5 Things to *Actually* Expect Post Tummy Tuck!


These are pictures of MY belly!
1) You might not be flat.

This is the biggest surprise for many women, and there is a lot of confusion over if a repair has failed. While repairs can certainly fail, this concern can occur because of unrealistic expectations. 

Here is what you can expect:
  • Swelling can last over a year.
  • Bloating will occur since you are a human that eats and drinks. We often forget that this happened before we had kids, and you can expect it to happen after surgery, too! It is also important to note that the area where you bloat the most may move to a different spot after surgery, often higher up on the belly.
  • Our changing hormones, as we hit late 30s and beyond, can also impact how our bellies look in a number of ways.

2) You will not look “perfect.”

Depending on how your surgery was done, you’ll probably have some stretch marks left; but they might be in a different spot.

Your belly button will be drastically changed. Maybe the doctor had to make you a new one, alter your old one, or maybe you lost it all together; but in any case you’ll have to adjust to a different look.

You will have a new scar, and it might be pretty big depending on how the surgery is done. And while it was probably very clear from the beginning how big it would be, sometimes it is still very hard to adjust to it once it is on your own body. 

Again, you are trading certain things for other things. These are different but not necessarily better or worse. Some changes you might be very excited about, while others might have a long adjustment period.




3) You might not feel more connected to your core.

Women can feel disconnected from their core postpartum. However, getting this surgery may leave you feeling even more disconnected as you deal with numbness and pain. 

Additionally, your rectus will be in yet another new spot; so, this surgery isn’t a “quick fix.” You’ll need to spend some time intentionally reconnecting to that area post-surgery. Doing this with your diastasis before surgery can help you feel better before surgery and set you up for the recovery process as well.



4) This might not solve all of your pain/symptoms. 

You may acquire new aches and pains & the old ones might stick around.

You may hear lots of women say this surgery cured their prolapse symptoms, back pain, and other issues. While that might have been true for them, it may not be true for you. There isn’t a proven direct link to any of those things. 

The biggest factor in finding a solution to any of these issues is getting QUALITY care before and after surgery.

For example, back pain can be one reason women are anxious to get an abdominoplasty. Some women find relief after surgery; yet, others find the back pain stays the same or even gets worse. You also might be trading back pain for stomach pain. 

This gets messy as Diastasis Recti is often linked to back pain. However, there is a lot more, even with Diastasis, that you can do to strengthen your core and improve pain and symptoms before surgery. Again, you just have to find the right help (someone trained in more progressive approaches to DRA).  The same goes for prolapse symptoms, incontinence, and other symptoms you've been experiencing as well. 

I want you to be empowered and able to exhaust all of your options before getting a tummy tuck. 



5) Recovery will take longer than 4-8 weeks. 

A more realistic timeline is 6 months - 1 year. 

The only guidance given is to slowly resume exercises after 6 weeks, 12 weeks, or whenever you get “clearance” from your surgeon. 

It is easy to feel overwhelmed during this time especially if you aren’t feeling that great yet. You may look around at other women who had surgery and seem to be struggling a lot less. Or you might be feeling pretty good, so it will be tempting to over do it. It is important to know that every woman will experience recovery drastically differently. 

This is when the gap in post surgery care becomes very apparent for women that want to get back to any type of fitness; it can become very confusing and overwhelming. 




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