A mini-abdominoplasty is similar to a standard abdominoplasty with a few differences. Like the latter, the mini-abdominoplasty uses a waist crease incision but often (but not always depending upon the amount of skin to be removed) the incision is not quite as long as with the standard procedure. A shorter incision does not mean you will heal faster or have a shorter recovery, the difference in incision length is not enough to make such a difference. Wounds heal side to side, not end to end, so a shorter incision heals in the same time as a longer incision. There are some other substantial differences. There is no incision made around the umbilicus, and it is for this reason that when the skin is lifted up off the abdominal wall, it is only to the level of the umbilicus. As only the lower abdominal wall is exposed, only the lower abdominal muscles can be tightened. There is a variety of the procedure where the umbilicus is left intact on the outside skin but cut at its base from the abdominal wall. This is called floating the “umbilicus”. This will allow the surgeon access to the upper abdominal muscles for tightening. I am not a big fan of this procedure. More on this in a bit. Lastly, when the abdominal wound is closed, the umbilicus may be pulled down slightly, usually no more than a centimeter or so, and this doesn’t appear to cause any concern in my experience.
