Recovery time after surgery is usually between 10 days to 2 weeks. Most people are back to work by 2 weeks and back to full activity including exercise by 3 weeks.

Your abdomen is bandaged with abdominal gauze-pads, and the abdominal binder. Leave them on for 48 hours after your go home. Then, you can take the abdominal binder and all other dressings off and get in the shower.

You can take the yellow gauze out from the belly button. Leave your Steri-strips on for the shower. You can take the drains into the shower as well.

Useful Tips

These tips can help ensure that you feel more comfortable as you wait to see your final results.

1. After showering, pat dry all of your incisions and wrap your abdomen with the abdominal binder.
2. If there is drainage on the abdominal binder, place clean pieces of gauze on the incision line and wrap the abdominal binder over the gauze.
3. Absolutely no baths or swimming for 2-3 weeks. Showering is OK.
4. Empty and record your drain output daily. The markings are on the side of the drain bulb in increments of 25cc. The drains will be pulled out in the office when the total daily output is less than 30cc.
5. Call and make a follow-up appointment for 7 days following surgery.
6. Keep your abdominal binder on at all time for 3 weeks. Do not pick up objects greater than 5 pounds.
7. If the abdominal binder is too tight, you can rewrap it to a comfortable level, but the binder has to be situated over the lower abdomen and your hip area.
8. Do not apply a heating pad over your abdomen. Portions of your abdomen will be numb and you may get a burn from the heating pad.
9. Scar therapy for your incisions will start at 2 weeks following surgery. Your plastic surgeon will instruct you regarding scar creams.
10. Stay out of the sun. Sun exposure will make your scars red, raised, and persistently irritated for a long period of time. Make every effort to avoid the sun for up to 1 year following surgery. You can cover up the incision with sun screen or clothing.
11. Make every effort to walk around the house and sit in a chair starting on the day that you are home from surgery. Staying in bed for long periods of time can lead to blood clots in your legs or your lungs. Also, parts of your lung can collapse and cause fevers.

You may return to normal activity and exercise in 3 weeks following surgery.

You may feel a funny, tingling sensations over your abdomen a few weeks after surgery. This is normal recovery of some sensory nerves in your abdomen.

If you are constipated, take over-the-counter laxatives. You do not want to strain over the toilet. This will place pressures over the suture line which may result in loosening of the inner layer of sutures within the abdomen.

9 Things You Need to Know About Abdominoplasty

An abdominoplasty can help such individuals restore a thinner and fitter looking contour to their bodies. The tummy area is made smaller to better match the body of the patient.

The plastic surgeon accomplishes this by removing excess fat and skin in the abdominal area and tightening the underlying muscle tissues.

This not only helps to restore the physical appearance of the patient, but also restores self-confidence and respect to the patient.

1. What Should You Expect?

An abdominoplasty is a very individualized procedure in which your goals should be realistically determined and discussed with your plastic surgeon.

Together you will determine what specific procedures will be performed. An abdominoplasty is often performed in conjunction with other procedures such as liposuction so that the hips can be shaped to match the smaller tummy.

Once your goals have been determined you will set a date for this procedure and will be given instructions about how to prepare.

2. Types of Abdominoplasty

When the date for your abdominoplasty has arrived, you should plan on the surgery taking several hours or more depending on which procedures you are having performed.

Two procedures are available, the full abdominoplasty or the partial abdominoplasty for patients who only need to reduce the lower belly.

The physician will create an incision that runs along the lower waist line and then will remove excess fat and skin. The abdominal muscles will then be tightened and set into place.

3. Full vs. Partial Abdominoplasty

The full tummy tuck differs from the partial procedure in the extent of work done.

Generally, the partial procedure does not require the naval to separated from tissue below it while the full procedure does.

The full procedure has a greater effect in reducing the size of the abdomen, but recovery time for the partial procedure is usually shorter and results in a smaller scar.

4. Postoperative Effects

The abdominal area may experience some pain and swelling during the first few days following the procedure.

The plastic surgeon will likely advise you on other precautions to take following the surgery. Several weeks recovery time is usual and exercise will often help speed the recovery process after the initial recovery period.

All procedures are performed with anesthesia to minimize any discomfort or pain.

5. Where the Problem Starts

To get rid of this unwanted extra weight you will need to be determined and follow a healthy and restricted diet and to maximise the benefit (and for increased weight loss) you should ideally follow a fitness regime.

This will help you to metabolise fat cells that little bit quicker and certain exercises will help to tighten the muscles and give you firmer skin.

The problem is of course, once you have lost larger amounts of excess weight you will sometimes still be left with excess skin no matter how hard you exercise and this can be especially prominent on the tummy.

In these circumstances you may need to turn to cosmetic surgery to provide an answer.

6. When Is Abdominoplasty Recommended and Why?

Tummy tuck surgery or abdominoplasty, to give it its proper name, is a surgical procedure that removes excess skin on the abdomen and this can be the ideal solution once your newer healthy lifestyle has helped you shed those unwanted pounds.

You should of course only consider this surgery if you intend to continue with your new lifestyle so you can ensure the results are long lasting and of course the impact on your health in a positive sense can be monumental.

7. How an Abdominoplasty Is Done?

First of all, in order to ensure you receive the best of care with this and any other cosmetic surgery procedure you should research any prospective company and their surgeons carefully before opting for them.

The operation itself involves a general anaesthetic as the procedure is of course too complex to administer under a local anaesthetic and with the care of a trained and experienced anaesthetist the risks are much less.

Once you are under the anaesthetic an elliptical piece of skin will be removed between the pubic bone and the belly button. This takes care of the extra skin you will have been left with after dieting and any extra fat that may still reside in the area.

If necessary the surgeon will tighten the underlying muscles which may have been weakened by carrying the extra weight.

8. How Tummy Tuck Surgery Is Performed?

The skin from above the belly button is then pulled down and sutured in the area of the pubic bone giving the tummy a much tighter and youthful appearance.

A hole must the be made to accommodate the belly button which will of course need to be moved to keep things looking normal.

This will result in 2 scars, the lower of which will be concealed in the pubic region by most underwear.

9. Recovering After a Tummy Tuck

Once you have come round from the anaesthetic you will usually need to remain in the hospital for 2-4 days to allow your post operative recovery to be monitored and this is the standard of care you should expect when using a reputable surgeon.

You will of course be bandaged and there should also be drainage tubes at the incision sites to ensure any excess fluid can drain from the area.

These will be removed 1-2 days after the operation and should non-dissolvable sutures have been used you will need to return to the hospital approximately 10 days afterwards to have these removed.

In the end, if you are considering cosmetic surgery procedure, you should ensure you look for an accredited surgeon to ensure the quality of the procedure is of the highest standard.

For many, weight gain can be a difficult problem and there can be many reasons for this varying from the usual dietary cause to pregnancy.