Is The Smooth Tuck A Good Choice For My Type Of Tummy Tuck?

Q: I saw a tummy operation on a TV show the other day that got me reallly excited. It was a new operation called the Smooth Tuck.  It was a impler way of doing a tummy tuck because no muscle repair is done and it uses a much smaller scar above the bikini line. The recovery is only one week. This sounds great! I was scheduled to have a full tummy tuck and I was dreading it. This sounds so much better. Do you think I should have this tummy procedure done instead? Is it too good to be true?

A: While I have no idea what your tummy problem is or looks like, I can make a predictive statement that it is too good to be true. The Smooth Tuck is nothing more than a mini-tummy tuck wrapped up with a slick sounding name. Whether the smooth refers to how your tummy will look after or what it is like to go through and recover from is unknown to me. And I am not saying that it is a bad operation. The key question is whether this is an operation for you. Does the solution it can provide match the size of your problem? If you are better suited to a full tummy tuck, then this lesser operation will leave you disappointed no matter how smooth it sounds. There are some tummy tuck patients who are ideally suited for this approach but it is usually only a minority of them. You understandably are interested in something that sounds easier than the traditional tummy tuck approach. Just be certain that the real limitations of this marketed operation do not leave you with the opposite of your desired result…an unsmooth tummy that should have had a different tummy tuck technique done.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis Indiana