Restoring Pre-Pregnancy Body With Modern Tummy Tuck

A modern tummy tuck with awake anesthesia brought this patient back to her pre-pregnancy body

Amy was ready to return to her pre-pregnancy body two years after the birth of her son. Thanks to diet and exercise, she lost about 25 to 30 pounds. But no matter how hard Amy tried, she still had a stomach pooch. After researching her options, Amy found a Frisco cosmetic surgeon who uses awake anesthesia to perform a modern tummy tuck. She read an online description of the procedure, looked at before-and-after photos, and scheduled a consultation.

“I think that it’s important to trust your surgeon,” Amy said. “For me, that was Dr. Greenberg.”

Lipoabdominoplasty is the key to a modern tummy tuck

During pregnancy, a woman’s body retains fat and her abdominal muscles and skin stretch to accommodate growth. Although Amy worked hard to get back into shape, she still had loose skin and stubborn fat deposits around her waist. A modern tummy tuck with Alan Greenberg MD tightens the abdominal fascia, eliminates excess fat with liposuction and removes surplus skin and most stretch marks. The minimally invasive procedure can occur at our Frisco cosmetic surgeon’s office because patients do not require general anesthesia.

“I felt more relaxed knowing that I could have the procedure without general anesthesia,” Amy said.

Awake anesthesia offers advantages

The tumescent solution and local anesthetic used for routine liposuctions are also ideal for lipoabdominoplasties. The mixture of saline, lidocaine and adrenaline for awake anesthesia serves to plump up the targeted tissue, while also keeping the patient pain free. An IV sedative (better known as “twilight anesthesia) is managed by a board certified anesthesiologist during the skin removal and muscle tightening portion of the surgery. However, Dr. Greenberg and his staff can still communicate directly with patients during the majority of the modern tummy tuck procedure. Other advantages of awake anesthesia include the following.

• Adrenaline is a vasoconstrictor, reducing bruising and blood loss during surgery.
• Lidocaine is both a pain reliever and a bacteriostatin, which helps prevent infection.
• Surgeons have more accuracy and control because the tumescent solution is only placed in the area to be treated.
• Fat and tissue are separated by the solution, making it easier to sculpt the body with liposuction.
• Recovery is faster.
• Costs are lower because there is no time spent at the hospital.

“I loved the results after surgery,” Amy said. “I could see a big difference the first time the bandages were removed.”

Amy knew that there would be some time involved in healing, so she recruited her “village.” Her family helped provide care for Amy and her toddler. The swelling went down quickly, but it took about three weeks to get back to normal and a little longer before she lifted anything heavy.

“Healing is a slow process, and it is emotional as well as physical,” she explained. “It’s a drastic change. Now I wake up to a new body!”

Get the body of your dreams

If you are ready to be amazed by your body, then contact our Frisco cosmetic surgeon to learn more about his modern tummy tuck with awake anesthesia. Find out how mothers in Frisco, Plano, Dallas and North Texas are looking better than ever.