Sagging Belly Surgery: Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck)
Patient Registration Info
| Age | Weight | Height | BMI |
|---|---|---|---|
|
in their 40’s |
59kg |
165cm |
21 |
Surgical site
abdominoplasty, M-type, Triple lock, Navel Correction, abdomen liposuction
Many people struggle with sagging belly fat caused by pregnancy, childbirth, or significant weight fluctuations.
These concerns are often difficult to resolve with diet, exercise, or lifestyle changes alone.
In many cases, the issue involves not only loose skin but also diastasis recti, a condition where the abdominal muscles separate. This can cause the midsection to protrude and the waistline to lose definition, resulting in an unbalanced appearance even without much body fat.
Through consultations, we’ve learned that such concerns go beyond appearance. They can lead to physical discomfort, reduced self-confidence, and emotional distress.
Abdominoplasty, also known as a tummy tuck, offers a fundamental solution. It has become more common and accepted in recent years.
This procedure lifts sagging abdominal skin and repairs separated abdominal muscles, helping to restore a firmer, more toned appearance. It is an effective option for addressing skin laxity issues that are difficult to improve with diet, exercise, or liposuction alone.
However, since the surgery involves a relatively long incision and careful recovery, it is important to fully understand the process—from accurate diagnosis and detailed surgical planning to thorough aftercare.
We’ll explain this further by reviewing a real case of a patient who underwent abdominoplasty.
This case of abdominoplasty features a patient in her 40s who gave birth naturally many years ago.
After pregnancy and childbirth, she began to notice a significant loss of abdominal skin elasticity and experienced considerable stress due to sagging in the lower belly area.
Following childbirth, her weight increased by nearly 30kg. Although she successfully lost the weight through diet and exercise, the loose skin did not return to its original state, which worsened the sagging and became a major source of frustration.
In particular, although her waist circumference had reduced thanks to weight loss, the separation of her abdominal muscles (diastasis recti) caused a bulging appearance in the upper abdomen. The abdominal contour remained uneven and undefined.
As previously mentioned, this condition is difficult to resolve with liposuction or core exercises alone and typically requires surgical correction.
In this patient’s case, tightening the abdominal muscles and removing the excess sagging skin through abdominoplasty was necessary to restore a firmer, more sculpted waistline.
Upon preoperative evaluation, the patient was found to have significantly reduced skin elasticity in the abdominal area, along with overall abdominal protrusion caused by laxity of the abdominal wall.
In particular, the skin from the upper abdomen had stretched and sagged down below the navel, and weakening of the rectus muscles led to a drooping waistline that appeared undefined and heavy.
In terms of body proportion, the patient had a relatively wide rib cage, while the abdominal volume was concentrated in the lower region. This imbalance created a lack of harmony between the upper and lower body.
Additionally, as the abdominal sagging progressed, the position of the navel had also descended, making the waistline appear lower and altering the shape of the navel with visible wrinkling around it.
To address these issues, we recommended a surgical plan that combined abdominoplasty with rectus muscle repair. This approach would remove the sagging abdominal skin and restore firmness to the abdominal and waistline areas from the muscular layer outward.
Since the lifting of the abdominal skin would be performed from the upper abdomen downward, repositioning of the navel was also necessary.
During this step, the deformed navel would be redesigned into a natural-looking shape and repositioned to align with its original anatomical stalk. This would help enhance the visual balance by creating the appearance of a slimmer waist and longer legs.
Below are medical photos taken before the surgery and three months postoperatively.
Upon reviewing the patient’s before-and-after photos taken three months post-abdominoplasty, we can clearly observe several key improvements.
Before surgery, the patient’s waist curve lacked definition, and the body proportions between the upper and lower body appeared imbalanced.
Notably, diastasis recti had weakened the structural support of the abdominal wall, causing the abdomen to protrude and creating an uneven, bulging appearance.
However, by three months after surgery, the abdominal and waistline contours had become much more defined.
The combined abdominoplasty and rectus muscle repair effectively lifted the sagging lower abdominal skin, resulting in a firmer, smoother appearance.
Skin that had previously drooped from above the navel was lifted and tightened, eliminating the bumpy texture and restoring skin elasticity.
The wrinkles and bulging shape seen from the navel to the lower abdomen were also resolved, creating a more balanced and streamlined midsection.
In particular, the rectus muscle correction helped tighten the abdominal centerline, further enhancing the silhouette of the waist and giving the overall figure a more youthful and slender appearance.
The transformation is also clearly visible from the side view.
Compared to the preoperative state, the previously sagging navel has been repositioned to an ideal location.
The surrounding skin, which had significantly drooped, was lifted and smoothed along with the navel repositioning, resulting in a more defined and natural-looking belly button appearance.
In this patient’s case, she initially experienced discomfort due to swelling in the lower body, as the postoperative edema naturally moved downward.
However, we explained that this is a temporary and common occurrence during the normal healing process after surgery.
Through regular follow-up visits, we continuously monitored the healing progress of the surgical area, providing reassurance and appropriate care as needed to ensure a smooth recovery.
This abdominoplasty procedure not only improved the sagging abdominal skin, but also helped the patient achieve a more balanced and harmonious body contour.
With accurate diagnosis and a carefully tailored surgical plan, the result was a natural and three-dimensional silhouette—from the front to the side and even the back—leading to a high level of satisfaction.
Such transformations go beyond aesthetic enhancement; they are also a process of resolving physical discomfort and restoring psychological well-being.
Although abdominoplasty has become increasingly popular over the years, the most important factor remains careful consultation and planning in order to determine the most suitable approach for each individual.
