This is abdominoplasty at reconstructive scale: large skin excess, often a separated muscle wall, sometimes two directions of laxity. Here is the whole operation, honestly.
The foundation: your weight should be at a plateau you can maintain — typically stable for 6–12 months, whether you lost through diet, GLP-1 medication or bariatric surgery. If you're not there yet, the honest answer is 'not yet' — and you'll hear it plainly.
Standard tummy tuck, extended, fleur-de-lis, or a circumferential 360 — the choice follows how much skin you have and in which directions. Nutrition and protein status are checked too; healing after major weight loss deserves preparation.
If your abdominal muscles have separated, they are repaired with permanent internal sutures during the same operation — the flat core no exercise could restore.
The excess skin is removed as a measured ellipse (or vertical wedge in fleur-de-lis cases), tissues are re-draped, and a natural-looking umbilicus is crafted — small details that decide how 'operated' a result looks.
Layered closure over drains (usually removed within days), dissolvable skin sutures, and a compression garment that guides healing for the following weeks.
Swelling resolves over 2–3 months; the scar matures from red to a pale line over 12–18 months. The shape you worked years for finally shows.
The hanging fold is measured, marked and removed as a low ellipse — vertical excess gone with a hip-to-hip incision placed below the underwear line. Where skin is loose in two directions (common after massive loss), a fleur-de-lis adds a vertical component. The navel is preserved on its stalk and given a crafted, natural new opening.
When the paired abdominal muscles have separated (diastasis) — from carried weight, pregnancies or both — they are repaired with permanent internal sutures during the same operation. This is the corset no plank restores, and a core difference from panniculectomy, which repairs nothing.
Typically 2–4 hours under general anaesthesia with a qualified anaesthesia team, followed by one night in an accredited Istanbul hospital — the right setting for surgery of this scale. Drains for the first days, a fitted compression garment for the weeks after, all included in your plan.
Protein status, iron, and (post-bariatric) B12 and zinc are checked and corrected first; smoking stops 4–6 weeks around surgery; GLP-1 medications are paused per anaesthesia protocol. A long incision heals on preparation — so preparation is part of the operation here.
Photos, your weight story and an honest answer — standard, fleur-de-lis, 360, panniculectomy, or 'not yet'.
Share photos (front, side, and holding the loose skin) plus your weight history — how much you lost, how, and how long you've been stable. Dr. Erdal personally replies with an honest opinion, a tailored plan and an all-inclusive quote, with no obligation.