of patients…men are the most restrictive in this regard.

2) There is nothing in men that make any form of a tummy tuck harder than in women.

3) Every tummy tuck patient, men or women, achieves great improvement. I don’t ever recall any patient that has ever said it was not worth it or did not have significant improvement. This is particularly true in weight loss patients who have no other mechanism to get rid of their resultant loose skin or tissues. That being said, that does not mean that in some cases a secondary revision may be done to help some solve residual issues (e.g., dog ears, scars, contour asymmetry) No plastic surgery procedure, particularly one that covers such a large surface area, ever produces a perfect result. Whether any remaining or more minor aesthetic issues are bothersome enough for the patient to undergo a touch up or revision procedure will vary for each patient.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana