Posts Tagged ‘complications’

Tummy Tuck Risks and Complications

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
Tummy Tuck Risks

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.

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Would health insurance pay for a tummy tuck?

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

Is it possible for your health insurance to pay for the tummy tuck and make it free? The short answer is no. Unless your tummy tuck is necessary to stay in good health (which is not the case for most procedures), you are going to have to pay for the whole procedure. But it is not like you have to pay for the procedure immediately. You can get financing from the surgeon or from a company such as CareCredit, which offers financing for cosmetic procedures. You can also make use of a credit card (please have a thought out plan so that you don’t get into deep credit card debt), check, or cash if you want to make use of the surgeon’s payment plan. You can also look into getting a cash out refinance, home equity loan, home equity line of credit, or just a regular loan to pay for the surgery. Pretty much all plastic surgeons require some sort of payment before you get the surgery done. Once you make a decision about getting a surgery, you have to be pretty sure that you want one as you don’t want to get stuck with an unnecessary loan and have to pay a cancellation fee.

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.

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