Body Contouring Surgery

Overview

Body contouring reshapes areas that have not responded to weight loss and exercise. It is not a treatment for obesity and not a substitute for weight loss: results are best, and risks lowest, in patients at a stable weight with reasonable skin quality. Which operation suits a particular body depends on how much of the problem is fat, how much is loose skin, and how much is separation or laxity of the abdominal wall.

Common procedures

• Tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) — removal of excess lower abdominal skin and fat, with tightening of the abdominal wall where needed, leaving a scar placed low and, in most cases, around the navel.
• Liposuction — removal of localised fat deposits to improve contour, in areas resistant to diet and exercise.
• VASER — ultrasound-assisted liposuction, which emulsifies fat before removal and can be used for more defined contouring in suitable patients.
• Renuvion — helium plasma and radiofrequency energy applied beneath the skin to tighten mild laxity, usually at the same time as liposuction.
• Repair of rectus diastasis — surgical repair of the separation of the abdominal muscles that commonly follows pregnancy, usually carried out as part of an abdominoplasty.
• Bromhidrosis — treatment of underarm odour caused by apocrine gland secretion, by surgical or minimally invasive removal of the gland-bearing layer.

Consultation & planning

Assessment covers weight history and stability, skin quality and stretch marks, abdominal wall integrity and any hernia, previous abdominal surgery and its scars, pregnancy plans, smoking, and general fitness for surgery. The realistic scope of change — and where a scar will sit — is discussed plainly. A patient still losing weight, or planning a further pregnancy, is usually advised to wait.

Recovery

Liposuction generally means a compression garment for four to six weeks, a few days off work, and swelling that settles over three months. Abdominoplasty is a larger operation: a hospital stay, drains, one to two weeks of limited upright posture, four to six weeks before normal activity and six to eight weeks before exercise. Final contour is judged at six months. Bromhidrosis surgery involves restricted arm movement for one to two weeks.

Risks & considerations

Risks include bleeding, infection, seroma, delayed healing — particularly at the centre of an abdominoplasty scar — contour irregularity, asymmetry, altered sensation and numbness that may be long-lasting, and blood clots in the legs or lungs. Skin that is already loose may look looser after fat is removed. Neither liposuction nor contouring surgery prevents future weight gain, and results depend on stable weight afterwards. Smoking substantially increases the risk of wound problems and is addressed before surgery is agreed.

This page provides general information only and does not constitute medical advice. Suitability, benefits, limitations and risks of any procedure can only be determined at a medical consultation.