How Long After Tummy Tuck Can I Shower?
It takes about 48 hours for an incision to close completely, so it is recommended that you wait at least 48 hours before showering. Showering too soon after surgery can cause your incision to re-open, inhibit the healing process, cause complications like infection, or worsen your surgical scars.
It is recommended that the incision site be kept dry for at least 48 hours following surgery. The sutures won’t loosen as soon and the incision won’t become contaminated with water.
It might be difficult to get trustworthy information on questions like “How long after tummy tuck can I shower?”
How Long After Tummy Tuck Can I Shower
Tummy tucks, a kind of cosmetic surgery that helps get rid of excess skin and fat from the stomach area while also tightening the abdominal muscles, are becoming more popular.
With an increasing number of people choosing surgical treatments to improve their abdominal looks, it is vital to know how to properly care for your incision and abdomen right after surgery.
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What You Can Expect Immediately Post-Op
Putting on dressings or bandages to patch up any wounds after surgery is common procedure. You’ll wear a girdle-like compression garment to reduce swelling, prevent blood clots, and give your midsection some much-needed support while it heals and flattens down. The only time you should remove your abdominal binder is when you’re taking a bath. Your surgeon will tell you whether you can remove it after four to six weeks. 2
Extra blood or fluid may have required the insertion of tiny, thin tubes (drains) into your wound. Surgeons often ask for them to be replaced three times a day and the discharge volume recorded.
Showering and Bathing
Unless you have drains, most doctors will let you take a shower following surgery as soon as the first day has passed. If so, sponge baths may be your only option until they can be eliminated. If your doctor says it’s okay, you may take a shower and remove your dressings, but leave the skin tapes (sometimes called steri-strips) on your incisions. The steri-strips are somewhat impervious to moisture after being adhered to the skin using a skin adhesive. Use a clean towel to pat them dry after a bath or shower. Sterile strips should not be removed since they will come off naturally. Care for your incision as directed by your doctor (often simply soap and water) and keep the area covered with gauze dressings for one week.
Pain and Getting Around
One possible side effect of surgery is temporary hunching when standing. Stay away from the area around your incision if you don’t want it to reopen from strain. As you heal and go back to exercising your ab muscles, the pain will gradually decrease.
First Shower After Breast Lift
You should cut down on your showering after cosmetic surgery. As the sutures are being placed, you should avoid water as much as possible and take shorter showers. Combining these precautions with the ones already discussed might save you from calamity.
Please keep in mind that although taking a shower is OK throughout the healing process, soaking in a tub is not. Similar to going for a swim, taking a bath exposes incisions to water, which may increase the likelihood of bacterial infection, wound reopening, and other unfavorable effects.
Our plastic surgeons see each patient individually, and they take the time to provide tailored instructions for a speedy and trouble-free recovery.
You should follow these steps when you’re ready to resume your bathing routine:
Cool down if the temperature starts to rise. How the presence of water during the healing process of wounds may enhance the likelihood of inflammation and cause irritation.
Dressings, drains, and clips should be kept dry. The efficacy of your dressing, drainage, and clips will be preserved for as long as possible if you place them in a plastic bag and seal them before taking a shower.
Be gentle while washing. The shower should be kept on a low setting, and light soap should be used. Soap should not be used directly to the incisions until they have healed.
Warning Signs After Tummy Tuck
For at least a week after surgery, some level of pain is to be anticipated. A pain reliever, either prescribed or suggested as an over-the-counter option, will be provided to you.
If you are in severe pain that your medications aren’t able to treat, please get in contact with us right away.
Swelling is a common complication after surgery. Expect edema to last anywhere from 10 days to 2 weeks after surgery. If the incision site continues to expand, pain, appear red, or feel hot to the touch, an infection may be present. If you see any of these symptoms, you should see a surgeon very once.
It is important for patients to understand that each surgical treatment has with it certain risks. To avoid more serious complications after cosmetic surgery, it’s important to recognize the early red flags. It’s crucial to your well-being and rapid recovery that you do this.
A bruise may disappear after 10 days or it may linger for two weeks. If bruises don’t heal after 10 days, become darker and bigger, or feel stiff to the touch, you can have a hematoma.