BMI Guidelines for Plastic Surgery

Posted August 25, 2023 in Body Contouring, No Drain Tummy Tuck, Safety, True Form Body Contouring®, True Form Tummy Tuck®, Tummy Tuck

By Dr. Christopher Patronella

BMI (Body Mass Index), which gauges a person’s body fat based upon their height and weight, is an important factor in evaluating a person’s suitability for plastic surgery. If the BMI is high—and we consider anything over 30 to be high—then the risk factors for a surgical procedure and the potential complications associated with those procedures is higher.

So I like my patients to have a BMI under 30 to reduce the potential for complications with body contouring surgery, which includes liposuction, tummy tuck, thigh lift surgery, arm lift surgery—any of those contouring procedures that I do on the body. And for that matter, breast lift and breast reduction fits into that category, as well.

The ideal circumstance for a person to pursue cosmetic surgery is when they are at what they consider to be a reasonable good weight for them. That might be a 120 pounds for some patients. It might be a 150 or a 170 pounds for others. It depends on the person, what their average weight was before they began to have children. I like for patients to get into that same zone before doing a cosmetic procedure because their result is going to be far better.

Contact us today to schedule your consultation with Dr. Patronella. For our out-of-town patients, we also offer the option of a preliminary video conference with Dr. Patronella.