If you are planning to have a tummy tuck, you should be prepared for one to two months of recovery, and you may experience pain throughout this time. In general, pain is mild to moderate after a tummy tuck. Rarely, pain or sensory abnormalities can persist for months or even years after the procedure.
Your belly will be sore and swollen for the first week after surgery. You may need to wear a compression garment as you heal. The skin on your stomach will be mostly numb for several weeks to months. Feeling will return slowly.
Whether you're contemplating a Mommy Makeover package or just want to undergo a tummy tuck, you'll be relieved to know that any pain from this cosmetic procedure is far less than that experienced after a C-section. *Individual Results May Vary.
Tummy tuck recovery is a lengthy process and can take months. You will have both good and bad days. You should have realistic expectations as you are healing, follow the surgeon's advice, and discuss any concerns you are dealing with.
Along with general fatigue, expect some soreness in the abdomen and sensitivity around your incisions, especially when they are stressed. If your tummy tuck included a repair of stretched abdominal muscles (diastasis recti), your lower abdomen might also feel a bit tight.
The worst days after your tummy tuck will be the first one to three days. You may experience some discomfort, bloating, pressure, and swelling, but these symptoms are normal and will resolve themselves.
While pain tolerance can differ from individual to individual, patients often say the process of recovering from tummy tuck surgery is more painful than liposuction. While liposuction requires small incisions in the skin only, many tummy tuck techniques involve incisions that penetrate the muscle.
With a full tuck, you will lose more weight than you would with a mini tuck because you probably have more excess skin and fat to be removed. Finally, the opportunity to lose the most weight after abdominoplasty is reserved for clients who choose an extended tuck.
Whilst the removal of this can result in some loss of body mass, a tummy tuck is not a weight loss solution. In fact, removing excess skin can make it easier for patients to shed pounds and contour their bodies post-surgery.
Even in most normal weight and extremely fit women, the abdomen may not be completely flat following abdominoplasty. It is realistic for patients to expect improvement in the flatness of the stomach, but should not immediately assume that their abdomen will be entirely flat.
As with other surgeries, nerves to the affected area are traumatized from a tummy tuck. This can cause numbness for several weeks to months before the nerves overcome temporary neuropraxia (loss of nerve conduction).
Both a tummy tuck and cesarean section are comparable in terms of mobility and rehabilitation. However, recovery after a tummy tuck is often said to be easier compared to recovery after C-section.
These drains look like small tubes with bulbs attached. By squeezing the bulb, you create a manual suction that helps flush away excess fluid. Drains are usually placed by your plastic surgeon at the end of your tummy tuck surgery. They are left in place anywhere from a few days to a few weeks after tummy tuck surgery.
Tummy Tuck or Mummy Makeover
We recommend maintaining a 'hunched at the hips' standing position for at least 2 weeks, with most patients returning to their regular straightened posture within 2-3 weeks.
Generally, toilets are fairly low to the ground and we don't realize this until some part of our legs, pelvis or core is sore. After a tummy tuck, getting low enough to sit down on the toilet can be difficult and uncomfortable. A toilet seat booster may just be your new best friend.
As part of the recovery process, patients will need to hunch or bend over at the waist when walking for about a week after a tummy tuck. This is a temporary precaution, although an understandable concern of prospective patients.
Most women lose between 2 and 3 pants sizes after a tuck, but there are patients who lose even more. If you had a lot of loose skin before the procedure, for example, you could go down 4 more pants sizes.
The tummy tuck is very useful when exercise and diet have failed to tighten the abdominal muscles. However, a tummy tuck is not really designed to make you look “thinner.” Rather, the tummy tuck improves the muscle profile of the abdomen, which in turn can have the effect of making you look more fit and toned.
Because a tummy tuck is a more extensive surgery, patients need around 10 to 14 days to recover. The results are long-lasting, and the removed fat cells won't grow back—but remaining fat cells may expand and the skin may re-stretch if you gain a large amount of weight.
It will take several months for all the swelling and bruising to fade, so you won't see the final results for some time. Therefore, it's essential to be patient and wait for the body to heal. After most of the swelling fades in two or three months, you should begin to see a smoother, tighter belly.
A tummy tuck can result in a weight loss of approximately four pounds. If you opt for a mini truck, you can expect to lose around three pounds of excess skin and fat. If you opt for an extended tuck, you can expect to lose around five pounds of excess skin and fat.
Your tummy tuck will result in a flatter, firmer abdominal contour that is more proportionate with your body type and weight. Previous abdominal surgery may limit the potential results of a tummy tuck.
In general, there is more dissection involved with a tummy tuck than a cesarean section. In a c-section, there is an intraabdominal component to the operation and the fibrous tissue layer is cut. In abdominoplasty, the fibrous tissue layer is plicated (folded in or tucked) leading to tightness.
The tummy tuck removes this room from the breast bone to the pubic bone. As a result of being tightened and secured in place, the muscles are easily fatigued and sore. The soreness is like a massive boot camp for the muscles, but it is not intolerable.