Tummy Tuck

Q: Dr. Eppley, I have an additional question about my stomach and tummy tuck surgery.  I don’t want a tummy tuck where I have a scar that goes around my hips. I was wondering if skin could just be pulled tighter towards the pelvic area so that the wrinkling and obvious bulge would look smoother. I had a lumbar disc replacement surgery some years back and the scar left my stomach lumped like that with the way the incision was done. I’ve heard of mini tummy tucks that only leave a bikini line scar – could that be done?

I’ve included a side view so you can see that I don’t need to reduce my size, it is just that lower bulge/wrinkled area that needs to be addressed. What are your recommendations?

A: Certainly a more limited tummy tuck can  be performed to lessen the scar burden and just get rid of the loose tissue in the lower central abdominal area. This will not produce as dramatic a change in your overall stomach area since this solution is far less then the problem. But if the concern about a scar supersedes that of some loose abdominal tissue then the mini tummy tuck is the better procedure for your abdominal rehabbing.