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However, noticeable swelling will remain through the second week, as you are still healing. Moving around will be much easier for you. You will be able to stop taking narcotics and switch to over-the-counter pain relief medications. Here is a video of one of patients 3 days post AbdominoplastyĪ post shared by Charles Slack, Plastic Surgeon on at 2:34pm PSTĪfter the first few days to a week, your pain should decrease.
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Because you will have pain and possibly be taking narcotic medications, it is important to have someone available to assist you as you get up and down from your bed or chair and move around your home.
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While it is difficult, due to pain, to get in and out of bed or a recliner, most patients say that once they get up they can walk around fairly well, even if they bent over a bit. This, in addition to getting up to go to the bathroom and doing specific leg exercises while in bed will lower your risk for blood clots. This does not mean walking around the block or running a marathon but simply making yourself get out of bed 2-3 times a day to walk around inside your house. One important way to help minimize the risk of blood clot formation is to get up and move after surgery. This is due to the length of surgery and the decreased mobility during recovery. The development of blood clots is a concerning risk after many surgeries, including tummy tuck. The hospital or surgery center will charge for using Exparel, but the benefits in initial comfort are well worth the additional cost. It’s effects typically last 2-3 days after surgery and is now used by Dr. A new, long-acting medication called Exparel can be injected into the surgical site as well to numb the area. Slack will prescribe a combination of narcotics and muscle relaxers. During this first week when the pain is most severe, Dr. You will spend much of this time reclining – often even sleeping in a recliner. The first three to five days are the most difficult period of tummy tuck recovery. You will want to clarify this when choosing who will perform your tummy tuck. Slack does not use drains, but some plastic surgeons do. Without the progressive tension sutures, drains must be placed to remove this fluid accumulation. Seromas result when fluid accumulates between the abdominal wall and the skin. Progressive tension sutures also help prevent seromas from forming. This takes tension off the incision line which helps decrease pain and increase your ability to move around.
#Swelling week by week tummy tuck recovery skin#
Slack uses progressive tension sutures, which distribute the tension across a much broader area by sewing the skin down in multiple places to the abdominal wall. This is an exceedingly rare complication, but it’s an important reminder not too push too hard too soon. Too much pulling or stretching from trying to force youself to stand straight up or lay flat could cause your incision to open up. There are multiple layers of sutures in place under your skin that hold the incision together. Most patients walk slightly bent over for the first few days due to this tight feeling. Immediately after surgery, your tummy will feel tight. It’s true that everyone is different, but this will give you an idea of an average recovery. You are well on your way after your tummy tuck, but you’ve just had major surgery and your focus for the short term needs to be on healing, not crunching.īelow is a week-by-week rundown of what you can expect after abdominoplasty, aka tummy tuck surgery. Ready for that six pack? Well slow down just a minute.