The potential downsides of a tummy tuck are that there’s a large scar, it runs from hipbone to hipbone, right across the bikini line. Some women are not really prepared to accept the scar, in most patients it fades, but it never disappears, it’s always there. Also, the skin on the abdomen is detached from the nerves that give it sensation, so you often end up with a patch of numbness just below the tummy button. Some women find that very unpleasant, most people get used to it. And then occasionally it’s possible to get some asymmetry in the scar, or some asymmetry in the contour of the abdomen, mostly patients don’t like that, and mostly those things are easy to adjust afterwards. Those are the main pitfalls, it is however a real operation, it takes two hours to do, and there’s a full six-week recovery period. And I think most patients are a little shocked that it’s taken that long to recover, but it’s really six weeks before they’re completely back to normal activities, getting on with life as they were pre-surgery.
