Orange County Reverse Tummy Tuck | Remove Excess Skin from the Top of the Abdomen
When you have extra skin and fat that hangs on your abdomen, especially as a result of significant weight loss, aging, or pregnancy, there is a chance you have considered a tummy tuck. But what you may not know is that a traditional full tummy tuck is not right for every body type. Some people have significant laxity of their upper abdominal area or lower chest, and this laxity is generally not solved by a tummy tuck.
What you may want to consider is what’s known as a “reverse tummy tuck.” As one of the leading Orange County plastic surgeons, Dr. Agha is considered one of the foremost experts in body contouring surgery, and has provided many men and women with reverse tummy tucks in and around Orange County. Dr. Agha is also the author of the largest series of reverse tummy tuck procedures that was published in Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Journal in 2012.
What is a Reverse Tummy Tuck?
One of the best ways to think about the reverse tummy tuck is to imagine the tummy tuck surgery performed upside down. It is specifically for women who have significant skin laxity in the upper abdomen and minimal skin laxity of the lower abdomen. The traditional tummy tuck, which uses a horizontal incision that is made to address the bottom of the abdomen, tends to struggle when it comes to lower chest and upper abdominal skin laxity. Thus a reverse upper abdominoplasty may be necessary.
For the reverse tummy tuck, Dr. Agha makes an incision at the inframammary fold (the crease at the bottom of the breasts where the breasts connect with the chest). Excess skin is then excised as a crescent below the inframammary crease. The upper abdominal tissue and skin are then pulled upwards towards incision site and then sutured to the ribcage in this position. The inframammary incision is then closed in order to provide a flatter upper half of the abdomen.
Although this type of procedure should only be used on those with upper abdominal skin laxity, it actually has several additional advantages as well:
- There is no lower abdominal surgical scarring (unless combined with other proce-dures)
- Because the incision is placed at the inframammary crease, it is easily hidden under a bra and most bikini tops.
- The procedure can be easily combined with several other popular procedures, including a breast lift or a breast lift with implants which use the same incision. For those that still have lower abdominal skin laxity, you can also consider combining it with a mini tummy tuck.
- Complications are slightly reduced with this type of procedure because it doesn’t interrupt blood supply.
While most patients are still better candidates for a full tummy tuck rather than a reverse tummy tuck, the reverse tummy tuck does provide some advantages for those that have a great deal of extra skin at the top of the abdomen.
Contact Tummy Tuck Orange County Today
Dr. Agha is a skilled provider of reverse tummy tucks in Orange County. His Newport Beach office handles many patients per year with significant upper skin laxity, and with a convenient Southern California location, Dr. Agha is an excellent choice for reverse tummy tuck candidates in Los Angeles, Irvine, Santa Ana, and more. Contact Tummy Tuck Orange County today at to learn more about the reverse tummy tuck, or to schedule an appointment to see if you are a good candidate for this specific type of procedure.