Tummy Tuck Post Surgery Garment
As your recovery progresses, you will find different and additional compression garments are needed, The best compression garments for after a tummy tuck are ones that are comfortable and fully supportive.
Abdominoplasty is the medical name for the cosmetic procedure more commonly known as the tummy tuck. When talking about supports for tummy tuck recovery, abdominoplasty compression garments are just another name for the same tummy tuck compression garments, be they girdles, body suits or binders.
Tummy Tuck Post Surgery Garment
It is imperative that your body gets the optimum support while recovering from a surgical procedure, such as a tummy tuck or liposuction. With the help of a team of experts, we have created a range of tummy tuck compression garments aimed at speeding up your recovery and enhancing the surgical results.
Depending on what your body needs, we have post tummy tuck compression garments available, targeted at specific areas of your body. We have a number of different upper body and stomach compression garments, each created with the unique purpose of providing healing support post abdominal surgery.
Abdominoplasty is the medical name for the cosmetic procedure more commonly known as the tummy tuck. When talking about supports for tummy tuck recovery, abdominoplasty compression garments are just another name for the same tummy tuck compression garments, be they girdles, body suits or binders.
Our stage 2 garments are suitable for slimming your abdominal area and waist through compression around 6 weeks after your surgery.
Lastly, our popular abdominal compression inserts are available to help avoid fluid retention, alleviate bruising and optimise lymphatic drainage post procedure.
Tummy Tuck Binder Vs Compression Garment
A tummy tuck compression garment is a heavily elasticized cloth that stretches around your mid-section, much like a girdle. It fits quite snugly, applying even and constant pressure on the encased area. The garment typically covers the area below your breasts down to the hips or pelvic area — everywhere that was treated during your tummy tuck, including the immediate surrounding area.
Why do I need to wear a compression garment after my tummy tuck? This is a question we often receive from patients. Because it fits so snugly, some patients find it rather uncomfortable to wear. However, you should know that you should wear it as advised. A compression garment can help a great deal in your recovery after abdominoplasty. Here are the top four reasons:
1. A reduced risk of seroma
Excess serous fluid collection filling a pocket under the skin is technically referred to as a seroma (when it is blood, it is known as a hematoma). Seromas are considered to be the most common complication associated with abdominoplasty according to several studies, including one from 2002 published in the Annals of Plastic Surgery. The constant, even pressure applied by your compression garment is designed to push down on tissues that were rearranged during your surgery, so that pockets where fluid could collect are minimized or eliminated. The garment also promotes circulation. These two reasons are believed to be how the incidence of seromas can be decreased.
2. Better circulation
And since we’re on the topic of circulation, we all know that keeping your blood going during your recovery is key to getting better, since it’s how beneficial nutrients are delivered to the treated areas to promote healing. This also reduces swelling, bruising and the risk of blood clots, which can be serious or even fatal.https://www.youtube.com/embed/_-ELNx0oYa4?rel=0
3. More comfort
Your compression garment helps keep tissues in place while you move around. Damaged tissues and incision lines are protected from being pulled or strained. That means you’ll feel more comfortable. In fact, some patients like to wear their garment for weeks after it’s okay for them to stop because they feel more comfortable with it on.
4. Better contouring
While great care is taken to tighten your mid-section and minimize any contour irregularities, there may still be a chance that uneven contours may appear. Many contour irregularities can become permanent if they’re not corrected early on in your recovery. A compression garment helps to flatten out any lumps and bumps that appear.
However, sometimes an ill fitting compression garment may leave permanent indentations. For example, seams can leave long lines in your skin. That’s why it’s important to make sure that your garment fits properly. If in doubt, let us know. Another option is to either wear your garment inside out if you can, or wear a seamless tight cotton shirt underneath your garment as a protective layer.–>
Having difficulty breathing?
We’ve had patients complain about having difficulty breathing while wearing their compression garment. While it should be snug, your garment should never prevent you from breathing properly. It should also not cause you any pain while you wear it. If it does, let us know as soon as possible so we can get you another one.
In some cases, patients find it difficult to breathe not because of the garment, but because they’re breathing unnaturally.
Breathing right
When you breathe, there are three parts of your body that are involved: the intercostals muscles, diaphragm and abdominal muscles.
The intercostals muscles are located between your ribs. When you breathe in, these muscles contract upwards and outwards to allow your lungs to expand with air. At the same time, your diaphragm moves downward toward your abdomen to create more space for the lungs as well. With proper and natural breathing, you’ll see your chest rise and widen while your stomach expand. It’s exactly how we breathed when we were younger.
Don’t be discouraged, because it is possible to have a leaner body contour.
Belly breathing
As we become more sedentary, we start to get lazy with how we breathe. Instead of involving these three body parts with every breath, we only use our stomach. Your abdominal muscles expand and contract, but your chest doesn’t move. This is known as belly breathing, and it’s a habit that can lead to a bloated stomach that no dieting or tummy tuck can fix!
Belly breathing is why some patients may find it difficult to breathe while wearing their compression garment. They rely just on their stomach to bring in air, but their stomach can’t expand because of the pressure applied by their compression garment.
If this is true for you, take a moment to be conscious of how you breathe. Feel your rib cage expand with every breath, and your diaphragm and abdominal muscles will automatically work together at the same time.
Best Compression Garment For Tummy Tuck
Finding the right compression garment involves more than reading a list. You need to feel comfortable while wearing it and ensure it is doing something for the healing.
The goal is to find something that offers the right support and pressure.
Compression garments are generally recommended for the second stage of recovery. During the first stage of recovery, Dr Hunt might ask you to wear an abdominal binder. You may be wearing your compression garment for weeks or months. Make sure to take your time in selecting the right one that fits. You can also ask Dr Hunt’s team to make recommendations. Make sure to try a few before the surgery so you can select the right one for yourself.
Having Trouble Breathing When Wearing a Compression Garment after Tummy Tuck?
Some patients have had trouble breathing while wearing a compression garment. While the garment has to be snug, your compression garment shouldn’t prevent you from breathing properly. Make sure it isn’t causing you any pain while you are wearing it. If it is causing you discomfort, it is important to let Dr Hunt know and get a different one. In certain cases, the trouble breathing is not caused by compression garments but by not breathing right.
Breathe the Right Way
As you breathe, three parts of the body are involved in the process: the intercostal muscles, diaphragm and abdominal muscles. When you are breathing in, the muscles contract upwards and outwards and allow your lungs to expand fully with air. During this time, the diaphragm will move downwards to create space for your lungs. If you are breathing properly, your chest will rise and widen along with the expansion of your stomach. And you will feel a lot more comfortable.
Belly Breathing
Over the years, the belly has become more common as we have become lazy with how we breathe. Instead of involving all three parts with every single breath, we use only our stomach to breathe. Look closely at how you breathe. If your stomach expands and contracts while breathing but your chest isn’t moving, you are belly breathing. If you are belly breathing, you will find it difficult to breathe while wearing a compression garment. You shouldn’t rely on your stomach to breathe in the air. Your stomach won’t expand because of the constant pressure on your compression garment.
If that’s true, you need to be conscious about how you breathe. Make sure you feel your rib cage expand with every single breath and along with the diaphragm and abdominal muscles.
Now that you know how to breathe properly and have the list of the best compression garments to use post-surgery, you will be able to get the maximum comfort and support while breathing properly.