What activities can I do after my tummy tuck?
Hi I’m doctor Dan Shapiro I’m certified by the American Board of plastic surgery and I’ve been practicing plastic surgery in the Scottsdale Paradise Valley area since 1992 and I only perform cosmetic surgery or aesthetic surgery.
Patients come in and have body contouring surgery with me and you know people are busy and very active here in Scottsdale Arizona. Commonly I need to communicate with people what activity is like after a tummy tuck or abdominoplasty. I think that’s really very important because we don’t want to undo anything that we have done. I think that’s a time commitment for a patient as well as a financial expenditure. So you want everything to go well. I think that you really need to follow some kind of protocol to make sure that heal well after a tummy tuck within the first week or so.
Some patients after tummy tuck have some drains in that I put in or pain pumps that i use in my tummy tucks to really alleviate any discomfort. Those drains and the pain pump catheters kind of tie you up a little bit. So you’re really not doing too much for the first week. Though after the first week to 10 days those tubes come out the drains will come out and I think that’s really emancipating for people. I think they can start becoming more active. I’ve had patients start resuming walking and very very low impact kind of exercise. The main thing that I really want to look out for after a tummy tuck is allowing the internal sutures to kind of settle and perform what they’re supposed to do. That’s continue tightening the abdomen there so we really don’t want to do anything that would undo those sutures. For the first week first six weeks or so we really don’t like anybody doing some heavy exercise that would increase any tension on the core or the the main central muscles of the body. I think for the first six weeks or so we tend not to like to have anybody do any any sit-ups, not that you’ll have to afterwards, or do any heavy lifting that increases central pressure. Examples would be maybe leg presses we don’t people want people are doing these things. We don’t want people doing any very heavy aerobic exercise that would cause tightening in the abdomen. Al least until things to settle down and allow things to heal well.
I find that the results really are lasting and the complications are really close to zero, if we follow this kind of protocol. If you have any questions regards to activity after tummy tuck the best thing to do is go over that with your plastic surgeon. Thank you.
