Recovery from a tummy tuck

Make no mistake: having a tummy tuck is major surgery, and your recovery can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to months.

The medical term for a tummy tuck is abdominoplasty. The purpose of a tummy tuck is to tighten the walls and muscles of the abdomen. It does a great job of minimizing a protruding stomach, but it’s not always easy. Some possible side effects after a tummy tuck include scarring, infection, or a long recovery period.

Some people think that a tummy tuck is a silver bullet to help them lose a substantial amount of weight, but this is not true. In fact, a good surgeon will generally refuse to perform this surgery on a very obese person. There are too many risks, both with surgery and anesthesia, for a surgeon to consider a tummy tuck in an obese person. An obese person who undergoes a tummy tuck is very likely to have a long recovery period due to major complications after surgery.

A woman who is planning to become pregnant, or who has in fact had a recent pregnancy, should definitely not have a tummy tuck. Pregnancy puts a lot of pressure on the abdominal wall, and the tummy tuck scare may not be able to take the strain. After a woman has become pregnant, her body needs time to recover, and it is important to take advantage of that time, rather than putting more pressure on her body and system with major surgery.

Tummy tuck surgery is a major surgical procedure, so there are always potential post-operative problems that can occur. These may include wound infection, blood clots, or chest infections. Some people also have skin that takes a long time to heal, which could mean they need to stay in hospital much longer than planned and will have a much longer recovery period.

It is also not recommended that people who have previously had abdominal surgery undergo a tummy tuck, especially if some scars remain from the previous surgery. The risk of compromising recovery from abdominoplasty would be greatly increased.

One important thing to keep in mind is that it is important to get out of bed and move about as soon as you can after having a tummy tuck. This helps promote wound healing and will speed up recovery time. Staying in bed after major surgery is actually one of the worst things you can choose to do.