Tummy Tuck

Tummy Tuck in Richmond, VA with Dr. John Zinsser

We all know diet and exercise are essential to a healthy lifestyle and trim figure; however, sometimes our bodies don’t respond well to exercise, leaving problem areas or fat bulges. Often, this includes the abdomen. However, tummy tuck surgery aims to produce a flatter, firmer abdominal contour, giving you that trim figure you desire.

For many patients, a slimmer waistline means a more youthful appearance and better self-confidence. Specializing in plastic surgeries of the face, breast, and body, Board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. John Zinsser brings over 20 years of expertise, compassion, and unparalleled knowledge to Richmond, VA tummy tuck patients. Restoring your waistline with the best tummy tuck in Richmond, VA is easier than ever!

Contact Zinsser Plastic Surgery to schedule your consultation with Dr. Zinsser at (804) 464-7615 or complete our online form today! We are located in Richmond, VA, and proudly serve patients from Fredericksburg, Williamsburg, and other areas of Virginia. 

What is a Tummy Tuck?

A tummy tuck, or abdominoplasty, is a surgical procedure to remove excess skin and fat and tighten the abdominal area. Abdominoplasty can have a significant effect on your appearance, helping you achieve a trim, flat midsection so you can look and feel your best.

Tummy tucks offer an array of cosmetic and medical benefits, including:

  • Remove excess fat and hanging skin from the abdomen
  • Tighten loosened or stretched abdominal muscles
  • A flatter, tighter abdomen
  • Reduce medical issues such as incontinence or back pain as a result of abdominal support

As the allocation of excess fat and skin on each person’s abdomen varies, different abdominoplasty techniques can provide you with optimal results. During your consultation with Dr. Zinsser, he will evaluate your body type, explain your tummy tuck options, and determine which abdominoplasty technique will best help you achieve your goals.

Types of Tummy Tuck

Standard Tummy Tuck

In a standard or full tummy tuck, incisions run from hip to hip along the bikini line and around the belly button. After the abdominal muscles are tightened and excess fat and skin are removed from the abdominal area, the remaining skin is stretched to reveal slimmer contours.

Mini Tummy Tuck

A mini tummy tuck is a more limited procedure that removes excess fat and skin below the navel. A much shorter incision is used in the mini tummy tuck procedure. Normally, muscle tightening is done below the belly button in a mini tummy tuck.

Extended Tummy Tuck

Similar to the standard tummy tuck, the incisions of an extended tummy tuck extend around the hips to the back. This technique is usually performed on individuals who have excess fat deposits or sagging skin around the waist or flanks (love handles).

Circumferential Belt

With this technique, the incisions extend around the circumference of the trunk of the entire body. This procedure helps lift the butt, hips, and thighs as well as addresses excess fat and skin in the lower abdomen.

What are the Benefits of a Tummy Tuck in Richmond?

When diet and exercise have failed to produce the toned, flat abdomen you desire, abdominoplasty can help you achieve your aesthetic goals. Tummy tucks are the ideal procedure to tighten your muscles and flatten your abdomen.

With your continued healthy diet and exercise regimen, the results of abdominoplasty are typically permanent. You will notice:

Who is an Ideal Candidate for a Tummy Tuck?

In general, good candidates for abdominoplasty in Richmond, VA include women and men in good mental and physical health, looking to permanently improve the appearance of their abdomen.

Typically, ideal candidates should be:

Choosing Dr. Zinsser as Your Tummy Tuck Surgeon

With over twenty years of extensive training and experience, ABPS board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. John Zinsser is dedicated to your health, safety, and excellent results. His commitment, education, and consideration make him your choice for the best tummy tuck in Richmond, VA.

As patient education is essential to his practice, Dr. Zinsser will ensure your questions, concerns, and goals are addressed during your initial consultation. At Zinsser Plastic Surgery, you will never feel pressured, but you will feel comfortable and empowered to make decisions about your body. In every interaction at his practice, Dr. Zinsser conveys his core values of integrity, patient care, safety, and satisfaction.

With exceptional individualized patient care at the forefront of his mission, Dr. Zinsser’s goal is to help patients gain confidence and renewed self-image through plastic surgery. We want to help you feel comfortable in your own skin.

Dr. Zinsser talking to a patient in Richmond, VA Zinsser Plastic Surgery

The Results You Desire
The Respect You Deserve

Zinsser Plastic Surgery provides a level of patient care that is unparalleled. We blend compassion, skill and the latest surgical techniques to create a signature experience that is unique in our field.

Dr. John Zinsser believes the keys to providing world-class results lie in a completely individualized approach to patient care. At Zinsser Plastic Surgery, you will be treated as the unique individual you are, and your treatment plan will be customized specifically for you. 

What Can I Expect During My Tummy Tuck Procedure?

Dr. Zinsser’s expertise allows him to customize tummy tuck procedures to address each patient’s unique needs. Each procedure will have varying details; however, some general steps you can expect during the procedure are:

Check-in and Anesthesia

After you are greeted by the hospital team and checked-in, Dr. Zinsser will evaluate you and perform surgical markings. He will ensure you are comfortable before entering the operating room. Once you are safely under general anesthesia, Dr. Zinsser will begin your abdominoplasty according to the procedural plan determined during your consultation.

Tummy Tuck Procedure

A tummy tuck procedure performed by Dr. Zinsser will begin by making incisions in the abdominal area based on the type of tummy tuck. Excess fat and skin are removed from the area, and the skin is stretched to create your new contours.

Tummy tuck before and after Zinsser Plastic Surgery, Richmond VA
Belt Tummy Tuck
Tummy tuck before and after Zinsser Plastic Surgery, Richmond VA
Tummy Tuck

Tummy Tuck Aftercare

Following surgery, you will be dressed in compression bandages or garments. These should be worn for 6-8 weeks to help contour the abdomen and minimize swelling. Strenuous activities and exercises should be avoided during the recovery period.

World-Class Results

Over 25 years of Experience

Whether treating patients in their 20’s or 70’s, Dr. Zinsser believes the key to providing world-class results is an individualized approach to patient care.

Ready to Reclaim Your Slimmer Waistline with a Tummy Tuck?

Renew your confidence with the best tummy tuck in Richmond, VA! Contact Zinsser Plastic Surgery at (804) 464-7615 or complete our online form to schedule your consultation today. Our team looks forward to meeting you soon.

The Results You Desire...Today!

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Richmond, VA Tummy Tuck FAQs with Dr. Zinsser

Pre-Op Assessment

I believe you need to find a surgeon that has many years of experience doing this procedure; someone who believes that safety is important which means they perform the surgery in a hospital setting and not a surgery center in a shopping center or strip mall; someone who can show you before and after pictures of their work and previous tummy tuck patients; and most importantly someone YOU feel will be with you from the beginning to the end of recovery.

Come prepared with all your questions. Upload any pictures you would like us to review before your consult day and be sure to complete your medical history in the portal on our website. We will also look at before/after pictures of other tummy tuck patients once we finish discussing your goals.

NO, these procedures are not designed to help you lose weight, but you WILL lose inches and pounds just from the surgery itself. AND most patients experience such a good result, they are excited to continue to improve their results through their own efforts and diet and exercise once they are fully recovered.

Because of the blood supply issues that are created with the skin flap elevation as part of the Tummy Tuck, there are areas where it is NOT safe to do Liposuction or body sculpting at the same time. These are the entire upper abdominal wall below the ribs, and the bra-roll area or middle to upper back.

Even the area laterally to the breasts, or what is called the “side-boob” area is not safe to sculpt at the same time as the Tummy Tuck.

Yes, in every case of a Tummy Tuck, I perform muscle wall repair as part of the procedure. I have even performed this on Yoga instructors, and Pilates or exercise instructors who already have good muscle tone, but they STILL benefit from muscle wall tightening.

Due to the unique nature of tummy tuck, each procedure is determined by an individual’s needs. Dr. Zinsser will provide an estimate for a more accurate tummy tuck cost in Richmond, VA during your consultation.

You will be in the recovery room after your surgical procedure for around an hour or so. Your family member will then be brought to you, and the nurse will go over discharge instructions and guidance regarding recovery issues and drain care. Dr. Zinsser will also give you his personal cell phone number so that you always have access to him after your surgery, and he will give you a phone call the night of surgery to make sure you are OK.

Yes, your belly button is used with the Tummy Tuck surgery, and we just change the skin that will eventually sit around it. It will be at the same position or location on your abdominal wall, which is about at the same level as the top of your hip bones.

We make an incision around your belly button to release it for the skin that currently surrounds it. When we start to close the incision and bring the skin flap down to the lower level, we make a new hole in the midline and suture your belly button to the new skin that will now surround it.

It takes me a little over 2 hours to do a standard tummy tuck, about 3 hours for an extended tummy tuck, and up to 5 hours for the Belt or Circumferential tummy tuck.

Post Op & Healing

Following a tummy tuck, most patients will notice immediate improvements to the appearance of their abdomen and shape. However, you may experience swelling that temporarily disguises your true results. As your body heals and adjusts to its new contours, you will see improved results.

Recovery time for a tummy tuck is approximately 4-6 weeks. Though you will be discharged from the medical facility the day of your procedure, you will likely need assistance completing normal tasks for a few days, especially if you have young children.

As with any surgical treatment, it is important to follow Dr. Zinsser’s instructions regarding activities, cleansing, garment use, wound and drain care, and sun exposure to ensure optimal results from your tummy tuck procedure. We will provide you with a full list of aftercare instructions to follow that includes nutrition and hydration.

You want to see a flat, tight, abdominal wall, a smaller waistline, and an incisional scar that is low enough that it is covered by most clothing.

Recovery can take anywhere from 4-8 weeks and varies with each patient. We tell patients they can begin to do light exercise after 4 weeks. They are in the shower after 48 hours from surgery, can begin to drive a car after one week, and most are back to an office-based or non-physical job in about 3-4 weeks. Many patients have said the recovery is very similar to the recovery from a C-section, but without the “newborn”.

There are several things that affect whether your “abs” will show after the surgery, but primarily how thick your abdominal wall is. There are a few things we do to help accentuate your muscle layer, not everybody ends up seeing the sculpted inscriptions of the rectus muscles through your skin.

Most patients can begin to resume light exercise after 4 weeks. It can take up to 6-8 weeks before you are back to 100% and doing everything you were doing before the surgery.

For those patients who have young children and toddlers at home, “mommy” duties still must be taken care of, and I tell most patients that with some common sense, you could get back to that rather quickly, but with some assistance. 

Remember one of the goals of the Tummy Tuck procedure is muscle wall tightening, so it is expected to feel this tightness after the surgery. This will relax some over the next 4-8 weeks so that you can resume your life and activity. During the first 4 weeks, you will be always wearing your binder garment except when in the shower.

Most Tummy Tuck patients experience some swelling or bruising along the lower abdominal wall and along the upper thighs and the mons region. This can last for anywhere from 2-6 weeks or more depending on your anatomy and your recovery.

Yes, drains are placed after the Tummy Tuck procedure. Most patients have 2 drains –one on each side at the ends of the tummy tuck incision. They help remove the tissue fluid that forms after the surgery under the skin.

Most patients have their drains removed by the 14th day after surgery, or within 2 weeks.

The output of the drain determines when they can be removed, and once the output is around 30 cc per 24 hours, then they are ready to be removed.

The only sutures that need to be removed are the small silk stitches that hold the drain tubes in place at the ends of your lower abdominal incision. All the other stitches are in 3 layers below the skin level and are dissolvable and will disappear on their own over the next 8-10 weeks.

Yes, having a Tummy Tuck does NOT prevent you from getting pregnant or from having a successful 

term delivery. Your results more than likely will be affected after your pregnancy, but it is impossible to predict how much they will be affected BUT getting pregnant does not erase your results and place you back to how you looked before your Tummy Tuck.