Tummy Tuck Preparation, Recovery & Aftercare

Tummy Tuck Aftercare

I have been in the practice of cosmetic plastic surgery for over two decades. In that time, I have gotten to know countless patients and helped to guide them on the proper path if they are considering cosmetic plastic surgery. Below are what I consider the best tips for aftercare following a tummy tuck.

Want to speed up recovery? Be healthy, I can’t stress that enough. A patient at an appropriate height and weight will not only have a more gratifying result but often a much safer and easier recovery.

Each year, especially before the summer and school vacation I see many patients who want surgery within a week or two. While I would love to accommodate, our spots before all holidays go before other times, often a few months ahead.

If you are thinking of school breaks or holidays, please plan well ahead. Often people consider surgery just before the warm weather of the Summer. If you want to be ready for Spring or Summer try to plan your surgery 4-6 months ahead of this time, so you can be ready for the warm weather but not be recovering during it.

So much of what we think about cosmetic surgery is put forth and sensationalized by the media. It has led many patients to fad diets that have failed, exercises that don’t fix muscle separation and bad liposuctions.

I often have to walk my patients back from fictitious “facts” they have gleaned from the internet.  It is not uncommon for me to tell patients things they had not considered. It is my hope though that when they leave my consultation, the concepts make intuitive sense.

The process of a tummy tuck is a shared process. The person taking care of you after surgery will need a lot of information and it is unfair to spring all that on them on the day of your surgery. If the person who takes you to and from surgery, and cares for you after surgery, is involved from the get-go, your experience is often easier, and more importantly, safer.

Many patients want to “beat the surgery” and show me how terrific and active they can be early on—don’t do this.  Even if you are having an easy and perfect recovery, your body needs the time to heal correctly with common sense activities under my supervision. Patients who give themselves appropriate healing time in the beginning actually recover faster and better in the end. As you consider your surgery, be sure you can take enough time off.

Almost every day, I get an email from a patient with a list of lotions and potions, or gizmos and gadgets, asking if they should purchase anything to hasten or improve their recovery. There is no end to post-surgical paraphernalia that some websites want to sell you.

In my opinion, your best items will be pillows, perhaps an old recliner, and a caring significant other. I don’t object to most scar lotions and silicone strips, but it is clear to me that simple scar massage and your genetics are the most important factors in your healing.

If you have a recliner that’s a great chair to recover in because it keeps you bent in the middle. But I don’t recommend spending a fortune to buy or rent one because some pillows under the knees and behind the back while in bed will do the same thing.

This is perhaps the most important point. As a plastic surgeon, I cannot make you thin. Only you can do that through a healthy diet and exercise. I like to tell my patients I can get rid of loose skin and fat, change contour and make them more streamlined. It is an honest and realistic distinction and I hope it makes sense to you as well.

Blogs, social media, and more will talk about a wide variety of things you must have at home after your surgery to be successful. Too many of these things are just unnecessary. As I have already alluded to, the most important thing is to have a caring and compassionate caregiver for the first few days. Someone who can be there on the morning of surgery, someone who can listen to the instructions and follow them with you as you recover.

Having sheets on your bed that you don’t care about is a good idea as there may be some oozing. While our staff provides some dressings to take home you may have a few extra gauze pads around just in case. Do not sleep or wear anything you value. Hibernate in an area of your home that’s easy to get around in and near a bathroom. You don’t want to be going up and down the stairs five times on post-op day one.

Keep a record and log of your medications it’s common for people to forget what they’ve taken .This should be your caregivers job as well. If your surgeon places drains he or she will likely want a record of the drainage as well.

You will want to stay well hydrated after surgery. I’m a big fan of Gatorade as it has lots of electrolytes. It’s OK to have the Gatorade that’s not sugar free. You need the calories to help your body heal. Eat common sense things that are light. Things that are not greasy, things that are not spicy. Think tea and toast and the kind of food your mother would have given you if you had a cold or flu.

Narcotics can be constipating. Start a stool softener before your surgery and continue it postoperatively. If you’re prone to constipation discuss Exparel with your surgeon. This is a long-acting local anesthetic that I find helpful in diminishing the need for narcotics.

Scar Lotions

The internet is abound with lotions and potions for scar treatment. Personally, I recommend starting scar treatment at the third week, once the wounds have really had a chance to heal. You don’t want lotions or potions entering fresh incisions.

We recommend things like cocoa butter, vitamin E or bio-oil. I believe that massage is the thing that helps the most to soften scars. Mederma is relatively inexpensive and is available at most drug stores, and it at least has some reasonable science behind it.

The internet promotes silicone strips but the only ones that make sense to me at all are Embrace strips because they actually put some pressure on the incision. Pressure has been shown to help scars remodel more quickly. Ultimately time and genetics will determine your scars.