It takes about 48 hours for an incision to close completely, so it is recommended that you wait at least 48 hours before showering. Showering too soon after surgery can cause your incision to re-open, inhibit the healing process, cause complications like infection, or worsen your surgical scars.
Use a mild soap and keep your shower on a gentle setting. Avoid applying soap directly to the incisions until they are sealed. Air dry. Avoid toweling the incision area to prevent reopening the wound.
The doctor recommends you wait 36 hours after your surgery to take your first shower. It is very important that you have a family member or friend there with you when you take your first shower, in case you feel dizzy or weak.
I recommend that patients clean their umbilicus, or belly button, using hydrogen peroxide, it works well to loosen dried blood and drainage, which if left in place can contribute to inflammation in that area.
When Can I Lie Flat? One factor determining how long you'll need to sleep in an elevated position is the type of abdominoplasty you receive. Generally, mini tummy tuck patients require 1-3 weeks of elevated sleeping, while full-tummy tuck patients require 4-6 weeks.
In the first week after tummy tuck surgery, Dr. Patronella recommends patients take short walks of 10 minutes, gradually increasing this to one mile, twice daily by days 10 to 14 days after the procedure.
We suggest scar massage many times throughout the day for 5-10 minutes each session. It is important to strictly follow your post-operative tummy tuck instructions. We encourage you to walk around immediately in the post- operative period.
Answer: Tapes on too long. At three weeks after the tummy tuck, the fact that there is still tape on the incision is most likely the cause of the odor.
A belly button shaper is not required after a tummy tuck procedure as the area can not close assuming no healing issues develop.
How Your Belly Button Will Look After a Tummy Tuck. Your belly button will look completely natural by the time you've healed from your abdominoplasty (usually within three to four months). You may notice your belly button growing smaller over the course of several weeks, which is a sign that you're properly healing.
Stay Out of the Bathtub
You may shower 48 hours after surgery, but do not soak in a bathtub, hot tub, or pool. Soaking your wounds in water can expose them to bacteria and cause infection. You should not take baths for at least two weeks after surgery.
Avoid Bathing or Soaking
The water can cause an infection which could lead to your tummy tuck scars forming poorly or asymmetrically. You may need to avoid soaking your wounds for up to 6 weeks.
Answer: Showering After Tummy Tuck
Following a tummy tuck, I have my patients wait until after their drain tubes are removed to begin showering fully. This is usually between 5 and 10 days . During that time, sponge baths are allowed. In general, a surgical incisional wound is sealed by 48 hours after surgery.
After 48 hours, surgical wounds can get wet without increasing the risk of infection. After this time, you can get your stitches wet briefly with a light spray (such as in the shower), but they should not be soaked (for example, in the bath). Make sure you pat the area dry afterwards.
Some restrictions right after a tummy tuck include; No Heavy lifting at all during your recovery. Avoid strenuous physical activities, swimming and driving until your surgeon gives you the green light. Stay home and get rest for 2-3 weeks.
Answer: Personal hygiene 2 weeks after tummy tuck
You should be able to care for yourself by now if your mommy make-over was a tummy tuck + breast surgery.
Answer: Stretched Belly Button after a Tummy Tuck
Yes, a vertically stretched belly button oftentimes indicates that a person has had a tummy tuck. The two last photos show lower abdominal scars as well.
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.
Answer: Keeping the navel open after a tummy tuck
Non healing wound: Use a Q-tip dipped in hydrogen peroxide to clean the wound twice a day. Then wrap a small marble coated with antibiotic ointment in the belly button. This is to prevent the belly button from closing up as it heals.
A tummy tuck doesn't include a pubic lift because it focuses on contouring the belly region, tightening the skin and muscles in your midsection. In some cases, the general trimming and contouring of your midsection can improve your pubic region's general appearance, though that isn't intentional.
During body contouring procedures like a tummy tuck, fat cells are eliminated from the body and cannot return. Because of this, patients may gain weight in other places like the buttocks, legs, arms, and breasts.
This area is rich with blood vessels and lymphatic vessels (the body's drainage system), but abdominoplasty surgery will impair the regular functions of these systems, slowing down the drainage and resulting in a fluid buildup, or swelling.
Answer: Lymphatic massage is not a necessity at all
Lymphatic massage is not required after tummy tuck. You did not miss out on anything. It had no impact on scar or the final result.
Thinned out muscles and their lining causes this muffin top deformity in some patients. This occurs following muscle tightening if the increased tension makes the muscle and lining stretch out again. The medical terminology for thinned out muscles is muscle attenuation.
At around 7-10 weeks after your tummy tuck procedure, you should be cleared to ease into your normal exercise routine. You can begin doing crunches, sit ups, and planks, as long as you progressively increase your repetitions.