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Athletic Tummy Tuck (Abdominoplasty)

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ANESTHESIA

You will be administered anesthesia to ensure your comfort during the procedure.

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Incision

Dr. Domanski will make incisions in strategic locations to minimize visible scarring.

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Long-term care

Scars will continue to fade for up to a year. You should maintain a stable weight to preserve the results.

Abdominoplasty is becoming more and more popular with thinner patients who have extra skin and a belly bulge after pregnancy.  It’s called athletic tummy tuck.

Dr. Domanski is a specialist in the athletic tummy tuck and understands the concerns of the athletic patient.  Dr. Domanski has participated in many athletic events himself including the prestigious Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, a 106 mile foot race with over 30,000 feet of elevation change.

ATHLETIC TUMMY TUCK IN DC & NORTHERN VA

In the DMV area, residents are known for their active lifestyles, frequently engaging in jogging, biking, and other fitness activities. This dedication to fitness makes procedures like the athletic tummy tuck particularly popular in the DMV area like Arlington, Fairfax or Fall Church, VA.

Initial consultation: You will meet Dr. Domanski for an initial aesthetic consultation in his office in Fairfax, VA.  He will review your past medical history, perform a physical examination, and discuss your goals.  Your questions will be answered.  You will receive a custom quote that details the surgical fee, facility fee and anesthesia fee. 

Pre-surgical visit: Once you have selected a surgical date, the office will then schedule a second visit with Dr. Domanski.  This second visit is generally two to three weeks prior to your procedure.  Prescriptions will be provided and a more detailed discussion of pre and aftercare will be had.

Surgery day: On the surgical day, Dr. Domanski will meet you at the surgery center.  You will once again have a chance to review the goals of surgery.  Dr. Domanski provides his personal cell phone for his cosmetic surgery patients on the day of surgery.

Safety first: Dr. Domanski only operates at certified surgery centers and maintains admitting privileges at major hospitals in the region. During the procedure, your breathing, blood oxygen, and heart rate will be monitored to ensure safety.  At the end of the procedure, the most common question patients ask is “are we already done?”

Post-surgical recovery: Patients need a responsible adult to drive them home from the surgery center.  The nurse will go over discharge instructions again with your responsible adult.

Upon arriving at home, we recommend you take it easy, resting in a chair to keep the waist bent.

Follow up visits: Follow up visits are at one week, two weeks, and two months, with more visits if needed.   Follow up visits are always with Dr. Domanski and are part of your surgical packages.

We include a complementary compression garment and scar cream in our surgical packet to invest in your best result.

More Information: On our abdominoplasty page you can find more detailed information regarding tummy tuck procedure

BENEFITS OF ATHLETIC TUMMY TUCK

The athletic tummy tuck is about more than just removing extra abdominal skin.  During pregnancy or intra-abdominal weight gain and loss, the rectus muscles spread apart.  This is called diastasis recti – and is caused by stretching of the tendon between the six pack muscles.  The athletic tummy tuck repairs this stretch and may help with core strength.  In this way, the athletic tummy tuck can fix a “baby bulge” from stretched muscles during pregnancy.

The athletic tummy tuck is beneficial for yoga moms, cross fit, runners, fitness models and bodybuilders.  Dr. Domanski may use an umbilical float technique to avoid a scar around the belly button.  The secondary benefit is that by using his umbilical float technique, the abdominoplasty incision can be kept much lower – a key consideration in swimmers, fitness models and bodybuilders.

Dr. Domanski adds flank liposuction to his athletic tummy tucks, the increase the hourglass figure and produce a snatched waist.  The goal is to avoid the square abdominoplasty look that can occur when improper technique is used.

The athletic tummy tuck may allow for a smaller incision than the classic tummy tuck.  This will be discussed in your in-person consultation with Dr. Domanski.

Schedule an appointment today with Dr. Mark Domanski at Bluemont Plastic Surgery, a top-rated plastic surgeon in Fairfax, Virginia.

CANDIDATES FOR ATHLETIC TUMMY TUCK

Your suitability for athletic tummy tuck will be determined by Dr. Mark Domanski during your consultation. However, there are certain factors that generally make a woman a good candidate for the procedure. These factors include:

Body mass index: The athletic tummy tuck candidate will typically have a body mass index between 18.5 and 25.  For example, a 5-foot 5-inch patient should weigh 150 pounds or less.  A 5 foot 10 inch patient should weigh 174 pounds or less.  You can check your body mass index by using this online BMI calculator.

Stable weight: The athletic tummy tuck candidate should not be planning to have any more children and have a stable weight for the past 6 months.  By stable weight, we mean not losing or gaining more than 12 pounds.  We understand that some athletes will weigh differently on race day or competition day.

Extra skin: The athletic tummy tuck candidate should be able to pinch their skin when bending at the waist.  This is like tailoring.  The extra skin that can be pinched is the skin that can be removed.  The top abdominal skin is then pulled down like a curtain to tighten the abdomen

RESULTS YOU CAN SEE

Before and after results of our procedures.

Before Image After Image

RECOVERY AFTER ATHLETIC TUMMY TUCK

The most popular question for athletic tummy tuck patient is “when can I go back to my favorite sport.” Whether this is running, modeling, cross fit, bodybuilding or swimming, we have some general guidelines.

Hydration: We recommend aggressive hydration after surgery.  As ultramarathoners say, “If the pee is clear, nothing to fear, dark yellow or brown, you are going down.”  Consider Gnarly Sports Nutrition for recovery, such as Gnarly Hydrate Lemonade.  This has lower sugar content than other sports drinks.  It may taste gnarly.

No submerging in water: We allow patients to shower the next day.  However, we recommend avoiding submerging in water for 2-3 weeks.  

 

Take it slow: Light workouts can begin at 2 weeks.  This can include walking or arm exercises.  We let patients do “Pain Guided Recovery.”  If there is pain, you should not do this.  We understand this is different from the way some athletes train.

Getting back into routine: Usually, patients are getting back into their full activity routine at 6-8 weeks.  We would not recommend a major athletic event such as a marathon for 3 months after the 8-week recovery period to allow for you to train appropriately.

FAQs

An athletic tummy tuck is performed on a patient who despite diet and exercise, cannot lose the belly bulge.  This may be a vegan runner, runner, or bodybuilder.  Less skin is available for removal, so sometimes the umbilical float technique is chosen to provide a natural result.

This question requires an in-person evaluation with Dr. Domanski.  While our office frequently gets emails with this question, we recommend scheduling an in-person evaluation because an honest answer requires a physical examination by a doctor.

The top concerns patients have is anesthesia, scar, and the result.  Dr. Domanski only operates in certified surgery centers and maintains hospital privileges at major hospitals in Northern Virginia.  We provide scar cream as part of the surgical package to invest in your best result.  Finally, we find that patients want a tighter abdomen but paradoxically think “but what will happen if I have a tighter abdomen that I always wanted?”  Our office believes in patient autonomy and lets patients come to their own decisions.

The recovery period for the athletic tummy tuck is generally less than that of the standard tummy tuck patient.  Patients are out of work for 1-2 weeks but may work from home earlier.  Patients resume their activities at 6-8 weeks.

We hope that the athletic tummy tuck improves your ability with core strength and endurance.  Dr. Domanski uses only absorbable sutures on his abdominoplasties (tummy tucks) so there are no permanent foreign bodies left behind.  We have seen some other surgeons use non-absorbable braded nylon sutures for their diastasis repairs.  However, in the thinner patients, these sutures may cause irritation and be palpable.

You will have general anesthesia.  You will not feel or remember anything.

While the conveyor belt of time never stops, results are durable and long lasting.  We can expect a dramatic improvement to last a lifetime.

An athletic tummy tuck is generally between 10-20 thousand dollars.  While this improves quality of life, unfortunately it is not a covered benefit by health insurance.

Stay fit and stay active.  We will provide detailed instructions during your consultation.

Why us?

With over 70 plastic surgeons in the Northern Virginia area, patients choose Dr. Domanski because they trust him. We believe you will not find a more honest surgeon than Dr. Domanski.

“Be Yourself,
Everyone Else Is Taken.”

– Oscar Wilde

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