Pregnancy can be a beautiful time in a woman’s life. It can also be a time of stress, anxiety, and body image issues. As your belly grows and your body changes to accommodate the new life inside you, you may find yourself feeling less confident than usual. You may even feel like you’re losing yourself in the process of caring for your child.
If you’re ready to take back control of your body and your confidence, consider a mini tummy tuck after pregnancy. A mini tummy tuck is an excellent way to regain some of the shape and tone that pregnancy has taken away from your stomach area—without having to undergo the full-scale procedure that most people associate with tummy tucks.
In this article we will discuss what a mini tummy tuck is, why it’s an ideal option for many women after having children, how much it costs (including whether or not insurance covers it), what you should expect during recovery after surgery, and when/how soon after giving birth you should schedule surgery if this sounds like something you might want to do!
Right here on Cosmeticsurgerytips, you are privy to a litany of relevant information on how to get insurance to pay for tummy tuck after c section, mini tummy tuck before and after, which one is worse c section or tummy tuck, and so much more. Take out time to visit our catalog for more information on similar topics.
Mini Tummy Tuck After Pregnancy
Fast facts
About
- Mini tummy tucks tighten the area of the stomach between your belly button and pubic area.
- They’re most effective for people who are within their recommended weight range but have a little pooch — maybe from pregnancy or quick weight gain — that doesn’t seem to flatten with diet or exercise.
Safety
- Mini tummy tucks are typically considered safe.
- However, risks include infection, irregular scarring, or fluid accumulation under your skin.
Convenience
- Mini tummy tucks are an in-office procedure that should only be done by a certified plastic surgeon.
- Recovery can take 6 weeks or more.
Cost
- A mini tummy tuck in the United States typically costs between $3,500 and $8,000.
- This cost depends on the surgeon and where you live.
Efficacy
- Mini tummy tucks are an effective way to flatten and tighten your lower stomach.
- The results are typically permanent.
What is a mini tummy tuck?
A mini tummy tuck is less invasive than a full tummy tuck, also known as an abdominoplasty.
Mini tummy tucks target the area of your stomach under your belly button. They’re often effective for people who are within their recommended weight range but have extra skin or fat, sometimes called a pooch, that’s hard to get rid of with diet and exercise alone.
How much does a mini tummy tuck cost?
The price of a mini tummy tuck will vary depending on the surgeon you’re seeing and where you live.
Generally, a tummy tuck in the United States will fall somewhere between $3,500 and $8,000. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the average cost for a tummy tuck in 2019 was $6,092.
So, you may want to get several opinions to find a plastic surgeon who fits within your budget. Because it’s an elective cosmetic procedure, a mini tummy tuck won’t be covered by your insurance.
How does a mini tummy tuck work?
A mini tummy tuck flattens the lower abdomen and can help eliminate the pooch that often occurs in the lower belly.
During the procedure, the muscles in your lower abdomen may be sutured together, but this isn’t visible from the outside. Excess skin will be trimmed and laid flat.
In some cases, liposuction will be done to remove excess fat.
A mini tummy tuck may get rid of certain stretch marks, too. Whether or not your stretch marks will be removed really depends on their placement on your body and how much excess skin you have.
Diastasis recti, the separation of ab muscles, often occurs during pregnancy. It affects your full stomach above and below your belly button (think the six-pack muscles), so a full tummy tuck is a better course of action to correct this.
Procedure for a mini tummy tuck
During a mini tummy tuck procedure, an incision about 4 to 8 inches long will be made to your lower abdomen.
This is about the length of the average C-section scar. In fact, if you’ve had a C-section, they’ll likely use the same incision for a mini tummy tuck, although it may be longer.
The surgeon may tighten loose muscle and remove any excess skin, resulting in a flatter lower stomach. Results are best if you’re close to your original weight and not planning to get pregnant again.
Targeted areas for treatment
As you probably guessed from the name, a mini tummy tuck targets your tummy, specifically the lower part of your stomach between your belly button and pubic area.
Your belly button won’t be changed with a mini tummy tuck, whereas with a full abdominoplasty, it would change.
If you’re looking to flatten your entire stomach from the rib cage down, a full tummy tuck is likely the better option.
What to expect
You’ll likely wear an abdominal binder for several weeks to help support your abs as they heal.
You’ll see some results immediately, but you’ll see the full results once the swelling goes down, around 6 weeks.
Results should be permanent, barring weight gain or pregnancy.
Before-and-after pictures
When deciding whether the procedure is right for you and your body, it can be helpful to see before-and-after photos of real people who’ve had tummy tucks. Below you’ll find some before-and-after pictures.
Preparing for a mini tummy tuck
Days before your scheduled mini tummy tuck, you’ll likely need to get a blood panel to make sure you’re in good health.
You may also be told to:
- stop smoking
- limit alcohol
- refrain from taking anti-inflammatory drugs (like aspirin) and certain herbal supplements, which may worsen bleeding or prevent proper clotting
Mini tummy tuck vs. full tummy tuck
During a full tummy tuck, your doctor will put you under anesthesia. They’ll then make a horizontal incision above your pubic hairline.
If your muscles have stretched, they’ll be sewed together so they tighten. Sometimes liposuction will also be done to remove excess fat.
Then the skin will be pulled taut around your abdomen to create a flat stomach. Excess skin will be cut off. In some cases, a surgeon will reshape your belly button.
A full tummy tuck can better correct diastasis recti, a splitting of the ab muscles that often occurs during pregnancy.
The difference is that a mini tummy tuck is only performed on the lower abdomen, while a full tummy tuck is done on a larger area of the stomach.
How to find a provider
A mini tummy tuck should be performed only by a board-certified plastic surgeon — and if the price for the procedure seems too good to be true, it probably is.
You may want to meet with the surgeon beforehand to talk about your desired results and what to expect from the procedure, as well as to see before-and-after photos of real clients.
You can use the American Society of Plastic Surgeons’ surgeon finder tool to find a list of board-certified plastic surgeons near you.
how to get insurance to pay for tummy tuck after c section
Bodywork and beauty therapy allows us to look and feel our best, but these procedures can often be pricey. Tummy tucks are invasive procedures that are used to improve the look of the abdomen, and if you’re trying to get one, you may be wondering how to get a tummy tuck paid for by insurance.
Over the course of this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about how to get a tummy tuck covered by insurance, including the circumstances in which one would be covered. If you’re wondering, “Will Medicaid pay for a tummy tuck?”, we’ll also go into the circumstances in which you can expect it to.
Does Insurance Cover Tummy Tuck?
Tummy tucks are typically considered cosmetic and elective surgeries because they are rarely seen as medically necessary procedures that will either save your life or improve your quality of life. In the vast majority of cases, cosmetic and elective procedures are excluded from health insurance policies.
Will insurance cover a tummy tuck? Probably not. Now, you may be wondering about cosmetic insurance plans, which sound like they might end up paying out for a tummy tuck. However, cosmetic insurance policies are designed to pay for medical expenses that arise after a cosmetic surgery.
For example, if you go in for a tummy tuck and you end up with an infection that needs to be treated ASAP, your cosmetic insurance policy will come into effect and pay out for you. These policies can also pay out if you have problems in the middle of your cosmetic surgery and the doctor needs to do additional work that you’ll be charged for.
In some rare cases, you may find a policy that will pay out for a cosmetic procedure once in a blue moon, but you can bet that these policies will be far more expensive than your typical health insurance policy. The simple fact is that health insurance was not designed to pay for cosmetic procedures like tummy tucks.
Does Medicaid Cover Tummy Tucks?
Even though private insurance typically doesn’t cover tummy tucks, you may be wondering, “Does Medicaid pay for tummy tuck?” Unfortunately, in the vast majority of cases, you can’t expect Medicaid to pay for cosmetic procedures because that’s not what it was made for.
Medicaid was designed to deal with situations that are medically necessary for the patient. For example, if you need to remove a malignant tumor or if you need to get surgery to manage a hernia. Since tummy tucks are typically only cosmetic, they typically won’t be handled by Medicaid.
That being said, it doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to get an abdominoplasty covered by insurance, even if it’s Medicaid. These operations tend to fall into a grey area, so you’ll only ever know if your operation will be covered if you get in touch with your insurers and explain the situation to them.
Of course, it’ll take a little more work than just asking the carrier “Does insurance pay for tummy tuck procedures?” You’ll have to explain why a tummy tuck is a necessary procedure for you and how it will improve your quality of life and potentially even your overall health.
How to Get Medicaid to Cover Tummy Tucks
If you’re wondering how to get a tummy tuck covered by insurance, there are a few rare cases in which Medicaid will pay out. In the vast majority of these cases, there are either extenuating circumstances or the doctors will perform a procedure that’s similar but not identical to a tummy tuck.
If you’re wondering how to get insurance to cover a tummy tuck, you’ll need to prove that you need a medically necessary tummy tuck. Unfortunately, explaining to your insurer that boosted self-esteem will improve your overall health typically won’t fly as an excuse when you’re wondering, “Are tummy tucks covered by insurance?”
One situation in which Medicaid will pay out for your tummy tuck is if the excess skin is causing you back pain because of the additional weight it’s putting on your spine. You may also have incontinence that can be solved by a tummy tuck, but those are essentially the only cases in which a tummy tuck will be performed on its own and covered by your Medicaid.
Can a tummy tuck be covered by insurance in other circumstances? There are times when a doctor may perform a tummy tuck at the same time as another procedure. For example, if you go in for a hernia repair and the doctor performs a tummy tuck at the same time, it may be covered by your Medicaid.