![]() Many feel guilty for spending money on themselves or for not being able to meet the ever-present demands of family and work. Others worry about their final result or have anxiety around activity restrictions or sleep changes, Dr. ![]() “Some patients question, ‘Why did I do this to myself?’” adds Dr. Burns Jr., the first few days post-op can be marked by a mix of euphoria, fear, and exhaustion. In the early going, we should note, it’s normal to feel all the feelings. (While they can be tricky to get on and off, surgeons say most patients actually appreciate how supported they feel with them on.) For the first week after surgery, your doctor will want you sleeping on your back, your head elevated, and pillows propped under your knees, to reduce tension on your incision.Ĭonstipation is common, due to the limited activity, pain pills, and dehydration that come with recovery, but you can offset it by drinking plenty of water, walking as much as your surgeon suggests, upping your fiber intake, and taking a stool softener as prescribed. You’ll walk slightly hunched over (for about a week) and will be wearing surgical garments 24/7, shedding them only to shower, for the first six weeks post-op, notes Dr. Your incision will feel tight and numb in spots and will be covered in Steri-Strips and adhesive (these will gradually loosen and fall away over the course of several weeks). “You’ll be given a device called an incentive spirometer to prevent this and help expand your lungs after surgery.” “Low-grade fever is common due to the anesthesia,” says Dr. The injectable curbs pain for about 72 hours, which means you may actually have less discomfort on day one than you do on day three. Umbareen Mahmood, a New York City board-certified plastic surgeon. “This significantly helps to reduce the initial discomfort that patients ordinarily feel after surgery when the effects of the general anesthesia wear off,” explains Dr. Many surgeons inject a long-acting anesthetic called Exparel into the abdominal wall during surgery. “There’s some pain at the incision and liposuction sites as well as abdominal tightness from the garments and rectus plication ,” notes Dr. Your abdomen will be moderately tender, swollen, and possibly bruised. Camille Cash, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Houston. It’s important to walk on day one, adds Dr. “Most patients sleep a lot.” Once the grogginess fades, you should feel well enough to tackle basic self-care tasks (including emptying drains) and take short, supervised walks, which “help to reduce swelling, avoid constipation, and lower the chance of developing blood clots and/or pneumonia,” says Dr. Burns Jr., a board-certified plastic surgeon in Dallas. “Day one is generally a blur as the anesthesia wears off,” says Dr. Lean on whomever you’ve enlisted for support during this time, as you’ll need help getting in and out of bed, putting on and taking off compression garments, washing your hair, and managing medications and meals. On the heels of major abdominal surgery, you can expect to feel sluggish, sore, and somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer task of caring for your healing body. We asked top plastic surgeons what to expect-and watch out for-in the days to weeks following a tummy tuck, so you’ll know, without question, what’s normal and what’s not. While every surgeon’s aftercare roadmap is a little different-and you should always follow your doctor’s individualized guidance-certain tummy tuck mile markers are fairly standard. But complications can happen-and your radar should be tuned to detect them. ![]() Amid the countless bullet points, you’ll likely see a section on red flags-the not-so-normal stuff that no one likes to think about. When we find ourselves in the unfamiliar territory of recovery, one thing is clear: nothing beats boring and predictable.įollowing a tummy tuck, you’ll be inundated with instructions for tending to your incisions, dealing with your drains, scheduling your medications, and so much more. On our own site, you’ll find the question posed in relation to every imaginable cosmetic procedure and aesthetics scenario. Is this normal? The phrase turns up more than 8 million hits on Google, related to everything from puberty to parenting to plastic surgery.
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