Arrange for childcar and stay close to your babies by snuggling with them on the couch. Doing so stresses your incisions and can lead to internal bleeding or poor scarring. But you must not lift or carry anything heavy for 6 weeks after a tummy tuck.

Pick up & carry my kids? If you’re a mom, this is a biggy.

For most patients, 2 weeks is a reasonable timeframe.

Drive my car? You need to be off pain meds and able to wear a seat belt comfortably before driving.

Go back to work? If you have a desk job, take 2 weeks off minimum. Do not return to physical work that requires you to use your abdominal muscles for 6 weeks.

Take your time and move about slowly, but do move about.

Get out of bed/get to the bathroom without help? You’ll need assistance as you move from lying to sitting to standing (and vice versa) for 3 to 5 days.Don’t be scared-drains are simple to maintain and will help you feel much better and heal faster by taking pressure off of your healing tissues. Clark may place drains at your incision site to collect fluid during the first week after surgery. Clark uses surgical techniques designed to minimize post-op pain and swelling, you may experience considerable discomfort, which maxes out about 3 to 5 days after surgery and then starts to subside more and more each day. You’ll be slow, but get up frequently (with help!) to take short walks around the house.ĭr. The first few days are not going to be a picnic. Although Dr. Here’s the scoop: How will I feel after a tummy tuck? But ask any of our many satisfied tummy tuck patients, and they’ll tell the recovery is totally worth it. a desk job). Physical work, lifting and carrying are off-limits for about 4 to 6 weeks-this will require some extra planning on your part if you have small kids. Expect about 2 weeks away from light activity (i.e. A tummy tuck can make dramatic improvements to your abdominal shape and size (not to mention your self-confidence), but with these benefits comes a slightly longer recovery period than other procedures.

Week by week tummy tuck recovery