One of the reasons patients come to the clinic to have a tummy tuck is because they want to have all the stretch marks removed caused by pregnancy. While it is theoretically possible for a tummy tuck to remove all your stretch marks, there is no guarantee. This does not occur in every single patient so you need to understand why.
Just by examining your abdomen, your surgeon will be able to determine if you are going to have stretch marks after the surgery or none at all. A tummy tuck procedure involves making an incision in the lower abdomen, which is done in the midline. It is important to know that only the excess skin below the belly button is removed. The surgeon cannot cut your whole abdomen because it will be difficult to close after surgery. Consequently, if only the skin below the belly button is removed, the skin above the belly button will act as your new abdomen.
Because of this, the location of your stretch marks will determine if a tummy tuck will resolve this. For example, if you have stretch marks below the belly button, then it will not be a problem for the surgeon to remove the excess skin in that area through a tummy tuck. However, if you have stretch marks below and above the belly button, you will still have stretch marks. As mentioned, the skin above the belly button will not be touched.
Nevertheless, a tummy tuck will give you a tighter belly with no excess skin. Many times they come to the clinic thinking that all the stretch marks will be gone, but a careful analysis of your belly will tell me if this is going to be the case or not. I always tell my patients if the stretch marks will remain or not after surgery in order to prepare them for the final result.
There is no question that a tummy tuck is capable of removing stretch marks and creating a flatter abdomen. However, it all depends on where the stretch marks are located. Therefore, knowing this piece of information will better prepare you and manage your expectations.