After a tummy tuck

For news on tummy tucks in general, check out the Google News Page.

For tummy tuck price info, the information below is of good use!

Tummy Tuck Risks

As with all cosmetic surgeries, you not only pay with your wallet, but, maybe, with your physical health as well. With a tummy tuck you are likely to get a scar. However, when you take into account the full effect of the procedure, which greatly improves the look of your midsection, the scarring isn’t that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. Because the incision is made around the pubic area, it is going to be hidden whenever you wear underwear or a bathing suit. As time passes, the scar is going to get less and less noticeable. Unfortunately, some people, because of their genetics, are likely to get keloid scars, which are scars whose tissue is raised, making it much more noticeable.

Aside from scarring, your midsection may get infected before it is fully healed, you may have bleeding, and you have a chance of getting a blood clot (this can be prevented by moving around), which forms when your body is trying to heal the wounds. Aside from scares, risks/complications from an abdominoplasty are rare. Infection, for example, affects only around 1 out of 100 patients. Other possible risks include…

Swelling
Fluids collecting under the skin, which can be drained without any problems (the most common problem with tummy tucks)
Adverse reaction to anesthesia
Unfavorable reaction to post-op pills or treatments
Very slow healing process
Nausea
Dead Skin
Disappearance of your belly button
Issues with the newly stretched skin
Damage to things such as your blood vessels, muscles, and nerves

To lower the chance of complications, you need to follow your plastic surgeon’s orders exactly. For example, taking a shower too early may get you an infection. A lot of tummy tuck patients have numb skin, but this is perfectly normal as the nerves need to reattach themselves to the newly stretched skin. Some people are just not eligible for a tummy tuck surgery because they are too overweight or are thinking of getting pregnant in the future.

It’s going to take about 1 to 2 months for you to be able to return to physically demanding activities such as exercise. When moving about during the first 1 to 2 months you have to be careful in not putting too much stress on your midsection. You’ll find that (especially if you get your abdominal muscles tightened during the procedure), simple routine activities such as getting out of bed are going to be painful. With time, things will get a lot easier.

Tummy Tuck Surgeon

Although you want to shop with tummy tuck price in mind when looking for a tummy tuck surgeon, you also want to get a good surgeon. Just keep in mind that high quality and cheap don’t belong in the same sentence when you are looking around. How exactly do you go about looking for a high quality tummy tuck surgeon?

You can find abdominoplasty surgeons through the following ways…

Search for “cosmetic surgery” at Yellowpages.com for your area. Unless you live in a large city, such as New York, you are going to find out that there aren’t that many plastic surgeons in your area. For example, for the Pittsburgh area, there were only a handful of plastic surgery clinics. Once you find the ones in your area, give them a call and see if they do tummy tucks.

The best online directory for tummy tucks and plastic surgery in general, at least from my research, is the one other at yourplasticsurgeryguide.com. It is very user friendly as the directory is separated by city and then, once you click on your city, by type of surgery. You can then get loads of information about the featured doctors. If you don’t like the selection of doctors in your area, there’s no shortage of tummy tuck surgeons listed here. You can even arrange for a tummy tuck-vacation by going to a place such as Beverly Hills and recovering there. Although there are few reviews online for specific clinics you can easily make your own assessment by visiting the practice. Even if there happen to be a lot of reviews for the particular practice, if you don’t like it, feel free to spend your money elsewhere.

You can also make use of cosmeticsurgery.com’s find a doctor tool.

No matter who you end up choosing, you want to make sure that that tummy tuck surgeon is certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery (www.abplsurg.org), although this isn’t the case when you look for a surgeon on yourplasticsurgeryguide.com because all the surgeons there are certified. You also want to make sure that the facility in which your surgery takes place is state licensed and that you are dealing with an experienced anesthesiologist.

Aside from online sources of information, you can also talk to your normal doctor to see if he or she has any recommendations. You may also consult family and friends who have gotten the procedure done.

Mini Abdominoplasty: If you don’t have that much excess skin, you can opt for this procedure, which makes a much smaller incision than a full or traditional tummy tuck will do for you. It is recommended for those who have most of their excess skin between their belly button and the pubic area.

Full Abdominoplasty: With a full tummy tuck you are going to get an incision that goes from one hip bone to the other, just on top of the pubic area. With a complete tummy tuck you can expect to get a whole new belly button.

Combination Abdominoplasty: Because plastic surgeons can do all sorts of procedures, your tummy tuck surgery can be combined with procedures such as a breast lift or liposuction. Because a lipo can get rid of up to 10 pounds in your mid section, it is common for tummy tuck clients to try to lose some fat in the process.

Pre-operative expenses: This will include things such as lab and other medical tests.

Post-operative expenses: This would include the cost to pay for things such as drugs, pain pumps, compression garments to support the loose skin, fluid drain devices, special dressings. Although it is rare, you may have to pay for an additional tummy tuck to correct any complications. Although tummy tucks are known to be an outpatient procedure, some extensive tummy tucks may require an overnight stay, which would add on to the total cost of your tummy tuck. Some doctors will charge you for follow up or post operation appointments.

Additional surgical expenses: Aside from the surgery itself, other fees dealing with your procedure will include anesthesia and, perhaps, the cost of the operating room and operating equipment. You may not have to worry about operating rooms fees if the surgeon has his or her own tools and surgical office suite. A lot of cosmetic surgeons have insurance, which protects them if they do something wrong. You may very well have to pay around $200 to pay to protect them.

All of these miscellaneous fees demonstrate the importance of getting an apples to apples comparison when contemplating the price factor in your decision making.

Docshop.com- $3,000 to $10,000
Wikipedia.org- $5,000 to $20,000
Realself.com- $5,000 to $9,000, $6,000  to $8,000, according to doctors. $8,684 is the average cost of the tummy tucks that the users of the site received.

This all reiterates the fact that there is no one set price for a tummy tuck.

Aside from all the obvious expenses, you may be surprised to find out that your health insurance premium may go up following a tummy tuck. Fact is, a tummy tuck is a serious surgery, with potentially serious complications, which may force you to get another abdominoplasty. It’s a good idea to contact your health insurance company to find out whether or not your premium will go up. If you want to lose some weight following your tummy tuck, you may also have to pay for surgical weight loss clinics.

Although tummy tuck prices are certainly expensive, you should be very weary of seeking alternative plastic surgery clinics overseas. The surgeons outside of the US, have less experience and operating rooms that are not on par with US standards. Even if you do get a procedure that is successful, you’re going to be stuck with nowhere to go to if you have complications. Many people who go overseas for a tummy tuck have complications, making the total cost of their tummy tuck procedure a lot more expensive than had they just gotten the procedure at home in the first place.

Bottom line: When looking at the price factor, you don’t want to get the cheapest surgeon there is, but you also don’t want the most expensive one. You need to strike a balance between price and quality by using your own intuition. Instead of tummy tuck bargain shopping you want to shop with quality first.

$5,000-$20,000. With the average tummy tuck being $4,827 (according to the American Society for Plastic Surgery).

Doesn’t help much, does it?

The exact cost varies depending on factors such as where you get the procedure done, your own health, what type of body you have (if you are a relatively small person, the procedure is going to cost less because it takes less time), what type of credentials the anesthesiologist has, and what type of tummy tuck you want done (tummy tucks can be separated into full and partial tummy tucks, of which the former is more expensive).

Aside from the initial surgical cost, there are going to be other fees as well. This may include anesthesia, the cost of using the operating room, the cost of prescription drugs, as well as other pre and post operation expenses. If you have complications, such as bleeding, you may have to pay even more to get the problems under control. Before you go under the knife you may have to undergo some tests, which may require you to pay up. The total bill for all of these miscellaneous expenses will make the cost of the surgery itself only account for approximately two thirds of the total expenses.

The prices somewhat depend on you as well. If you are in a small town you can expect the plastic surgeon to charge much higher prices. But if you opt to get the procedure done in a nearby big city, such as Chicago, for example, the prices will be a lot lower because there is more competition among the surgeons. It is wise to get a feel for the prices in your area so that you know if someone is cutting corners or charging you too much. If you live in a big city, such as Los Angeles, where the prices are going to be pretty high, you have to watch out for clinics, which give you an unexpectedly low price.

If you really want to get a tummy tuck but can’t afford one even with financing, you can get a cheaper one from a resident in training that is being supervised.

All other things being equal, the more experienced a surgeon is, the more you’re going to have to pay. Some surgeons are so popular and provide such quality results that they can afford to charge more than most plastic surgeons. If you find a surgeon, who you really like, don’t hesitate to spend a few more thousands of dollars to get the procedure with that specific surgeon. Whichever surgeon you choose, make sure that they provide you with before and after pictures so that you know what to expect. If you are getting a complete tummy tuck, which will require a new belly button, you want to make sure that the new one, which you are going to get, is as natural looking as possible. Some surgeons take the easy way out and make an incision very close to the belly button, leaving a very visible scar. When looking at the before and after photos, you want to make sure that the scar is in the underwear area, making it invisible.