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Tummy Tuck Risks

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As with all surgical procedures, a tummy tuck is associated with certain risks. Some of these risks are common to all major surgeries, while others are more specific to a tummy tuck. It is important to understand that these risks are rare. When performed by a highly skilled and experienced plastic surgeon, tummy tucks are very safe and consistently achieve excellent results.

At your initial tummy tuck consultation, Los Angeles plastic surgeon Dr. Eugene Kim will explain all of these risks to you in great detail so that you can make a fully informed decision about your procedure.

Tummy tuck risks include:

Anesthesia risks – Most tummy tucks are performed using general anesthesia, which carries greater risks than those associated with local anesthesia.
Infection – Infection is always a risk with any surgical procedure. However, infections after a tummy tuck are rare, and can usually be cleared up with antibiotics.
Hematoma – Hematoma develops when blood collects underneath the skin. Most hematomas appear as bruising which will subside as you heal. However, more serious hematomas may require surgery to correct.
Seroma – On rare occasion, a tummy tuck may result in a pooling of your blood’s serum just underneath the skin. This can be easily treated by draining the affected region.
Pulmonary embolism – This rare complication occurs when a blood clot forms in a blood vessel in your lungs, causing breathing issues. This serious condition must be addressed immediately.
Loss of sensitivity – Some tummy tuck patients may temporarily lose sensitivity in the abdominal region immediately following their procedure. However, sensation generally returns as you heal.
Excessive scarring – On rare occasions, you may experience excessive scarring from your tummy tuck.

Click here see more plastic surgery procedures and treatments performed by Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Eugene Kim on patients in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Santa Monica and surrounding areas or call 310-271-6996 to schedule a consultation.

Due to the extensive nature of the procedure, recovery after a tummy tuck can be a long process. In order to ensure that healing goes as smoothly as possible, you will need to carefully follow Dr. Kim’s instructions throughout the recovery period.

The first week after your tummy tuck will be spent resting. If you need a full tummy tuck, Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Eugene Kim may have you stay overnight. However, less extensive procedures such as a mini tummy tuck are often performed on an outpatient basis.

It is common to experience pain, swelling, and bruising after your tummy tuck which should subside within a week. Dr. Kim may recommend a pain pump to alleviate discomfort at this stage of your recovery. Drains are often removed at the end of the first week.

Dr. Kim will have you wear a compression garment during the first two or three weeks of your tummy tuck recovery to facilitate the healing process. You should resume light activity as soon as you feel comfortable doing so. Walking is the ideal exercise to resume first. However, make sure to avoid strenuous exercise for four weeks.

You should expect to start seeing results after your bruising and swelling subsides, but the final results may not be apparent for up to six months. Dr. Kim has found that his patients are generally very pleased with their tummy tuck results once they have fully recovered from the surgery.

A tummy tuck is one of the most effective methods to get rid of excess skin and fat in the abdominal region, restoring the toned, flat stomach you once enjoyed. When performed by a highly skilled and experienced plastic surgeon, you can achieve dramatic results with a tummy tuck that help you look and feel like the best version of yourself.

Some of the biggest benefits of a tummy tuck include:

Improved appearance – A tummy tuck is an excellent way to improve your appearance and restore a more toned look to your abdomen. This is especially true for women who have struggled to regain their pre-pregnancy body and individuals who have recently achieved massive weight loss.
Customized procedure – Los Angeles plastic surgeon Dr. Eugene Kim will customize your tummy tuck to address your unique physical attributes and aesthetic goals.
Tighter muscles – A tummy tuck does much more than remove excess skin and fat from the abdominal region. It also tightens abdominal muscles which become separated as you age. This is especially beneficial for women who are looking to restore their body after multiple pregnancies and individuals who have lost a significant amount of weight.
New lifestyle – Whether your tummy tuck is the final piece to achieving the body you desire after massive weight loss or a motivation to maintain a healthier lifestyle, it can serve as a tremendous motivating factor as you move forward in your life.
Increased confidence – Many tummy tuck patients experience vastly increased self confidence after their procedure, especially during the summer when they can show off their new beach body with pride.

Eugene Kim Plastic Surgery is a professional managed, state of the art plastic surgery practice serving patients in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, and Santa Monica, CA and other adjoining areas. Led by Dr. Eugene Kim, a dedicated and experienced plastic surgeon, the practice provides high quality care and personalized service to meet the unique needs and aesthetic goals of every patient. As a trained cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Kim understands that the procedure may have to be customized to match the needs of the patient in order to achieve most desirable results.

What is Tummy Tuck?

Dr. Eugene Kim provides a range of body contouring procedures, and one of the key procedures is tummy tuck. Many people suffer from excess fat deposits, sagging skin, and loose muscles around the abdominal area. It makes the body appearance uneven and unshapely. Sometimes the fat deposits may become stubborn, and no amount of exercise or dieting may help reduce these unwanted fats.

In such conditions, when diet and exercise do not help, and the person is unhappy with the uneven stomach contour, an experienced plastic surgeon such as Dr. Kim may advise tummy tuck surgery to his patients in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and other nearby areas. Abdominal fat may not only occur due to unhealthy eating or a sedentary lifestyle, but in many cases, it may also be caused due to genetic factors or following a pregnancy.

If the patient is healthy and fit for surgery, he or she may be a good candidate for this procedure to remove the unwanted fats and loose skin, and achieve a firmer, flatter and tighter abdomen. Tummy tuck is one of the popular cosmetic surgery procedures today, and an expert cosmetic surgeon can gently reshape and contour the abdominal area through tightening of loose muscles and removal of excess skin and fat.

Full and Partial Tummy Tuck

Some patients may not require a fully abdominoplasty, if the fat deposits around the waist are not very excessive. However, the advantage with a full abdominoplasty is that it can address the complete spectrum of stomach muscles and provide optimal aesthetic results. Mini abdominoplasty or partial tummy tuck will be more suited only where a patient needs localized tightening of muscles in specific pockets around the tummy.

Localized tightening of muscles may be required following a fluctuation in weight or to correct the aftermath of an earlier surgery. Full tummy tuck is usually required if the patient has acquired excessive fats throughout the tummy area following a pregnancy or due to aging or heredity factors. It is also important for patients to understand that a full or partial tummy tuck is not a substitute for weight loss.

Stretch marks following a pregnancy may be somewhat improved after this procedure, but tummy tuck is not designed to correct stretch marks. Balanced diet and regular exercise must be pursued after the patient has recovered from the surgery in order to maintain the results for a long period of time.

Good Candidates

In Dr. Kim’s experience as a cosmetic surgeon in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, and Santa Monica, CA and surrounding communities and cities, people having one or more of the following conditions may be marvelous candidates for a tummy tuck:

Sagging or loose skin in the lower or upper stomach area.
Excessive fat deposits or excess skin following a pregnancy, and having no immediate plans for another child.
Protruding belly.
Weak and separated abdominal muscles, which have become resistant to toning exercises.
Excess skin following a major weight loss.

Procedure

Tummy tuck surgery may be performed under general anesthesia or IV sedation, depending on the circumstances of an individual case. The surgeon will usually discuss the options of anesthesia with the patient and take a decision beforehand. The procedure begins with the placement of a horizontal incision in the area between the pubic hairline and navel. The extent of fat and skin removal required will determine the length and shape of the incision.

The plastic surgeon will repair the weakened abdominal muscles through the incision and tighten them. Excess skin, tissue, and fat will be removed to provide the desired stomach contour. If there is excess loose skin in the upper stomach area, it may be necessary to make a second incision. Once the procedure is completed, the incisions will be closed with sutures or skin adhesives.

Tummy tuck will typically result in a firmer and flatter abdominal contour that is in proportion with the overall body size, shape, and weight. Bruising and swelling will subside over the next few weeks, and complete results will become visible as the healing occurs. Most patients can resume their regular activities within a week after the procedure.

While rhinoplasty is very effective at re-shaping a nose with structural problems, it cannot reduce the thickness of your nose’s skin. If you have thick skin on your nose that already obscures its structure, it may also obscure any refinement that a rhinoplasty is able to accomplish.

Cartilage sculpted

During a rhinoplasty procedure, the skin of your nose is lifted up so the bone and cartilage can be sculpted. After this is completed, the skin is placed back down over your nose. Typically, the thickest skin on a person’s nose is in the tip. While the bridge of your nose can be raised, resulting in some narrowing of the nose, patients with especially thick nose-tip skin may not get the cosmetic result they are looking for from rhinoplasty. It may be necessary to thin the skin during surgery however care must be taken to not compromise the circulation to the skin.

The cosmetic problems that rhinoplasty is able to effectively address will vary based on your particular anatomy, including the existing structure of your cartilage and the thickness of your skin. In some thicker-skinned noses, the underlying support of the nose is often weak. After a thorough examination, Dr. Kim will discuss the possibilities for your nose surgery with you and help you determine if the procedure would be valuable to you.

Click here see more plastic surgery procedures and treatments performed by Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Eugene Kim on patients in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Monica and surrounding areas or call 310-271-6996 to schedule a consultation.

Breast augmentation is the popular name for augmentation mammaplasty, which is a procedure performed by a cosmetic surgeon to increase the size of breasts. With the advancements in surgical techniques and approvals by the FDA for saline and silicone implants, breast augmentation has emerged as a highly sought after procedure.

Each year nearly 300,000 breast implant procedures are performed in the U.S. Dr. Eugene Kim is a board certified plastic surgeon providing breast augmentation surgery to patients in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, CA, and nearby locations.

Why is Breast Augmentation Needed?

The cosmetic surgeon may recommend breast augmentation to a patient due to one or more of the following reasons:

The patient’s breast size is naturally small.
The breasts are of uneven size.
Breast volume has been lost following a pregnancy or weight loss.
Breast reconstruction is required after a mastectomy.

As an experienced plastic surgeon, Dr. Kim will examine the patient’s condition carefully and evaluate her aesthetic goals before recommending breast augmentation. Patients in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, CA, and surrounding areas may consult with Dr. Kim for this procedure.

Types of Breast Implants

One of the most important decisions in breast augmentation procedure is the right choice of breast implants. Both saline and silicone gel based implants have been approved by the FDA. The sizes of implants range from 120cc to 960cc, their shapes may be round or teardrop and the surface may be plain or textured. The choice of the implant type will have a bearing on the final outcome of the surgery. Therefore, patients should make this decision in close consultation with the surgeon.

Implant Procedure

Breast augmentation procedure is usually performed on an outpatient basis. The surgeon may use general anesthesia or intravenous sedation. The procedure begins with the surgeon placing the incision at a pre-decided location. A breast cavity is created through the incision to place the implants in the breast tissue. The implants may be placed underneath the chest muscle or between the breast tissue and chest muscle.

The location of the incision can be underneath the breast crease, around the lower half of the areola, in the underarm, or encircling the navel. The entire procedure may be completed within one to two hours, depending on a particular case. Sometimes the surgeon may perform breast augmentation in conjunction with breast lift to achieve more effective results.

Recovery Process

The patient should have someone to driver her back home after the surgery, and preferably stay over with her for the first 24 hours. Mild to moderate pain will be experienced in treated area for the first few days, which can be managed with pain medications as per the surgeon’s guidance.

Most patients will be ready to go back to work within a week to 10 days after the surgery. Full effects of the surgery will appear over several months as bruising and swelling resolves completely. Results with breast augmentation procedure are usually long lasting, but most patients may need to repeat the surgery at least once in their lifetime.

After your breast augmentation surgery, Dr. Kim will provide you with a course of antibiotics and a list of post-operative care instructions to avoid infection and other complications. However, even when you diligently follow all of your care instructions following surgery, it is still possible for infection to occur at your surgical site.

Some of the most obvious symptoms of infection include:

Persistent redness and tenderness over a month after surgery
Excessive swelling over a month after surgery
Fever
Drainage
Local heat

If you notice any of these signs of infection, do not hesitate to contact Dr. Kim immediately. The sooner symptoms are followed up on, the more likely it is the infection can be eliminated without the need for implant removal. Close follow-up with Dr. Kim is key to ensuring a smooth and safe recovery process.

A breast augmentation surgery can bring in a positive change in your life. The surgery will certainly make you feel good about your body and boost your confidence. However, to get the best out of the surgery, you need to ensure that you follow the advice given by your cosmetic surgeon. Your body will need some time to heal after the surgery. Dr. Eugene Kim, who has been helping women in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Santa Monica and West Hollywood, CA get the perfect set of breasts, advices on the following:

During the first week of recovery

There are chances of a feeling of fatigue after the surgery, for a couple of days. So it is important to give your body all the rest that it needs.
You may notice some firmness in the operated area, which is absolutely normal. The tightness is the effect of your body trying to adjust to the implants and the difference brought in by them in your breast size.
Your breasts and nipples may also feel a little numb post the surgery. You may be advised to massage your breasts or try some simple exercises (suggested by your plastic surgeon) to reduce the numbness. The sensitivity may last for a month. You may also notice the operated part getting swollen.
You may be asked to wear a compression bandage, a jog bra or a special post-operative bra, to provide the required extra support to your breasts. Ironically, some surgeons advice patients to not wear a bra at all, during the recovery period.
In case of external sutures, your plastic surgeon will take them off in a week.
You will be able to return to work in a couple of days after the procedure.

Follow the advice given by your cosmetic surgeon

You will need to make sure that you do not build up any pressure on your arms and chest. This will require you to stay away from strenuous exercises or similar physical activities. You will have to be extremely gentle with your breasts for at least a month. In any case, you need to stick to your surgeon’s advice as he/she will draft out some specific guidelines for you

In the long term, routine mammograms are recommended, whose frequency rate will depend on your age. You should continue self-examining your breasts and should notify your cosmetic surgeon in case of pain or any discomfort in the area

Lasting results of the surgery

Breast augmentation is also preferred by women due to its long-lasting results. However, the results may vary based on factors like aging, childbirth, gravity, weight gain or loss and so on. You will have to get your breast implants replaced, if they burst or leak. After a few years, if you feel that your breasts do not look as attractive as before, you can opt for a breast revision surgery to change the existing breast implants. You can also go for a breast lift surgery, which will satisfy you with firm and perky breasts.

Immediately following a breast augmentation procedure, some patients may notice that their breasts appear much larger and higher than their intended results. This is the result of post-operative swelling, which usually takes 2-3 months to completely subside – however, it can last longer in some patients. When swelling is at its peak, patients can expect their breasts to be around ¼ of a cup size larger than their final results.

As swelling goes down, your breast implants will also undergo a change in shape, becoming rounder and sagging slightly to achieve a more natural look. This will eliminate the “high” appearance that worries many patients.

While you are healing, steps can be taken to help your breasts settle into their final position, such as massaging and displacement exercises. Dr. Kim may also recommend that you wear a strap that helps your implants drop into place more effectively, minimizing the time that it takes for you to notice your final results. Patients should closely follow-up with Dr. Kim throughout the recovery period to ensure their breasts are healing normally and that they are on the right path to their desired results.

The placement of your breast implants will affect both the final appearance of your breasts and the potential for complications such as bottoming out and the double-bubble effect.

Although the risks for bottoming out and the double-bubble effect are rare, they require revision surgery to correct. Los Angeles plastic surgeon Dr. Eugene Kim will discuss bottoming out and double-bubble as well as other potential complications of breast augmentation with you during your consultation.

Bottoming Out

Bottoming out is when the final placement of your breast implants is well below their initial placement. If your skin and underlying breast tissue at the breast crease separate, this can cause the breast implants to descend below the fold.

If your breast implants cross the inframammary crease, it causes your breasts to appear larger below the nipple and creates the appearance of bottoming out.

Bottoming out typically requires a revision procedure. The correction treatment varies based on the cause and extent of the condition.

Double-Bubble Effect

The double-bubble effect is the opposite of bottoming out. A double-bubble occurs when your breast tissue falls below your Inframammary fold and pushes your implant into the upper portion of your breast. This gives the appearance of two breasts.

Double-bubble occurs more often if subpectoral or full submuscular breast augmentation was performed without a breast lift. In double-bubble cases, the breast implants remain under the muscle and high on the chest wall with the naturally occurring breast tissue and breast envelope sagging lower than the breast implants.

As with bottoming out, the double-bubble effect requires revision surgery.

Tummy Tuck Risks