Male Tummy Tuck (Abdominoplasty)

Before you undergo any plastic surgery procedure at Karidis Clinic, you will have a consultation and a pre-operative assessment with your plastic surgeon. They will listen carefully to your concerns and what you expect to achieve and discuss which procedure, or combination of procedures, is appropriate.

At this stage, they will also ensure you are fully aware of the potential risks and complications inherent in that specific procedure and explain to you what you can expect immediately after surgery, throughout the recovery process, and when you will likely see the final results.

During the pre-operative assessment, the surgeon may take measurements of the area to be operated on and assess your skin tissue quality and the degree of skin laxity. The position of the incisions will also be decided upon.

A full medical history will be taken to ensure you are fit and well and can undergo surgery at this time.

After the initial consultation, there will be a two-week ‘cooling-off’ period before you can decide to proceed with surgery. You are welcome to return for further consultations with your Karidis Clinic surgeon, free of charge, if you have more questions.

If you make the decision to proceed with surgery, you’ll be given advice on how best to prepare for your operation, and you will have a dedicated Patient Coordinator who can answer any queries you may have.

Any pre-surgery tests can occur at the Hospital of St John & St Elizabeth, a leading London private hospital where Karidis Clinic is based. The hospital has recently built a new wing including a diagnostic department with the latest X-ray, MRI, CT and ultrasound technology.

We advise patients to stop smoking as soon as possible as nicotine acts as a vasoconstrictor, which impedes the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the surgical site. This can slow down healing, increase the chance of infection and even cause tissue to die. Smoking also increases the risks of a general anaesthetic, and smokers are more likely to suffer ill effects from an anaesthetic.

You will also be advised when to discontinue taking aspirin or other blood-thinning medication in advance of your operation. You will be asked to fast six hours before surgery.

All Karidis Clinic procedures are performed at the Hospital of St John & St Elizabeth. When you arrive, you’ll be greeted and taken to your stylish and luxurious private room with its spacious ensuite bathroom.

The nursing team will take your blood pressure and relevant vitals, and you will see your Karidis Clinic surgeon, who will make the final mark-ups. Our anaesthetist will also visit you.

Clinical photography will be taken to assist in your care and to enable clinical assessments to be made. These become part of your confidential medical record. These include photographs of the operation site and any distinguishing features and will be taken pre-op and post-op. 

Your procedure will be performed under a general anaesthetic, and once the surgeon has sutured the incision site, you will be taken to a specialist recovery room.

Once the hospital nursing team has ensured your recovery is complete, you will be taken to your hospital room for your overnight stay. The hospital nursing team will be on hand throughout the night, and you will be fitted with compression stockings and a compression device if required.

The following day, you will be visited by your Karidis Clinic surgeon or nurse and then discharged into the care of a friend or family member by the hospital nursing staff.

The pain and discomfort experienced after surgery are unique to the individual patient and the extent of their procedure. However, it should start to subside in the first week and should be easily managed with over-the-counter painkillers.

If necessary, you’ll be advised to wear a specially designed surgical support garment for approximately six weeks after surgery to support you during the healing process.

Depending on the nature of your job, you can usually expect to be able to return to work and normal activities between one to two weeks.

You’ll be given a comprehensive plan for the recovery process, including dates for your cast or suture removal and your check-ups with your Karidis Clinic surgeon. However, we are always on hand throughout this period, and you have access to our dedicated surgical nurse 24/7 if you have any concerns.

When many think of a tummy tuck, they might think of women who have it done, particularly those women with excess skin on the stomach post-pregnancy.

But men can also benefit from a tummy tuck, especially after weight loss when you find that your skin in the stomach area has become much looser. Even with diet and intensive exercise, the loose skin can remain, causing distress and embarrassment, with no six-pack possible.

Your weight can also yo-yo as you get older, with the ‘dad bod’ referring to the decrease in tone often seen in middle-aged men.

Exercise and diet will get rid of fat, but it can’t remove your excess skin after weight loss, so in this case, surgery is your best option. The male tummy tuck tightens your muscles and removes excess skin, leaving a flatter, trimmer stomach.

There are so many benefits that you will experience post-surgery. These include:

✔ A boost in self-esteem

✔ The confidence to wear fitted clothes, without covering up with a jacket or jumper

✔ Turning back the clock and regaining a more youthful body

✔ The confidence to go swimming and on beach holidays

✔ A better posture with tighter muscles now supporting the spine

Post-surgery you’ll experience considerable bruising, but it’ll usually disappear after three weeks. Your belly button will also be distorted for the first few months. A scab will develop, which will separate from the new skin underneath after 3-4 weeks. And there will be some distortion of skin around the resulting scar, especially if the scar is in the hip area.

The obvious swelling will go down after a month, but subtle swelling can still be present in the lower abdominal areas for up to six months.

You should also expect the feeling in the skin over your lower abdomen to be reduced after a tummy tuck as a result of nerve trauma during surgery. This feeling should return after a few months as you heal. Occasionally, permanent numbness can occur, just between the scar and the belly button.

Sometimes a mini-abdominoplasty can be performed and this is often the choice for men who have loose skin in the lower abdominal area – the area from the belly button downwards.

In this case, the patient will have little or no excess fat as well as good muscle and skin tone above the belly button. It’s worth noting that although it’s called a mini-abdominoplasty, the scar is still large in size.

If there’s a modest amount of excess fat, the mini-abdominoplasty can be done alongside liposuction.

In our experience, very few patients are suitable for a mini tummy tuck.

As the phrase ‘tummy tuck’ is so familiar, you could be mistaken in thinking that it is a simple surgical procedure, a quick ‘tuck’ right? However, it’s a major operation requiring two hours under general anaesthesia in the operating theatre. A large incision is made from just above the pubic area, from hip to hip. The skin is disconnected from the tissue, cutting away any excess skin.

As with all surgery, there are risks of complications and infection.

On the other hand, the major surgery provides an advantage, because it enables the entire abdominal wall to be tightened, resulting in giving you a flatter tummy and the consequential benefits. After you have gotten rid of that excess skin, you can finally get started working on that six-pack in the gym!