Tattoos and Tummy Tucks

The Abdomen as a Tattoo Artist’s Canvas

People have large tattoos over their abdomen.  Some have it just for the looks, others use it for a combination of looks and for the purpose of covering up some scars or stretch marks.  Both scars and stretch marks are common after child birth for women.  For men, it might be due to trauma.  However because of the location of the tummy tuck incisions that need to be made and the foot-ball shaped skin/adipose tissue removal, the tattoo will be partially removed, and misaligned etc.  In the end, the tattoo will be altered at the belly button and at the lower incision that goes from side to side (horizontal).  For some abdominoplasties (tummy tuck surgeries) a vertical incision is needed and thus adds another component to an altered tattoo.

Consider redoing the Tattoo after the Tummy Tuck surgery

We think that after the Tummy Tuck surgery, perhaps one can choose to touch up the abdominal tattoo and make it into a new piece of art.

Talk to your surgeon and have them mark out the areas of removal, and the areas of reconnection on your Tattoo.  Perhaps most of your tattoo (and stretch marks) can be removed with the abdominoplasty (tummy tuck).  In general we prefer that patients did not get a tattoo on their abdominal wall before having abdominal cosmetic surgery.  However, if a tattoo is present, we feel bad about having to alter the tattoo, but we will do our best to discuss options with you regarding preservation of sections of the tattoo and part of the discussion will involve necessary sacrifices in order to obtain optimal contouring with a tummy tuck.

This entry was posted in Dr. Tammy Wu, incision, Modesto, Tummy Tuck and tagged on by .

About Tammy Wu

Dr. Tzuying Tammy Wu, a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon in Modesto, CA and co-founder of Surgical Artistry. She graduated top of her medical school class at Brown University. She received her plastic surgery training with Dr. Elvin Zook at Southern Illinois University. She and her husband, Dr. Calvin Lee created Surgical Artistry in 2006 in Modesto, CA. Her specialty includes Breast Augmentation, Tummy Tuck, Liposuction, Facelift, and several other cosmetic surgeries. Before 2006, she worked with Sutter Gould-Memorial in Modesto, a large multispecialty group, as their sole Plastic Surgeon in Modesto. She also works as a board of director member for the Cooperative of American Physicians in Los Angeles, CA. She regularly runs marathons and half marathons. She is the title sponsor of the Surgical Artistry Modesto Marathon. There are about 16 other doctors in her family - brothers, parents, uncles, aunts, in-laws, and cousins. Disclaimer: Please see your physician in person for specific medical advice, this webpage is intended for information, not advice directed towards you.