January 1st, 2012 by John Di Saia, M.D. in Opinion
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Online resources for tummy tuck information suffer with a great deal of misconception. Even surgeons may disagree regarding choosing between different tummy tuck operations for a given patient. Reduced cost, pain and extent of surgery tend to push patients toward lesser surgery. These days “less invasive” is a popular selling point. As my practice has progressed, however, I have found the satisfaction rate of mini tummy tuck to be too low to support doing many of them. I do “minis” only in rare circumstances these days.
Mini tummy tuck surgery corrects much less than more involved full versions of the operation. If there is any significant looseness above the belly button, the mini will not address it much. If there is any more than a tiny bit of excess skin, the mini will not touch it much at all. The feeling of having been “under corrected” is common after mini tummy tuck surgery. If patients are unhappy with the results of a mini tummy tuck it is not always possible to Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery*
November 30th, 2011 by John Di Saia, M.D. in Health Tips, Opinion
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Question:
When I was pregnant, my daughter pushed against my belly button the last couple of months and stretched it out. Then I ended up having two hernias which also stretched it out. Unfortunately I pierced my belly button when I was 15 and the skin above my belly button is now extremely loose. Can you fix this?
I am 26 and had my baby in Sept of 2010. I gained 30 pounds (healthy) and immediately had the two hernias. I think they were a result of the pregnancy or labor. I had them repaired in Jan of 2011. I am planning on having one more child. If it’s not a boy, then we’ll be having another one. Lastly, no I am not a fitness model. I’d like to be!
Belly button plastic surgery is usually referred to as umbilicoplasty. It is a routine part of tummy tuck operations as it becomes necessary when moving the position of the umbilical opening. As you have discovered,
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*This blog post was originally published at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery*
November 23rd, 2011 by John Di Saia, M.D. in Health Tips
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About ten years ago plastic surgery had a nice little advance- the advent of the disposable pain pump. Breakthroughs in medicine are far fewer than advertising copy would have you believe, but this one is real. Unfortunately some practices use them like a marketing ploy in all cases and really don’t spend the time to make them work well or minimize their risk. Others don’t see the benefit and don’t use them at all.
Pain pumps are quite useful in some cases when used correctly. Plastic surgery is a technical specialty and some surgeons are more adept at making things work than others. There are risks with them and cases in which the benefit is harder to measure.
How Does a Pain Pump Work? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery*
November 1st, 2011 by John Di Saia, M.D. in Opinion
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Tummy Tuck surgery is almost invariably greatly appreciated by the proper patient. These top ten facts might help you figure if you are such a person. 
(1) Tummy Tuck surgery is one of the largest scale operations a plastic surgeon can offer a patient.
(2) Patients who have lost a good deal of weight or completed child bearing involving large weight gain and loss are the most common candidates. Patients do not lose much weight from the operation itself in most cases….maybe a few pounds on average.
(3) Post-operative pain used to make it necessary to admit the patient to a hospital for narcotics.
(4) Pain pumps when properly utilized can Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery*
September 30th, 2011 by John Di Saia, M.D. in Opinion
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The ladies in this story have had a “new” form of lipo instead of a tummy tuck. Their stomachs do look thinner but their skin in wrinkly. Would they have been better served by having a tummy tuck and then lipo? Is it just their age that has their skin looking that way?
Source: dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1215196/
New-5-000-treatment-claims-melt-away-muffin-top.html
VASER liposuction has been around for a while. I have used it and it is effective. The main question with newer lipo technologies is: “Are they worth the added expense and can they increase problems?”
Many of them (VASER included) make it even easier to take out more and more fat. As we have discussed here before of course more fat removal is not always desirable. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery*
