Flat stomach: More exercise or a Tummy tuck?

Patients nowadays are bombarded with infomercials for exercise apparatus to tighten your stomach. Does it work? Will exercise alone flatten your stomach?

you can examine your own stomach muscles

– Dr. Rodriguez

Or, do you really need a tummy tuck?

The answer is…
It depends on the condition of your rectus abdominis muscle. Do you have a muscle separation?

The rectus abdominis muscle is the vertical muscle in the middle of your abdomen. It functions much the same as how shoe laces work in a shoe. If your rectus abdominis muscles are intact (tightened), congratulations!–you may only need exercise to firm your tummy.

However, if your rectus abdominis muscles are separated, you can only firm up your tummy with a repair of the muscle, or a tummy tuck. Since your muscle is separated no amount of exercise can tighten that gap in the muscle. Instead, it must be stitched together.

In today’s video blog, I tell you how to examine yourself to determine if you have separated abdominis muscles, otherwise known as a rectus diastasis. Watch my video to find out if you just need more exercise or if what you really need is a tummy tuck.

By Dr. Ricardo L. Rodriguez MD Board Certified Plastic Surgeon Cosmeticsurg Baltimore, Maryland Ricardo L. Rodriguez on American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Related categories

Related procedures