Not everyone has the luxury of maintaining a fit physique with a flat tummy, but everyone desires it. People in their teens and twenties can maintain high skin elasticity even after big changes in weight, but the body loses that ability as we age. Especially for women after their pregnancy, even if you manage to lose the fat you still don’t have a solution for sagging skin on your abdomen. That’s why many go for the tummy tuck (or abdominoplasty) in Korea, as it is the only way to effectively reconstruct muscle and skin in the abdomen.
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What is a Tummy Tuck? Procedure and Recovery
Abdominoplasty or Tummy Tuck is a surgery that resects sagging abdominal skin, pulls and sutures sagging abdominal muscles and corrects the shape of the buried belly button. Abdominal liposuction removes the fat, while a tummy tuck removes excess skin and tightens the muscles so that you can avoid sagging skin after a lipo. So for those with stretched abdominal muscles and sagging abdominal skin, a tummy tuck or abdominoplasty is very effective.
The Reason Why Tummy Tuck Costs are Low in Korea.
In Korea, the hype on facial cosmetic surgery such as double eyelid surgery and rhinoplasty is extending to body cosmetic surgery as well. The number of tummy tuck surgeries, as well as other types of body surgery like breast augmentation, is increasing every year. According to the latest recorded research of Korean plastic surgery by ISAPS, the number of tummy tuck(abdominoplasty) procedures performed in 2014 grew by more than 10% the following year (the last plastic surgery statistics released by ISAPS in South Korea specifically is in 2015).
Important Factors for a Successful Tummy Tuck in Korea
Age is an obvious factor for tummy tucks, but the more important factor is skin elasticity or the amount of sagging skin. Since tummy tuck involve removing excess skin, the surgery is decided by the amoung of skin that needs to be cut.
Also, the area required for surgery is significantly wider for tummy tucks than procedures on other body parts. One has to know that scars and recovery time will be greater than other procedures. Therefore, sufficient consultation and diagnosis with a qualified and experienced surgeon is essential because each patient requires different surgery, hospitalization and recovery time. Also, you have to make sure that the clinic has a professional anesthesiologist for your tummy tuck procedure (abdominoplasty), as Korean cosmetic surgeries are mostly done in clinics, not hospitals.
Tummy Tucks in Korea : Procedure, Recovery and Costs
Full Tummy Tuck (Full Abdominoplasty)
Full tummy tucks are when a large area of skin needs to be removed, from around the belly button to the groin area. The entire muscles of the upper and lower abdomen are repaired and sutured. This procedure also corrects the shape and location of the belly button that has been buried by the fat. A full tummy tuck is the only procedure known that can reconstruct the abdominal muscles and the best way to effectively make your belly flat without looking grotesque. But it does take more than a week to return to a slightly inhibited daily life (excessive movement discouraged) and longer for full recovery.
Mini Tummy Tuck (Mini-Abdominoplasty, Partial Abdominoplasty)
As the name suggests, this is for those for whom the amoung of sagging abdominal skin that has to removed is not as large as a full tummy tuck. Usually, it only resects the skin and reconstructs the abdominal muscles below the belly button. In this case, a correction of the belly button is not done. Compared to the full tummy tuck, the time required to daily life is quicker (within a week) and the length of scar is shorter. But the effects are limited compared to the full tummy tuck.
Abdominoplasty Anesthesia
Tummy tucks are performed under general anesthesia. Since the procedure involves skin removal, muscle repair, and suturing skin and muscle, it is not a simple procedure. A full tummy tuck operation can take 3~4 hours and a mini tummy tuck can take around 2 hours.
Abdominoplasty Recovery
After the operation, you are advised to be off-work for around 2 weeks and refrain from excessive movement of the body like excercise and lifting heavy objects for a month. Sutures are removed after one to two weeks. For satisfactory results, you are advised to wear compression garments for 1~4 weeks.
Abdominoplasty Scars
A tummy tuck do leave a scar on the area of incision. Experienced surgeons know where to make the incision so that the scars may be hidden by underwear and swimwear. You may have a lot of scarring and in some cases, Keloids and Hypertrophic scars may occur. However in most cases, the scars fade over time (usually around a year later). But do note that even if the scars are relatively unsevere, they do not completely disappear.
Before and After of Tummy Tucks in Korea
