Yes, it’s the holy grail of all surgeries for getting rid of that crepey, loose skin on the stomach once and for all. And, yes, the often referred to “life changing surgery” can eradicate a lower belly pooch and create quite possibly the flattest stomach you’ve ever had. Now, new research published in the recent issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery sheds light on a once thought about but never proven point—abdominoplasties are able to improve back pain and urinary incontinence post-pregnancy.
For years, plastic surgeons have known—and raved—about the cosmetic benefits to the procedure, which repairs the internal muscles by pulling them back together, excises loose skin and tightens and pulls down the belly button. But know that there’s a proven functionality to the surgery that may make the procedure even more appealing than ever to a wider range of women.
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The study consisted of 214 women undergoing tummy tucks with muscle repair (it’s common to fix split or separated abdominal muscles but not always a must) at nine different surgery centers in Australia. Before surgery, each patient was asked to assess their frequency and degree of both back pain and urinary incontinence; more than half the women expressed they experience moderate to severe back pain and a little less than half said urinary incontinence was a significant concern. In the post-surgery follow up done at both the six-week and six-month mark, only 9 percent of the patients marked moderate back pain as a problem and less than 2 percent said that urinary incontinence was still an issue.
One of the more popular plastic surgery procedures with more than 129,000 operations performed annually according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), tummy tucks are often performed in tandem with a breast augmentation and/or breast lift as part of the ever popular “Mommy Makeover,” and are on the rise and becoming more and more sought after every year.
So, if you’ve been toying with the idea of going under the knife, this may just be another couple benefits to consider.
