Tummy Tuck for North Salem, NY

How it loosened decides how it is fixed

Bellava’s tummy tuck page names three causes of a loose abdomen that exercise cannot reach: pregnancy, a significant change in weight, and age. Each tends to call for a slightly different operation, so Dr. Chang Soo Kim begins by asking how the change came about. He operates at Bellava, 182 Route 117 Bypass Road in Bedford Hills, about 19 minutes from North Salem without traffic.

After pregnancy

Carrying a baby stretches the skin and can pull the abdominal muscles apart, a separation called diastasis recti that leaves a bulge even in people who are otherwise fit. A full tummy tuck repairs that muscle, removes the loose skin and repositions the belly button. An existing C-section scar can usually be taken into the new incision or revised through it. If the breasts have changed as well, the same operation can be widened into a mommy makeover.

After a large weight loss

Skin stretched over a long period does not always shrink back as the weight comes off, and where it hangs depends on where it was stretched.

• An extended tummy tuck carries the incision from hip to hip, so loose skin around the flanks is treated along with the front.
• A fleur-de-lis tummy tuck adds a vertical incision to the horizontal one, for the large apron of skin that can follow weight-loss surgery.

Either way, Bellava’s advice holds: reach or come close to your goal weight, and keep it steady, before surgery.

With the years

Not every loose abdomen comes with a dramatic story. Skin slackens with age as well, and when the looseness is limited to the area below the navel, with good muscle tone above it, a mini tummy tuck may be all that is needed: a shorter incision, and the belly button stays where it is.

Men too

Bellava offers the tummy tuck to men as well as women, and the principle is the same for both: it treats skin and stretched muscle, not weight. Liposuction of the flanks, hips or thighs can be added in the same session, a pairing Dr. Kim performs often.

North Salem patients ask

Who performs it? Chang Soo Kim, MD: a Yale School of Medicine graduate, trained in plastic surgery at Yale–New Haven Hospital, certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and a member of the Yale Plastic Surgery Society. He has done more than 500 tummy tucks, as outpatient operations in Bellava’s Joint Commission–accredited suite.

How do I know which version I need? You do not have to. Dr. Kim examines you, looks at where the loose skin and muscle separation actually are, and recommends the approach that fits.

How soon can I return to a desk? Usually within two to three weeks, with strenuous exercise left until around six weeks and his clearance.

How do I begin? Send a request with the button on this page, or call or text, and the patient coordinator gets back to you to arrange a free, private consultation. Dr. Kim’s before and afters are worth browsing first.