How To Ensure Complete Recovery After Tummy Tuck

After your tummy surgery surgery, the recovery is as important as your preparations before the surgery. As tummy tuck is considered a major surgery, you should expect to feel rather weak for several weeks post-op. It usually takes at least eight full weeks to recover your normal energy and stamina. Do not be surprised if you experience some depression for a few days after surgery. It’s a common reaction and it will pass as you regain your strength.

You should be mentally prepared for some serious discomforts following your tummy tuck surgery. You will need to remain in a sitting position the first two to four days. In other words, even when you lie down or stand up, your knees must remain bent at all times. If you straighten up, you’ll rip out your stitches! As the first couple of weeks are really tough, it is recommended that take some prescribed pain medication during this period and sometimes even a little longer.

As most of your skin has been rolled down and repositioned so tightly, you will not be physically able to stand up straight for about two weeks after the tummy tuck surgery. In this case, you should not attempt to justify up too soon and cause more discomfort to yourself. Many patients develop temporary lower-back problems as a result of having to stay bent all this time, but the back problems usually clear up once they’re walking normally again. You can also try low-back exercises but only after six weeks post-op and with your doctor’s permission.

Another temporary problem that often develops after tummy tuck is a sloughing of the skin in the area. This condition clears up as the area begins to calm down through more progressing healing, usually after the fourth week post-op. In actual fact, you will be able to see some skin sloughing around most all surgical incision lines, either they have been dropped tight or not. It all goes away.

You should not become too depressed if the abdominal scar looks thick and puffy. The scar will flatten in 6 to 12 months and many people choose to have a little liposuction to reduce any remaining fullness around the healed incision. Sometimes, an unacceptable scar will remain and you may wish to have a scar revision at a later date. Scar revision surgery is reasonably uncomplicated and an experienced surgeon will be able to accomplish major improvements with this procedure.

If you are dieting, do not start any extreme programs until at least three weeks after your tummy tuck surgery. For proper healing purposes, you need to maintain a healthy and balanced diet for the first few weeks following your surgery. In addition, you can usually return to work (depending on the amount and severity of the surgery) 3 to 4 weeks after your tummy tuck procedure .

It is important that you take good care of yourself during the post-surgery period, to ensure a smooth and complete recovery following the tummy tuck surgery .