You can start exercising as soon as you feel up to it, but it’s important to follow your doctor’s advice and pay attention to your body. A tummy tuck is a major surgery that leaves you needing to stay in bed for a few days. If you have any bruises or swelling around the place where the incision was made, your doctor will probably tell you to stay in bed for another two weeks.
When you’re done healing from your tummy tuck, there are a number of exercises you can do to improve your posture and strengthen your abdominal muscles. By helping to keep your spine stable, strengthening your core muscles will also make you more flexible. When it’s safe for you to start exercising again, your doctor may tell you to do certain exercises. Most of the time, it’s best to start slowly and build up the intensity over time.
Read on to learn more about How Long After A Tummy Tuck Can I Exercise, What Do Tummy Tuck Scars Look Like and What Affects the Cost of a Tummy Tuck
How Long After A Tummy Tuck Can I Exercise
At West County Plastic Surgeons, we encourage all of our abdominoplasty patients to exercise regularly to keep their abdominal muscles toned and tight. Doing so can help maintain surgical results, provided patients do not gain excess weight. If they do, the extra weight can stretch the skin and tissues that have been repaired, possibly causing damage and new stretch marks. Regular exercise can burn calories and boost a person’s metabolism, which is why we encourage our patients to stay fit after a tummy tuck.
That said, it is important to remember that abdominoplasty is major surgery, so patients will be unable to return to their normal activity level for many weeks. The following general schedule can guide those who are interested in staying fit after a tummy tuck:
- Week One: The first week following abdominoplasty, you should focus on rest and recovery. After the second day, your only exercise should involve getting out of bed every two hours and walking with assistance for 10 to 15 minutes. By the end of the week, you should be able to engage in light activity or household chores and walk without assistance.
- Week Two: By the end of week two, you should be able to walk twice daily for 10 to 15 minutes, a habit you can form now that will help you succeed in staying fit after your tummy tuck. During this time you will also be able to attend social functions, and some patients will be cleared to return to work, as long as it does not involve heavy lifting, prolonged standing, or physical exertion of any kind.
- Weeks Three and Four: At this phase of your recovery, you can ride a stationary bicycle and begin to increase the speed and duration of your walking schedule.
- Weeks Four to Six: Most patients are beginning to feel like themselves at this phase, so we encourage them to gradually increase their physical activity, as long as they do not strain their abdominal muscles in any way. Aim to exercise at no more than 75% of normal.
- Weeks Six and Beyond: The best approach to staying fit after a tummy tuck is to establish a regular exercise routine. During this time you should try to gradually increase the intensity and variation of your workout so that you exercise different muscle groups and raise your heart rate to reap cardiovascular benefits as well. Do not perform isolated abdominal exercises (crunches, sit-ups, weight lifting) until 12 weeks from the date of surgery.
Remember that the above schedule is just an estimate. Because each patient heals at a different rate, it is important to attend each follow-up appointment and carefully heed your surgeon’s instructions and recommendations.
What Affects the Cost of a Tummy Tuck
Many factors come into play when determining the cost of a tummy tuck.
The extent of the procedure. In some cases, all that is involved in a tummy tuck is tightening the loose, sagging skin below the navel. However, the process is customizable to meet your needs and preferences. Depending on how much work the surgeon has to do, the procedure can either be a full, mini, or extended tummy tuck.
A mini tummy tuck that only addresses the loose skin may cost between $4,000 and $5,000. A traditional tummy tuck may cost between $8,000 and $10,000, while an extended tummy job may be worth up to $20,000.
The size of the area. If the procedure only entails tightening loose skin and eliminating fat from the lower abdomen, the cost will be relatively low. However, when you need a full tummy tuck, the procedure’s scope calls for more expenses. This is because it involves both the upper and lower abdomen. Extended tummy tucks are also more expensive because they involve the front side, back, and sides.
The volume of fat removed. The extent of the procedure can be fat removal, muscle tightening, skin lifting and tightening, and muscle reshaping or repairing. The more services you get during the process, the higher the cost will be.
The type of anesthesia used. The type and dosage of anesthesia you receive during a tummy tuck is another significant factor that affects the procedure’s cost. If you require a larger dose of anesthesia depending on the extent of the surgery, the price will be higher.
General anesthesia is usually more expensive than local anesthesia. The reason for this is that with local anesthesia, you may also have to take a sedative to help you sleep through the procedure, hence a lower dose. The cost of general anesthesia is between $425 and $1,800, while that of local anesthesia is between $500 and $3,500.
The number of procedures to be performed. In some cases, lifting and tightening your stomach skin is not enough to help you achieve your ideal aesthetic level. As such, you may be a good candidate for an extra procedure. Doing so will help to contour your body by removing excess fat. Liposuction is usually an ideal complementary procedure to tummy tuck as it draws more fat than a tummy tuck.
Preparing for a Tummy Tuck
Before you go in for a tummy tuck, your doctor may schedule you for a blood panel to ensure you’re in good health. You will also be required to:
- Stop smoking
- Limit your alcohol intake
- Stop taking anti-inflammatory drugs and some herbal supplements that can make bleeding worse or hinder clotting.
What Do Tummy Tuck Scars Look Like
Full tummy tuck surgeries typically require an incision from hip to hip (just above the pubic region), as well as an incision to release the navel during the procedure. Fortunately, our plastic surgeons are extensively trained and experienced with these types of surgeries and will employ techniques that can minimize residual scarring as much as possible. Our practice carries medical-grade silicone scar gel therapy, which is included with the price of surgery, to help minimize scarring post-surgery. This treatment usually starts once the incision sites are fully healed and is applied twice a day for several weeks to minimize the appearance and coloration of scars. Tummy tuck scars can generally be well-concealed under clothing and swimwear. They also tend to fade by some degree over time, and there are other procedures available that can reduce their appearance even further.
How much does a tummy tuck cost?
The average cost of a standard tummy tuck surgery at Florida Plastic Surgery Group typically starts at approximately $8,999, including all fees associated with the procedure. This fee can increase in range if additional procedures (such as liposuction) are needed. The cost of mini-tummy tuck procedures start at $4,999. With this in mind, it is important to note that the overall cost of tummy tuck surgery is ultimately determined based on the customized treatment plan, so the total price of the procedure varies from patient to patient. The cost will include factors such as the surgeon’s fee, the complexity of the procedure, fees involving the operating facility and anesthesia, and other associated expenses. Once your preliminary treatment plan has been created, a member of our staff will put together a total cost estimate and talk with you about your options. Our practice accepts a vast range of payment methods, and we work with two of the most reputable plastic surgery financing agencies in the nation: CareCredit® and Alphaeon™ Credit. These companies offer low- to no-interest financing plans to qualified applicants, allowing patients to fit the cost of treatment into their budget with convenient monthly payment plans.
Is a non-surgical tummy tuck possible?
Although you may find various articles or online publications claiming that certain non-surgical procedures or exercises can provide the same results as tummy tuck surgery, the fact is that there is simply no other way to achieve the kind of outcomes possible with surgical abdominoplasty. A tummy tuck can do something that no non-surgical procedure or garment—like the “Tummy Tuck Belt®”—is capable of: remove excess skin and tighten the abdominal muscles. Loose, inelastic skin and lax underlying muscles are typically what cause a protruding abdomen or an undesired abdominal contour; tummy tuck surgery can address these concerns by eliminating the excess skin, pulling the muscles taut, and redraping the remaining skin for a smoother, firmer aesthetic.