Body Contouring

It is a group of procedures, selected and combined according to what your body actually needs. Which of these you need is a clinical decision, not a menu choice — made at consultation, after examination.

Abdominoplasty (tummy tuck). Removes excess abdominal skin and fat, and repairs the separation of the abdominal muscles (diastasis recti) that commonly follows pregnancy. The procedure most often needed after childbirth or major weight loss.

Liposculpture. Removes localised fat and refines contour. Frequently combined with skin-removal procedures, because removing fat from beneath loose skin without addressing the skin makes laxity more visible.

Arm lift (brachioplasty). Removes loose skin and fat between the underarm and elbow. Commonly requested after significant weight loss. Involves a scar along the inner arm.

Thigh lift. Removes excess skin from the inner or outer thigh. Usually considered after substantial weight loss.

Body lift. A circumferential procedure addressing the abdomen, flanks, lower back and buttocks in one operation. Reserved for significant skin excess after major weight loss.

Fat transfer. Fat removed from one area is purified and reinjected to restore volume elsewhere — improving proportion rather than simply reducing.

Losing 20, 40 or 60 kilograms is a substantial achievement. It also frequently leaves behind skin that no amount of further effort will tighten, because the skin’s elastic fibres have been permanently stretched. This is not a failure of discipline, and it is the single most common reason patients come to this clinic. Loose skin after weight loss is a mechanical problem with a surgical solution.

• Wait until your weight has been stable for at least six months, preferably twelve
• If you have had bariatric surgery, your nutritional status must be assessed first — protein and vitamin deficiencies impair healing
• Extensive skin excess may need staging across more than one operation, several months apart
• These procedures leave scars. They are the trade for removing the skin, and their placement is planned carefully

Pregnancy changes the abdominal wall in ways exercise cannot reverse. The rectus muscles separate — diastasis recti — and the skin stretches. Neither reliably returns to its prior state, regardless of how disciplined you are afterwards.

• Muscle separation is repaired surgically during abdominoplasty. Core exercise alone does not close a true diastasis.
• Wait until you have finished breastfeeding and your weight is stable
• If you plan further children, it is usually better to wait — a later pregnancy can undo the muscle repair
• A caesarean scar can often be incorporated into the new incision
• Recovery with young children at home requires realistic planning. You will not be lifting a toddler for several weeks.

Body contouring surgery removes skin. Removing skin requires an incision, and every incision leaves a scar. Any clinic suggesting otherwise is misleading you. What we can control is where the scar sits, how the tissue is closed, and how you are supported through scar maturation.

• Abdominoplasty: a horizontal scar low across the abdomen, positioned to sit within underwear or swimwear where anatomy allows. A scar around the navel is also usual.
• Arm lift: along the inner arm — more visible than an abdominal scar, a trade-off to weigh carefully.
• Thigh lift: in the groin crease, sometimes extending down the inner thigh.
• Body lift: circumferential, positioned at the beltline.
• Scars are red and firm for the first weeks, then fade and flatten over 12–18 months. A history of keloid or hypertrophic scarring must be raised at consultation.

All surgery carries risk. Body contouring involves larger surgical areas than liposuction alone, and the risk profile reflects that.

Common and expected: swelling, bruising, temporary numbness around incisions, tightness, temporary difficulty standing fully upright, fluid drainage from drains.

Uncommon: seroma, delayed wound healing particularly at incision junctions, widened or thickened scarring, contour irregularity or asymmetry, persistent numbness, unsatisfactory result requiring revision.

Rare but serious: infection requiring intervention; deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism; skin necrosis, particularly in smokers; significant bleeding requiring return to theatre; anaesthetic complications; and in very rare cases, death.

How risk is reduced: a licensed hospital; a dedicated anaesthetist; rigorous patient selection; enforced smoking cessation; staged surgery where excess is extensive; early mobilisation; compression; structured follow-up.

An important clarification. You may have seen body contouring advertised in Dubai from around AED 2,000 — those figures refer to non-surgical device sessions, not surgery. Surgical body contouring is a hospital procedure under general anaesthesia and is priced accordingly: published market figures for abdominoplasty in Dubai generally start around AED 30,000, with combined or circumferential procedures costing considerably more.

What should be included in any quote: surgeon’s fee, anaesthetist’s fee, facility and overnight stay, pre-operative investigations, compression garments, drains and dressings, and all routine follow-up.

Worth stating plainly. In skin-removal surgery the costs that get cut are typically the anaesthetist, the facility, and surgical time. Correcting a poor result is harder and more expensive than the original operation — and some scar and contour outcomes cannot be fully corrected at all.

Insurance in the UAE does not generally cover cosmetic body contouring. Where surgery is medically indicated — documented skin infection beneath an overhanging abdominal apron after massive weight loss, for example — partial coverage occasionally applies.