Tummy Tuck Recovery Timeline Week by Week
Surgery Guide:
To download a full surgery guide please visit: naiduplasticsurgery.com/guides/
For more information, please call our office at (212) 452-1230 or visit our tummy tuck page.
Immediately after surgery:
Patients awaken in the operating room and are immediately transferred to the recovery room for observation.
Patients are observed for 1-2 hours prior to discharge home with a responsible adult:
- blood pressure and heart rate are stable
- not experiencing severe pain
- able to tolerate food and water
- abdominal garment is placed for support
When you arrive home:
Take a nap for 2-3 hours.
Eat something solid, take pain medication if needed. Drains should be emptied and amount recorded twice daily.
Be sure to stay flexed at the waist for first 5-7 days after surgery to reduce tension on incision.
Continue wearing garment.
The day after surgery:
Continue to record drainage.
Walking is permitted, but avoid heavy lifting, exercise, sexual activity.
Leave all dressings in place, including Steri-strips and Brijjit devices if these have been placed.
Two days after surgery:
Return to the office for an initial visit. Drains are removed and lymphatic drainage is performed.
Limit strenuous activity. Continue to wear garment during this period to prevent recurrence of fluid under the skin.
Showering is permitted but soaks in tub should be avoided.
10-14 days after surgery:
Return to the office to have Steri-strips and Brijjit devices removed. Sutures are trimmed or removed and incisions are checked to ensure healing.
You may resume taking all medications, including anti-inflammatory medication such as Advil or Aleve.
Start using scar balm on all incisions.
Continue use of compression garment for a total of 2 weeks.
Six weeks after surgery:
Swelling will be minimal.
No limitations on activity.
All garment use permitted.
Lymphatic drainage sessions are completed.
3 months after surgery:
Return to office for evaluation.
Finals results may be seen at this time but scars will continue to improve.
6 months after surgery:
Return to the office for a final visit.
All swelling should have resolved. Numbness of the abdomen should be resolving although the central aspect will take longest to return.
Tummy Tuck Before & After Photos
Video Transcript: Breast Reduction Recovery Timeline Week to Week
Hi, this is Dr. Naidu. Today we’re going to review recovery after abdominoplasty or tummy tuck surgery.
Immediately after surgery, as with all other surgeries, you will awaken in the operating room, although you won’t remember that part of it. And we make sure that you’re able to breathe on your own before we transfer you to the recovery room for additional observation. We generally will watch patients for one to two hours before discharge. And during this period of time, we’re looking at your blood pressure and your heart rate to make sure that they’re stable. We’d like to make sure that you’re not experiencing any severe pain. mild to moderate pain is normal after a tummy tuck, but you should not be in severe pain. We’d like to see that you’re able to tolerate food and water before you go, and we’ll place an abdominal garment on you for support. When you arrive home, I recommend that you take a nap for two to three hours. During this period of time, most of the narcotic that you’ve been given during surgery and immediately after surgery will start to dissipate. So by the time you wake up, you should not have any nausea. Eat something solid, take pain medication if needed, and empty your drains. We’ll show you how to do that before you leave the surgical center. Be sure to keep your waist in a flexed position for the first five to seven days, so this will reduce tension on your incision and will also be more comfortable. Continue wearing your surgical garment.
The day after surgery, we’d like you to continue to record all of the drainage from your drains. You’re allowed to walk, but you should avoid any heavy lifting, exercise, or sexual activity for up to six weeks after surgery. Weave all of your dressings in place, including your stair strips and your Bridget devices if these are placed. Brijjit devices are small plastic bridges which help to take tension off your incisions.
Four days after surgery I like to see my patients back in the office. At that time usually we can remove your drains and we perform some lymphatic drainage to help bring down your swelling. We still recommend that you limit your strenuous activity at that time. Continue to wear your garment during this period and that will hopefully prevent the recurrence of any fluid underneath the skin once the drains have been removed. I do let patients shower at this point but I recommend that you avoid any soaks in the tub.
10 to 14 days after surgery we have you come back to the office. We take off your Steri-Strips and your Brijjit devices. Any of the sutures that need to be trimmed will be done at this time, and the incision notes are checked to make sure that they’re healing. I generally will have patients start a scar problem on their incisions at this time. You can start taking all of your medications, including anti-inflammatory medications such as a leave or Advil, and I recommend that you continue use of your compression garment for a total of two weeks after surgery.
Six weeks after surgery, we see our patients back again in the office. At this point, you should have minimal swelling. They’ll still be a little bit in the lower abdomen, but it should be much less than it was before. I let patients get back to all of their activity at this point, including abdominal exercises. You can use any garment you’d like at this point. And by then, all of our lymphatic drainage sessions will be complete. We usually do these once a week for six weeks after surgery.
Three months after surgery, you come back to the office for an evaluation, and you’ll start to see your final results, but your scars will continue to improve.
So six months after surgery, we see patients for a final visit, at which point we also take post-operative photographs. All of your swelling should have resolved at this point. You will still have some numbness of the abdomen, which is quite usual. That’s very typical, but it will start to resolve and it typically will resolve from the sides towards the central aspect. So many patients will say that their belly button gets the sensation back at the latest aspect.
For more information, please visit my website, 90plasticsurgery.com slash guides. You can also give us a call at 1-212-452-1230.