(501) 224-1044
ABDOMINOPLASTY · LITTLE ROCK, AR
Tummy Tuck
Diet and exercise can take fat off and put muscle on. They cannot restore skin elasticity, and they cannot repair separated abdominal muscles, which is why so many people who did everything right are still unhappy with their midsection. A tummy tuck addresses both. Dr. Homayoun Pournik, a fellowship-trained cosmetic surgeon whose specialty is advanced abdominoplasty, performs the procedure in Little Rock.
2–4 hrs
Depending on technique and extent
~ 2–4 wks
Back to work for most patients
6-12 mos
Final results take shape
What a tummy tuck addresses
Three separate problems, one operation. Most patients arrive thinking they have the first one and discover they have all three.
SKIN
Excess skin
Age, pregnancy, and weight loss all leave excess skin in the midsection. Surgery is the only effective way to address it; skin loses elasticity gradually and does not get it back. Dr. Pournik tightens loose, wrinkled skin for a smoother, more toned appearance.
MUSCLE
Separated muscles
The abdominal wall can loosen or separate during pregnancy or after significant weight change, a condition called diastasis recti, and the reason for the belly pouch that will not go no matter how many sit-ups you do. It cannot be repaired without surgery. The abdominal wall is sutured back together to flatten the stomach.
NAVEL
Belly button refinement
The belly button can become stretched or displaced by weight gain and pregnancy. During a tummy tuck it is moved and reshaped so it complements the flatter abdomen rather than undermining it.
Four techniques
Dr. Yee and Dr. Pournik customize your tummy tuck to your anatomy and your goals, choosing the technique that gets the most natural-looking result rather than the most extensive one.
Dr. Pournik is capable of performing Open Book Abdominoplasty should you require.
Traditional tummy tuck
A full abdominoplasty, and the most common approach. An incision around the belly button plus a horizontal incision placed low between the hip bones. Allows the loose muscles to be tightened, excess skin removed, and the waistline reshaped.
- Best for: skin and muscle together
- Incision: low horizontal, plus navel
- Most common: yes
Extended tummy tuck
For more significant skin laxity, especially after major weight loss or multiple pregnancies. The incision may extend across the entire abdomen and around the hips, which lets it address excess tissue along the flanks and lower back as well.
- Best for: major weight loss
- Incision: across the abdomen and hips
- Also treats: flanks and lower back
Mini tummy tuck
For a small amount of loose skin or mild muscle laxity below the belly button only. A shorter incision placed very low on the abdomen, minimal scarring, and a quicker recovery than a full tummy tuck.
- Best for: below the navel only
- Incision: short and very low
- Recovery: quicker
Tummy tuck with LipoSelection®
For patients with stubborn fat deposits as well as loose skin or stretched muscles. Combines the tummy tuck with advanced ultrasonic liposuction for precise fat removal alongside the tightening.
- Best for: fat as well as skin
- Adds: ultrasonic liposuction
- Result: contour, not just tightening
Are you a candidate?
A healthy diet and regular exercise cannot restore lost skin elasticity or repair separated muscle. That is the gap a tummy tuck fills. You may be a candidate if you:
- Have had one or more pregnancies.
- Have developed drooping skin with age, or because of a genetic predisposition.
- Have lost a substantial amount of weight.
- Do not smoke.
- Are in good overall health
- Have realistic expectations for your results.
Our team recommends being finished having children, having completed your weight loss, or being within 10 to 15 pounds of your goal weight before moving forward, and living a healthy lifestyle beforehand, so your results are easier to maintain.
Two paths here
After pregnancy:
Pregnancy stretches the abdominal skin and muscles, particularly with children at an older age or multiple pregnancies. When the skin fails to snap back it sags, and the muscles often separate. Both are addressed together, and some women fold this into a wider mommy makeover.
Learn more about mommy makeover and breast augmentation
After weight loss:
Gaining and losing weight repeatedly costs the skin its elasticity. If you have successfully lost the weight, the sagging skin left behind can prevent you exercising comfortably and feeling confident about what you achieved. Many patients combine it with an arm lift or thigh lift.
Learn more about arm lift and thigh lift.
What to expect on procedure day
Tummy tuck surgery takes anywhere from about 1 to 5 hours, depending on the technique and how much correction is needed; a mini takes significantly less time than an extended.
- Step 1 – Markings
Your abdomen is marked to indicate where the incisions will be placed and where lifting will occur.
- Step 2 – Anesthesia
A board-certified anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist administer anesthesia. In most cases patients are put under general anesthesia and have no recollection of the surgery. - Step 3 – Incisions
A horizontal incision low on the abdomen, several inches below the navel. Its length depends on how much lifting you need. - Step 4 – Tighten
Excess fat and skin are removed, the underlying muscle tissue is tightened, and adjustments are made to the belly button. - Step 5 – Close
The incisions are sutured and bandaged, using techniques that minimize the appearance of scarring. - Step 6 – Recover
Outpatient. After a short observation period in the recovery area, you go home the same day.
Consultation prep
- Bring a list of your medical history and medications; temporary adjustments to medications or supplements may be needed.
- Be honest about your goals. Say whether you are trying to address loose skin, stretched muscles, or both.
- Have your questions written down beforehand so nothing gets forgotten.
- Expect a conversation about lifestyle; maintaining a stable weight, quitting smoking, and other steps that optimize your result.
Recovery and results
You get detailed instructions at your pre-op appointment. The short version: rest first, walk early, and do not rush the rest.
- FIRST DAYS
Rest and take it easy. Side effects are most apparent for the first few days to a week and fade from there. - DAY AFTER
A follow-up appointment to confirm you are healing properly and that you understand the post-op instructions. Also: start light physical activity such as walking around the house, which promotes healthy blood flow and prevents blood clots. - 2 WEEKS
Most patients take about two weeks off work, depending on how physically demanding the job is. - 6 WEEKS
No strenuous activity until at least this point, or until you are cleared. That includes picking up or carrying children; arrange extra help with childcare if you need it. - 3 MONTHS
A clearer picture of your final outcome as swelling and bruising fade. - 6-12 MONTHS
Final results fully develop. Be patient; the contours keep improving.
Why choose a board-certified surgeon
A tummy tuck is as much a repair as a removal. Separated abdominal muscles have to be brought back together and the skin redraped over a changed foundation, and how much tension that closure carries determines whether the scar sits low and flat or widens over the first year.
The risks above are uncommon, but they are real, and how your tissue heals is specific to you. Dr. Pournik reviews what applies to your anatomy at consultation so you can decide with full information.
WHAT SETS OUR SURGERY TEAM APART?
- Board certified by the American Board of Surgery
- Twelve years operating on the abdominal wall, including hundreds of complex reconstructions
- Advanced abdominoplasty techniques, including Fleur-de-lis and open book
- Post-weight-loss body contouring focus, where skin laxity drives the plan
Combining with other procedures
Many tummy tuck patients are addressing more than the abdomen. After pregnancy, a tummy tuck with breast surgery becomes a mommy makeover. After significant weight loss, the skin does not come back anywhere, which is why arm lift and thigh lift are frequently planned alongside. Liposuction is often part of the same operation either way.
- Mommy Makeover
- Liposuction
- Breast Augmentation
- Arm Lift
- Thigh Lift
WHY CHOOSE DR. YEE
Dr. Suzanne Yee, MD, FACS
- Triple Board-Certified Cosmetic Surgeon
- ★★★★★
- 4.8 · 387 Google reviews
Tummy tucks are one of the many procedures offered by Dr. Suzanne Yee. Her training expands far beyond cosmetic surgery alone. She is triple board-certified, with fellowships and board certification in cosmetic surgery, facial plastic and reconstructive surgery, and otolaryngology/head and neck surgery. These factors add up to a surgeon whose career is built on a foundation of aesthetics and detailed anatomy.
Her memberships include:
- Fellow of American Board of Cosmetic Surgery
- Fellow of American Board of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
- Fellow of American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
- Fellow of American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
- Fellow of the American College of Surgeons
- Fellow of American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, Inc.
- Fellow of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
- Fellow of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery
To schedule a consultation at our state-of-the-art surgical center, please contact us online or call (501) 224-1044.
BOARD CERTIFICATIONS & AFFILIATIONS
WHY CHOOSE DR. POURNIK
Homayoun Pournik, MD
- Fellowship-Trained Cosmetic Surgeon
Abdominoplasty is Dr. Pournik’s named specialty. Not body contouring generally; this operation specifically, including the complex revision work that comes in when a first attempt elsewhere did not deliver.
His twelve years in transplant surgery are more relevant here than they sound. Around 300 organ transplants, hundreds of robotic hernia repairs, and complex abdominal reconstructions, which is to say, a career spent inside the abdominal wall, understanding how it behaves and how it heals. That is the same wall a tummy tuck repairs. He was also the first surgeon to perform robotic kidney transplant in both California and North Carolina.
“It’s very hard to scare me in the operating room, because I’ve taken the engine out and put it back in.”
His cosmetic fellowship covered roughly 1,800 procedures in a single year at one of the country’s highest-volume body contouring centers. He stages complex cases rather than doing everything at once, “staging gives you success.” And he asks every patient the same question at every follow-up, day one to six months: are you happy?
BOARD CERTIFICATIONS & AFFILIATIONS
REAL PATIENTS
Before & After
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Patient Reviews
In Their Own Words
In June of 2024 I had a tummy tuck. Dr. Yee and her staff were very kind and caring. I struggle with bad anxiety and they always made me feel relaxed and comfortable before and after surgery. My recovery went very smoothly, I was shocked that I experienced little to no pain in the days after surgery. My scar is now over a year old and its way less visible than I ever expected.
Kayla B. / July 2025
September 2024, I had a Tummy Tuck performed. I am so happy with my results and would recommend Dr. Yee to anyone considering this procedure. I am 73 and it’s never too late to make self improvements.
Judy C. / December 2025
I have wanted to have the Tummy Tuck surgery for so many years and finally did it this year. I am extremely happy with my results. Dr. Yee and her staff have been exceptional before and after surgery. She is a true perfectionist.
Jennifer H. / September 2020
CONTACT US
Take a closer look
Whether you are removing skin after weight loss, getting back your pre-pregnancy body, or simply want to feel confident about your midsection, the consultation is where you find out what is achievable. Dr. Pournik will examine your abdomen, evaluate the condition of your skin and muscles, and tell you which technique fits.
Frequently asked questions
It is not a weight loss procedure, but removing excess abdominal skin can mean losing up to 10 pounds. Depending on the extent of your procedure, you may go down a few pant sizes.
If you are finished having children, have completed a weight loss journey, or are within 10 to 15 pounds of your goal weight, you may be ready. Living a healthy lifestyle beforehand makes the results easier to maintain.
Yes, and many patients do; liposuction, a breast lift, or breast augmentation, sometimes during the same surgery.
Anywhere from about 1 to 5 hours, depending on the technique and how much correction is needed. A mini takes significantly less time than an extended.
In most cases general anesthesia, administered by a board-certified anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist. You will have no recollection of the surgery.
The horizontal scar sits several inches below the typical underwear line, so it can be hidden by undergarments and bikini bottoms. Its length depends on how much treatment you need. You can minimize its appearance by following instructions to avoid infection, not smoking, avoiding strenuous activity while healing, using recommended skin products once healed, and keeping it out of the sun.
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