Contact the Tummy Tuck Team

Arranging an assessment

Contact the outpatient line to arrange a body contouring consultation with the aesthetic surgery service. Ask specifically for an assessment for loose abdominal skin, for separated abdominal muscles, or for both, and tell the booking team if you have had previous abdominal surgery, including a caesarean section, or if you have a history of blood clots.

What to bring

Bring a list of your current medications, including anything bought without a prescription, and the name of any condition you are treated for — diabetes, heart or lung disease, and any bleeding or clotting disorder in particular. Bring any imaging you have had. If you have kept a record of your weight over the past year, bring it: stability is one of the things the plan depends on and a record is more useful than a recollection.

What the consultation involves

A history of your weight over time, your pregnancies and any previous surgery; an examination of the abdominal wall, the skin and any hernia; a discussion of which operation fits and why; and an explicit conversation about the scar, the seroma risk, the clot prevention plan and what the operation will not change. You should leave knowing what the operation would involve, what it would cost you in recovery time, and what remains uncertain. If you do not, ask again.

Second opinions

You are entitled to one, and asking for it is not a criticism of anyone. If you have been offered an abdominoplasty elsewhere, a second assessment at a tertiary hospital will either confirm the plan or explain why it would be done differently, and either answer is useful to you.

Interpreting and international patients

Patients travelling from outside Chongqing, and patients who need interpretation, can arrange both through the hospital’s international patient service. Ask when you book so that the appointment is scheduled with enough time for a full discussion rather than a short one.