Traditional Abdominoplasty or "Tummy Tuck"

The traditional tummy tuck procedure is performed by excising the skin and fat from the belly-button down to the pubic bone (red arrows in Figure below). This skin and fat is removed and the Green Shaded area is then undermined, meaning the skin and fat here is lifted up to the level of the ribs. This allows all of the Green Shaded skin to be pulled downward and sutured to the lower portion of the incision (So the 2 purple lines can be sutured together). 

Abdominoplasty

While the Green Shaded area is lifted, the underlying abdominal muscles (the Rectus Abdominis) are exposed. These are your “6 pack” or Abs muscles and they are often stretched so that instead of being side-by-side, they are separated in the midline. This commonly occurs due to age, pregnancy, or previous weight gain/loss or a combination of all of these things. (See Figure below) These muscles can be tightened to bring them back into the midline. After this tightening with stitches, the Green Shaded skin is pulled down.

Rectus Diastasis

An incision is made within the Green area for your belly-button to be placed in its new home.

The resultant scar is typically hidden within the underwear line (Blue Line in the Upper Figure)

This procedure works well for those that have lost moderate amounts of weight or who have lost larger amounts of weight but have had strong skin retraction. It is also commonly used as part of a ‘Mommy Makeover’ after having had children. The ‘Mommy Makeover’ is a breast augmentation +/- breast lift and a tummy tuck.