Post Operative Instructions for Tummy Tuck

Hi, I'm Dr. Erica Anderson and I'm the body plastic surgeon here at the Nadiri Center. And this video is going to help you get through your tummy tuck. It's not easy, but it will be well worth the result. So you're waking up from surgery and you are in the recovery area, ready to head home. I just want to give you an idea of what I put on after surgery. So on your incision there's going to be a brown tape along the entire incision and that covers the incision and helps protect it in the early healing. Over top of the incision is a nice waterproof protective layer that then helps so that you can shower without having to worry about dressing changes. So there's no care that's required to any of your incisions. You are covered until I see you for one week. Post op. The majority of my tummy tucks are drain free tummy tucks. I try to minimize the use of the drain, but if you, if you do need the drain, and these are in cases where there's a lot of liposuction, this is an example of a Blake drain that I use for surgery. There's a separate video to show you how to take care of this. But just so you know this, you might be waking up with one or two of these and the nurses will show you how to empty and record how much output is in that. The other thing that you'll wake up with is your compressive garment. So this is a nice compression garment. Zippers on the sides for easy on and off. With the hook and eye closure, your caregiver can help get you in and out of that as needed and just keep that in place. It will help you a lot in your post op recovery. It is crotchless so that you don't have to take it on and off to go to the bathroom. So that's sort of what you'll have on when you leave the hospital and leave the surgery center. You need your pain medications. Take your pain medication as needed so it's uncomfortable in the first few days. But typically I will use a long acting pain medication so some of that pain is relieved with that medication. That medication lasts up to 12 hours, so you may notice the first night the pain is better and then when you wake up the next morning it might seem more severe. Just start taking your pain medication as you need then and let me know if it's not. It will make the pain completely go away, but it should make it much more tolerable. Let us know Here in the office. If for some reason you're not getting any pain relief and we can work with you to get that improved. If you're nauseated, use your anti nausea medication since you're on a narcotic and that you'll need that narcotic. Start right away with a bowel program to make sure you don't get constipation. So I would recommend a Miralax or a Pericolase. A stool softener is not enough with narcotics, you need something to counteract that narcotics. You do need more of a laxative based product. Those are over the counter and available at your local pharmacy. Feel free to ask me or ask a pharmacist for help with your bowel regimen. After a tummy tuck you're really free to eat what you like. I would start out with a light diet, but soon as you feel like you're not going to be nauseated or have any trouble with vomiting, you could start eating a regular diet. Most of my patients do tell me though that they feel that they can't eat a full meal and that's okay. Just make sure you get some nutrition in likely smaller meals throughout the day to keep your blood sugar okay and to help with that healing. Protein is very good in the early post operative phase. For the for the healing benefits of having extra protein on board because you have a long incision that you're trying to recover from. As far as activity, you can get up and walk around. There is no need for you to walk hunched over. Okay? The the repair is is intact that you can't stand straight up and break everything apart. So do not walk hunched over because all you're going to end up with is a painful back. So walk upright when you're laying on the couch or laying in the recliner or laying in bed. Having your feet elevated or the a break in your hips will help to take the discomfort off that midline. So you can have pillows behind you and then also pillows under your legs to really help help take the pressure off the tummy tuck and off the the muscle repair which has been done. When you're picking up your children, make sure you're picking them up from the seated position as opposed to hunching all the way over and pulling them up. Understanding of course if you need to take a child out of a crib, that's totally reasonable, but this is why I asked you to have extra people around so that you wouldn't have to do that. So minimize that sort of activity and really just protect the repair and protect your your investment. You can shower as you like. The garment can be removed easily and then feel free to take a shower. Keep your dressings in place. Make sure if you do have a drain that you keep that somewhere safe in the shower so it doesn't inadvertently fall out and get pulled out, because they have been known to get pulled out. But keep that safe somewhere close. And then take your shower. You do not have to take a shower the next day. And the first shower you do take, have somebody around because you can feel pretty light headed with the garment off and with that first shower. So make sure there's somebody around to help take care of you. And that early bit the pain gets better in about three to five days. For some people, it can last a little bit longer. The swelling takes up to three months to go down. You're not going to see your result for a while, but be patient, eat well, get plenty of rest, move around, prevent those complications by not staying in bed and I'll see you at your first postoperative visit. Usually it's about one week after surgery. In the meantime, should you have any questions or any concerns about your dressing or your drains, feel free to give us a call.