Real tummy tuck and abdominoplasty results from patients treated at our Baker Street day surgery facility. For what determines how good a result is, and how to protect it afterwards, see our guide to tummy tuck results. Jump to Full Tummy Tuck & Abdominoplasty, Brazilian Tummy Tuck, Lipoabdominoplasty & 360 Liposuction, Abdominoplasty with Muscle Repair, Tummy Tuck with Hernia Repair or Tummy Tuck with Breast Lift.
Results vary from patient to patient. All photos are published with written patient consent and are examples of outcomes achieved at Centre for Surgery, not guaranteed results. After photos were taken at least six months after surgery unless the caption says otherwise. No photograph has been retouched or filtered; some are cropped or masked only to protect patient privacy. Full disclaimer below, and how to read these photos — including where to look for the scar, and why the belly button tells you which operation was performed.
Full Tummy Tuck & Abdominoplasty — Before & After
66 photographs
A tummy tuck, or abdominoplasty, removes surplus skin from the lower abdomen and redrapes what remains over the abdominal wall. It is an excisional operation: unlike liposuction, which removes fat and relies on the skin retracting, a tummy tuck cuts the loose skin out. That is why it is the answer where skin has been stretched beyond its capacity to recover — after pregnancy, or after substantial weight loss. The trade is a scar across the lower abdomen. Where laxity is confined to below the navel, a mini tummy tuck takes less skin and leaves a shorter scar.
Brazilian Tummy Tuck — Before & After
7 photographs
A Brazilian tummy tuck is a variation on the standard abdominoplasty in which more attention is paid to the waist and flanks, and the scar is placed low so that it sits beneath underwear or a bikini line. The operation removes skin in the same way. What differs is the shaping of the trunk either side of the midline and the position of the resulting scar.
Lipoabdominoplasty & 360 Liposuction with Tummy Tuck — Before & After
5 photographs
Skin and fat are two different problems, and they are frequently present together. Liposuction removes fat but relies on the skin retracting over the smaller shape underneath. A tummy tuck removes the skin but does little about fat held in the flanks and the back. Performed together — as a lipoabdominoplasty, or with 360 liposuction around the full circumference of the trunk — one operation addresses both. The difference between liposuction and a tummy tuck is set out in full separately.
Abdominoplasty with Muscle Repair — Before & After
3 photographs
Pregnancy and weight change can separate the two vertical strips of the rectus abdominis muscle down the midline. That separation — diastasis recti — leaves the abdominal wall unsupported, and no amount of exercise draws the muscles back together. Repairing it means suturing the muscle edges back to the midline beneath the skin, at the same time as the skin is removed. It changes the profile of the abdominal wall, which is a separate thing from removing the skin that lies over it.
Tummy Tuck with Hernia Repair — Before & After
1 photograph
An abdominal hernia is a defect in the abdominal wall through which tissue protrudes. It is a structural problem, not a cosmetic one, and where a hernia is present alongside surplus skin it can be repaired during the same operation — the tummy tuck incision gives access to the abdominal wall. Repairing the hernia is what corrects the bulge; the tummy tuck deals with the skin above it.
Tummy Tuck with Breast Lift — Before & After
2 photographs
The two photographs below show patients who had a tummy tuck and a breast lift in the same operation. The abdominal result is the tummy tuck; the change in breast shape and position is the breast lift. Neither procedure produces the other’s outcome, and reading a combined case as a single procedure will give you the wrong expectation of what either one does. Combined abdominal and breast surgery of this kind is covered in our mummy makeover gallery; results from breast lift surgery alone are in the breast lift gallery.
About These Tummy Tuck Photos
The tummy tuck photos above are presented for educational purposes only and should be interpreted subjectively. They do not represent the opinion or view of any patient regarding their result, and they are not intended to suggest the result that any other patient may achieve. No two patients are alike, and no two results are necessarily alike. Only a personal consultation with your surgeon can provide you with a reasonable expectation of the results you may achieve from any specific procedure. We only publish photographs of patients who have given full written consent for their images to be used.
How to Read Tummy Tuck Before and After Photos
A tummy tuck is the one body-contouring operation whose cost is visible in the photograph. Look for the scar. It runs low across the abdomen, hip to hip, and it is permanent. A gallery that never shows it is not showing you the operation.
Find the belly button
In a full tummy tuck the skin above the navel is pulled down, so the navel has to be brought out through a new opening. That leaves a second scar, circular, around it. In a mini tummy tuck the navel is untouched. So the belly button tells you which operation the patient actually had — and a mini result is not evidence of what a full one achieves, or the reverse.
Separate the skin from the muscle
Two things flatten an abdomen, and they are independent. Removing loose skin changes what you see on the surface. Repairing separated muscle changes the shape of the wall beneath it. A patient with good skin and a wide diastasis needs the second and barely the first. A photograph shows the sum and never tells you which was done.
Fat is a third variable
A tummy tuck does not remove fat from the flanks, the back, or above the navel unless liposuction was done at the same time. Where an after photograph shows a narrowed waist and flat flanks, that is usually two procedures, not one — a reasonable thing to do, and an unreasonable thing to leave unstated.
Posture, underwear, weight
A high waistband compresses and conceals a scar. Standing with the pelvis tilted flattens an abdomen at no surgical cost. And a patient who lost eight kilograms between the two photographs has had something happen to them other than surgery. In a trustworthy pair, the garment, the light and the stance are the same, and the body is the only thing that changed.
What Stage of Healing You’re Looking At
A tummy tuck photograph taken at three months and one taken at eighteen months show different operations, and neither is dishonest.
For the first weeks the abdomen is swollen, bruised and tight, and the skin above the scar is numb — often permanently. Drains may be in place initially. Patients stand with a stoop because the abdomen has been tightened, and straighten up over a fortnight or so. A compression garment is worn for around six weeks.
Swelling settles over the first three months and continues to reduce for six to twelve. The scar is the slowest thing of all: red or pink and often raised for months, fading and flattening over twelve to eighteen months, and never disappearing. A scar photographed at eight weeks and the same scar at two years look like different scars.
Small folds of skin at either end of the incision — dog ears — can appear as swelling settles, and are sometimes revised under local anaesthetic afterwards. This is a recognised outcome, not a complication of a badly performed operation.
The after photographs in this gallery were taken at least six months after surgery, unless the caption says otherwise. For what to expect at each stage before then, see our tummy tuck recovery guide.
What These Photographs Cannot Show You
There is a limit to what any gallery can tell you, and a clinic that pretends otherwise is selling rather than informing.
- What the scar looks like at two years. Almost every published tummy tuck photograph shows a scar that is still maturing. Scar quality also varies with skin type and genetics, and is largely outside the surgeon’s control.
- Whether the muscle was repaired. Invisible in the photograph. It changes the result substantially, and it changes the recovery.
- Whether liposuction was done at the same time. See above. The waist in the after photograph may not be the tummy tuck’s doing.
- Numbness. Loss of sensation in the skin between the scar and the navel is normal, and frequently permanent. It photographs identically to normal skin.
- Seroma, dog ears, and revision. Fluid collections beneath the flap and small folds at the ends of the scar are recognised outcomes. Neither appears in a published gallery.
- What the patient weighed on each day, and what happened afterwards. A tummy tuck removes skin. It does not stop weight changing, and a subsequent pregnancy will stretch what is left.
None of this is a reason to distrust before and after photographs. It is a reason to treat them as the beginning of a conversation with a surgeon rather than the end of one.
Tummy Tuck Results: Common Questions
Is a tummy tuck a big operation?
A full tummy tuck is a major operation. It removes skin and fat from the lower abdomen, often repairs separated muscles and leaves a scar from hip to hip. Most people return to desk work at around two to three weeks and avoid strenuous exercise for about six weeks. A mini tummy tuck is a smaller procedure.
Can you still lose weight after a tummy tuck?
Yes, but it is best to reach a stable weight first. Significant weight loss after a tummy tuck can leave new loose skin, and weight gain stretches the repaired abdomen. Surgeons usually recommend being close to your goal weight, and having finished having children, before surgery.
Do belly buttons look normal after a tummy tuck?
In most cases, yes. In a full tummy tuck the belly button stays attached to its blood supply and is brought out through a new opening, leaving a small scar around it. Its final shape depends on technique and healing and can take several months to settle. Occasionally a small revision is needed.
Tummy Tuck Surgery at Centre for Surgery
Centre for Surgery is a private hospital for plastic and cosmetic surgery on Baker Street in Marylebone, London, registered with and independently inspected by the Care Quality Commission. Our plastic surgeons perform the full range of tummy tuck procedures at our Baker Street day surgery facility — from mini abdominoplasty and Brazilian tummy tuck through to full abdominoplasty with diastasis recti repair, hernia repair, and 360 liposuction.
Techniques and Approach
Which operation is appropriate depends on how much skin is surplus, whether the abdominal muscles have separated, and where the fat sits. At consultation your surgeon will examine you and explain which of those three problems you actually have — because the answer determines the length of the scar, whether the navel is moved, and whether liposuction adds anything. Every plastic surgeon on our team is GMC-registered and independently verifiable on the General Medical Council register. Some useful background reading: what a tummy tuck involves, key facts about abdominoplasty, and five tummy tuck myths.
Aftercare and Follow-Up
Tummy tuck surgery is performed as a day case at our Baker Street day surgery facility. You have your surgeon’s direct number for the first 24 hours after surgery, and your surgeon will review you at regular follow-up appointments through the year or more during which the scar matures.
Verified Patient Reviews
We invite you to read what our tummy tuck patients say on independent, verified review platforms. Every review is publicly verifiable, dated, and linked to a real named patient.
- Google Reviews: Read our Google reviews ↗ — rated 4.6 stars based on hundreds of verified patient reviews.
- Patient reviews page: Read patient reviews by procedure — Google and Trustpilot reviews brought together on our own site.
As a CQC-regulated provider, every surgeon on our team is GMC-registered and independently verifiable. View our CQC rating.
Related Reading
- The Difference Between Liposuction and a Tummy Tuck
- Is A Mini Tummy Tuck Enough for My Needs?
- Will A Mummy Makeover Remove Stretch Marks?
- Can I Get Skin Removal Surgery On The NHS After Weight Loss?
Explore More Before and After Galleries
View our full collection of plastic surgery before and after photos, or browse related body contouring galleries: Liposuction Before and After Photos | Mummy Makeover Before and After Photos | BBL Before and After Photos
Subject to status, we offer finance options with Chrysalis Finance. For a full price breakdown, see our tummy tuck cost guide. Learn more on our About Us page, browse our Plastic Surgery Blog, or find answers in our Clinic FAQs.
To book a consultation with a tummy tuck surgeon, call us on 020 7993 4849 or complete the contact form below.
