If you’ve lost a significant amount of weight, you may be left with areas of excess, sagging skin, exactly where you don’t want it. This is definitely true for Dr. Frank’s tummy tuck patients. A common procedure desired by women who are done with pregnancy, tummy tucks are also popular with Crown Point women and men who have recently lost a significant amount of weight, either through diet and exercise or bariatric surgery. However you’ve gotten to your new, lighter self, you should be able to celebrate and feel comfortable in your clothing and even relaxed enough about your appearance to wear a bathing suit. And that’s exactly what Dr. Frank’s aim is when he performs this surgery – to create a trimmer version of you.* Robert Frank, MD Plastic Surgery provides tummy tucks to the Munster and Hobart communities.
In addition to ridding your body of loose abdominal skin, a tummy tuck can also address a very common yet extremely frustrating side effect of pregnancy – diastasis recti, commonly known as separated abdominal muscles. When this condition occurs, the abdominal muscles separate and create a bulge that only very rarely goes away on its own. During a tummy tuck surgery, Dr. Frank is able to stitch up these muscles so that you have a firmer, tighter abdominal wall.*
Your Consultation with Dr. Frank
Dr. Frank believes if you are going to entrust him to sculpt and shape your body, he should be available to you as much as possible. That’s why plastic surgery candidates from Crown Point always meet with Dr. Frank directly during their first consultation, and not a surgery or patient coordinator. During this important first meeting, Dr. Frank will hold a discussion with you so he can understand your concerns about your problem areas as well as what your desired outcome is. Often he finds his tummy tuck candidates:
- Are unhappy with their abdomen after multiple pregnancies
- Feel uncomfortable about their appearance daily in whatever they are wearing, but most often when it comes to wearing a bathing suit
- Have tried endlessly to diet and exercise away their excess abdominal skin and feel that a tummy tuck is their only hope
Dr. Frank always counsels his patients that a tummy tuck isn’t a weight loss procedure. Rather, ideal tummy tuck candidates from Crown Point will be at or near their goal weight when they come to Dr. Frank for their initial consultation.
Screening You for Your Safety
While Dr. Frank wishes he could use his technical training and artistic skill to help everyone who consults with him, he knows that some visitors to his practice won’t be ideal candidates for elective surgery. In order to become a patient of Dr. Frank and be operated on by him, you must:
- Pass all preoperative testing, including a preoperative appointment by your general practitioner clearing you for elective surgery
- Be in good overall health – but keep in mind that just because you may have a medical condition, it doesn’t automatically exclude you from having a tummy tuck
- Be a non-smoker, as smoking constricts blood vessels and may not only make the surgery unnecessarily risky but delay your recovery time, too
- Thoroughly listen to Dr. Frank about the procedure and communicate back to him that you have realistic expectations for your outcome
- Be in good psychological health
Your Experience on Surgery Day
Dr. Frank’s Crown Point patients will arrive at an area-accredited surgical facility on the day of their procedure, having fasted for at least 12 hours for the safe administration of general anesthesia – the strong medication that will “knock you out” for your surgery so that you are completely unaware of it while it is taking place. You’ll first be prepped by a preoperative team in the surgical room. During the procedure, Dr. Frank will:
- Make a low, hip-to-hip incision below your bikini line whenever possible
- Excise any unwanted, excess sagging skin from your abdomen
- Stitch up your abdominal muscles, if it is necessary to do so
- Reposition your belly button
To make his patients from Crown Point as comfortable as possible when they wake up and are recovering in the days after their surgery, Dr. Frank may also use local anesthesia at the surgical site. This medication, which lasts three days and is not a narcotic, is available to patients at an additional cost.
When your surgery is complete, you will awaken in a recovery room and come out from the effects of general anesthesia. Most patients are able to return home on the same day as their surgery.*
Recovering From Your Surgery
Potential tummy tuck patients in Crown Point always want to know what their recovery experience will be like, and Dr. Frank is always open and honest with them. Some patients will have drains for about two weeks, which assists in your healing process,* though a drain-free alternative is available to certain candidates.
For the first week or so after your surgery, you won’t be able to do any heavy lifting,* which includes lifting and holding small children. If you have little ones at home, you’ll need to enlist the help of friends and family to care for them as you are recovering. To help you heal as soon as possible, Dr. Frank recommends only light exercise during the first few weeks after your surgery,* such as walking or riding a bike. Non-abdominal exercise may be added about three to four weeks later,* all depending on you and how you are healing. Abdominal exercises can typically be resumed six weeks after a tummy tuck.*
Call Today to Schedule an Initial Consultation
If you’re a Crown Point resident who wants a slimmer, trimmer abdomen without all that excess, loose hanging skin, Dr. Frank may be able to help! Call his offices today to schedule an initial consultation at (219) 513-2011.
*Individual results may vary.
