Stomach creases and belly wrinkles can be frustrating and even a little embarrassing when they bulge through clothing or make your stomach look saggy. There are many reasons these issues can occur, such as carrying excess weight or the skin having stretched past its ability to retract. Regardless of the cause of your stomach creases or wrinkles, you do not have to live with them. The team of experts at IBI Plastic Surgery & Med Spa offers a number of innovative treatments that can eliminate excess fat and smooth, tighten, and restore your skin’s tighter and more youthful appearance. Depending on the type and extent of your cosmetic concerns, there are both surgical and non-surgical options for treatment.
What Can Cause a Stomach Crease?
The term “stomach crease” is sometimes used to describe different things, like folds, lines, or wrinkles in the skin located in the abdominal region. Some of the common causes include:
- Skin laxity, or the loss of elasticity that can occur as you get older, after a significant weight loss, or after pregnancy. Your skin’s ability to produce new collagen reduces as you age, so when it is stretched out, it has a harder time bouncing back.
- When you sit, bend, or lean forward, your skin has to fold over, and gradually, it can create fold lines that can become more permanent. They can also be caused by poor posture; some people who have stomach creases are skinny and do not carry an abundance of excess fat.
- Sometimes a crease is caused by a pocket of accumulated fat or a soft roll just above or below that line.
- In some cases, the skin may be stuck or tethered to a deeper layer, and the crease is caused by an underlying issue in the tissue structure.
- If pregnancy or another issue has caused your abdominal muscles to become separated or damaged (diastasis recti), it can affect how the skin in that area drapes or folds and cause stomach creases.
Is There a Way to Fix Stomach Creases?
There are different solutions for stomach creases, and the one that will offer the best correction will depend on the underlying cause. Most of the time a combination of treatments offers the best results, like making lifestyle changes, minimally invasive cosmetic treatments, or surgery, which may be done alone or together.
Lifestyle
- Building muscle with strength and resistance training helps to create a strong support system under your skin and make it look tighter and smoother.
- Drinking plenty of water and eating a healthy diet with foods that are full of nutrients and vitamins can keep your skin hydrated and help your body produce more collagen to keep your skin firmer.
- Get enough sleep because poor sleep can prevent you from maintaining a healthy weight. Experts recommend between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night.
- Sometimes, topical treatments like creams or serums with ingredients like retinoids, peptides, or hyaluronic acid can gradually make your skin softer, smoother, and a little tighter.
- Wearing sunscreen every day helps to protect your skin from UV rays that break down your collagen and elastin and cause more wrinkles and sagging.
- Scheduling time for professional maintenance treatments like microneedling and exfoliation procedures can help keep your skin looking smoother, tighter, and more youthful-looking.
Non-Surgical Minimally Invasive Treatments
Some non-invasive cosmetic treatments can help reduce excess fat and tighten mild to moderate skin laxity, but some may require multiple sessions to achieve the results you desire.
| Treatment | How It Works | Details |
|---|---|---|
| BodyTite™ | Uses a combination of radiofrequency and liposuction to melt and remove small amounts of unwanted fat and tighten the skin. | Adds some definition and contour to different areas by removing some fat while at the same time the RF heat tightens the surrounding skin. Offers minimal downtime and immediate results, as well as gradual improvements over the next several months as new collagen is made. |
| Evolve Treatments |
These treatments use non-invasive devices that utilize innovative technologies like radiofrequency energy and electromagnetic pulses to tighten skin, tone muscles, and reduce excess fat. | Treatments are painless, have no downtime, and work well to improve mild to moderate loose skin or small accumulations of fat. Multiple sessions are usually needed to achieve desired results. |
| Morpheus8 | Combines microneedling with radiofrequency to remove small fat pockets and trigger new collagen production. It can be used to remove scarring, stretch marks, large pores, etc. | Improves the texture and tone of your skin as well as eliminates some unwanted fat and can firm up the deeper layers of skin for a tighter, more toned look. You may experience some redness or mild swelling. may occur. |
| Body FX | Uses a mix of radiofrequency energy, deep tissue heating, suction, and negative pressure vacuum to heat the skin and underlying fat, which tightens up the tissue and smooths out problem areas. | Good for removing small fat pockets like muffin tops, improving cellulite, and adding contouring without surgery. No downtime, but multiple sessions are often needed to achieve the results you desire. |
| PHYSIQ | Uses a combination of heat and electrical muscle stimulation to tone muscles and targets fat for a firmer, more defined look. This can help further define your abdomen muscles after you have done as much as you can with diet and exercise alone. | Enhances muscle definition and firms up your abdominal muscles and firmness without surgery. Best for body sculpting, but not for removing larger fat deposits. Requires no downtime. |
| Kybella® | This is an injectable treatment that breaks down and destroys fat cells in small areas such as the stomach or under the chin. | It reduces the volume of fat in the treated areas and provides permanent results. You may experience mild swelling or tenderness for a few days. |
Surgical Treatments
For deeper and more permanent stomach creases or areas with a lot of loose skin, surgery would be the most effective option and would provide the most lasting results.
- Liposuction: removes excess fat using a small tube called a cannula that is placed under the skin into the layer of subcutaneous fat and used to loosen and vacuum out unwanted fat.
- Tummy tuck (abdominoplasty): Removes extra skin, eliminates unwanted fat with liposuction, and tightens the abdominal muscles for a more toned and smoother look. This surgery is often performed after a pregnancy or after losing a significant amount of weight.
- A mini tummy tuck: is similar to a tummy tuck, but it is performed on a smaller area of loose skin that is located under the belly button. The surgeon uses liposuction to remove excess fat and then cuts away any loose excess skin to make the area flatter and more toned-looking.
Combination of liposuction and skin tightening: In many cases, the combination of a few different treatments can provide the best results. Using a combination offers the flexibility to choose and combine the treatments that will best correct your cosmetic concerns.
Get Help From a Professional
If you are unhappy with the way your stomach looks and you have excess fat or loose skin that is causing stomach wrinkles, IBI Plastic Surgery & Med Spa can help you achieve the flatter, smoother stomach you desire.
One of our expertly trained specialists will help determine the best treatment for tightening skin on your stomach and then create a customized plan that will help you reach your goals. Your plan may include a surgery like liposuction combined with a non-invasive treatment like Evolve Tite to help slim and tighten your abdominal area to make it smoother, flatter, and more toned-looking.
Set up your personal consultation today to learn more about how we can help you get rid of stomach folds, tighten loose skin on your belly, or restore a flatter stomach after pregnancy. The skilled team at IBI Plastic Surgery & Med Spa offers a variety of treatments that can help reduce or eliminate these concerns and help you feel more confident about your appearance. Get in touch with us today and be one step closer to reaching your aesthetic goals.
