Pain In Upper Abdomen After Tummy Tuck

A tummy tuck is a popular cosmetic procedure designed to remove excess fat and skin from the abdomen, resulting in a more toned and sculpted appearance. People who want to enhance the appearance of their lower torso frequently seek this procedure, particularly after pregnancy. While the results of a tummy tuck can be transformative, there may be some temporary side effects to contend with during the healing process. Swelling, pain, numbness, bruising, and soreness are common in the stomach area, especially around the incision site. However, these symptoms can be managed with bandages, compression garments, and proper post-operative care. It’s important to remember that the swelling is temporary and will subside as the treated area heals, revealing the final results of the tummy tuck procedure.

While there are many benefits to this procedure, it is not without risk. Nerve damage is one of the most commonly reported side effects of a tummy tuck and can occur during surgery or afterwards. This article discusses what causes nerve pain after tummy tuck and how you can manage your symptoms.

Pain In Upper Abdomen After Tummy Tuck

Swelling after a tummy tuck, also known as an abdominoplasty, is quite typical for a surgery this extensive. How long swelling lasts after a tummy tuck depends on many different factors. Understanding why swelling occurs may help you better prepare mentally and have more realistic expectations for your recovery and results.

After undergoing surgery in the stomach area, it is common to experience pain, swelling, numbness, bruising, and soreness at the incision site. A healthcare professional can prescribe medication to treat these symptoms, which are typically transient. It is important to follow post-operative care instructions and attend follow-up appointments to ensure proper healing and recovery. If the pain or swelling becomes severe or if there are any concerning symptoms, it is important to contact a healthcare provider immediately for further evaluation and treatment.

Swelling after a Tummy Tuck Is Normal

Swelling in the abdominal area is perfectly normal and is expected after a tummy tuck. In this area of the body, the blood vessels and lymphatic vessels work as a drainage system for fluids. During a tummy tuck, these vessels are cut. Because of this, the body removes fluid in the area a lot slower, resulting in fluid buildup known as edema or swelling.

Swelling is typically at its worst for the first 2 months following a tummy tuck, though everyone is a little bit different. As the body repairs blood and lymphatic vessels, the swelling should continue to resolve. This healing process can take up to a year or longer to complete, so it is common to see minor swelling in that time.

The amount of swelling experienced after your tummy tuck surgery can also vary depending on the treatment plan you choose. A mini tummy tuck or a drainless tummy tuck typically results in less recovery time and swelling than a traditional tummy tuck. Alternatively, adding liposuction to a tummy tuck can produce swelling in other areas of the body as well.

Swelling Can Fluctuate throughout the Day

After the initial swelling subsides, minor swelling persists and is susceptible to your daily activities. This is because gravity is not your friend. For instance, long hours standing up can increase swelling in the abdomen, but this usually goes down after a good night of sleep. Once you start exercising, you may also notice increased swelling following workouts.

Tips to Help Reduce Swelling

Although swelling is a natural part of the healing process, there are some things you can do to help reduce the level of severity.

The best thing you can do to help minimize swelling is to follow your post-op instructions for tummy tuck recovery. You’ll be instructed to wear a compression garment for the first few weeks. Other tips to help reduce swelling include:

• Getting plenty of rest
• Staying hydrated
• Eating a healthy diet low in sodium
• Elevating your lower legs

Signs and symptoms to look out for after having a tummy tuck or abdominoplasty include:

Abdominal pain and stiffness: Outward manifestations of injury such as redness, swelling, and bruising: sensations of tingling, burning, or sporadic, shooting pain:

Healing the skin, tissues, and sensory nerves can cause these sensations. Medications like muscle relaxants and pain relievers can help you bear with any discomfort. The presence of drains may exacerbate localized pain. If you’re experiencing constant, severe pain, see Dr. Tanna right away.

Hardness of the skin, heightened or decreased sensitivity, or insensitivity:

• Having this experience is normal, and it will go away on its own.
• In case you’re experiencing any itchy skin or shine,

The treated area may appear shiny due to swelling. Itching, ranging from mild to severe, is another symptom that may appear as the healing process progresses. Antihistamines, such as Benadryl, can ease persistent, severe itching brought on by allergies. Skin that is red and hot to the touch requires immediate attention from our staff.

Dissimilar healing on the left and right sides of your body:

In the days following surgery, you may notice significant differences in how one side of your body looks or feels compared to the other. You can count on this. However, Dr. Tanna should be notified immediately if the asymmetry is extremely noticeable.

Warning Signs After Tummy Tuck

Typically, there is a certain degree of pain or discomfort you can expect following surgery. Surgical procedures are traumatic for the human body, and pain may be attributed to your body trying to heal injured tissues. In some instances, however, nerve pain develops afterward and this isn’t the same kind of pain you should probably expect.

As we’ve mentioned throughout our website, nerve pain frequently exhibits symptoms like burning, shooting, stabbing, and searing pain. For some patients, external stimulation—even at low levels (like wind blowing over skin or water coming down from a showerhead)—causes intense physical sensations. Others experience “pins and needles” or feel as though a specific body part or region has been plugged into an electrical outlet.

If you experience those symptoms, a nerve problem of some sort is probably the cause of your pain.

In some cases, these symptoms begin after procedures like C-sections (cesarean section deliveries) and tummy tucks. When they do, it’s understandable for patients to wonder why this is happening to them. So, let’s look today at why you are having nerve pain after those kinds of procedures.

To start, it is worth noting that nerve pain does not imply that anything was done incorrectly during the surgery. Surgeons, by very definition of their job, have to cut tissues to repair medical problems. Your body has an entire network of nerves running throughout, so this means there are times when nerves will also be cut during surgery. It’s just a fact.

Nerve Pain after C-section

As with other surgical procedures, it is virtually impossible to perform a C-section without cutting into some nerves. That said, long-term nerve injury after a C-section tends to be somewhat rare.

Often, nerves will heal without causing any lasting issues. When injured nerves do not heal correctly, it is considered to be nerve damage. Depending on which nerves are damaged—and their respective functions—there are various short-term and long-term symptoms that can develop. These symptoms can include impaired motor function and nerve pain.

If you have had a C-section and are experiencing a superficial pain around the edges of the scar, it is likely the ilioinguinal, iliohypogastric, and/or genitofemoral nerves have been affected. Usually, the pain presents as a burning pain and hypersensitivity, which means even light touch hurts (like in the earlier examples of wind and water). There may also be “electric shock” sensations.

If pushing on the affected area does not reproduce the pain, those specific nerves are less likely to be responsible.

The reason for noting the ilioinguinal, iliohypogastric, and genitofemoral nerves comes down to their locations. Surgeons do attempt to avoid important nerves as much as possible, but these ones run close to the edge of a C-section incision. This makes it easy for them to be injured during the procedure (bruised, crushed, etc.) or trapped in scar tissue afterward.

If you are having painful sensations, it is more likely the nerves were injured, instead of being cut. We can say this because cut nerves tend to produce numbness instead of pain. Although, there are times when both numbness and pain result from cut nerves (which is a condition called anesthesia dolorosa).

When diagnosing your nerve pain after a C-section, we use a nerve block. This is a matter of using anesthetics to cause temporary numbness for the affected nerve. When there is both numbness and pain relief, it indicates a peripheral nerve injury. If there is numbness without pain relief, something else is likely at play.

Nerve Pain after Tummy Tuck

Tummy tucks—abdominoplasties—are some of the most common cosmetic procedures performed in the United States, with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons reporting 127,633 in 2016. This is a 104% increase from the 62,713 performed in 2000.

Experts believe the number of abdominoplasties will only increase due to both the number of esthetic surgical procedures and increase in how many obese patients achieve massive weight loss following bariatric surgery.

A tummy tuck traumatizes the nerves in the affected area, as with other surgeries. This can cause numbness for several weeks to months before the nerves overcome temporary neuropraxia (loss of nerve conduction). Usually, it only takes around 6–12 weeks for the situation to resolve, but there are cases wherein this may take longer.

Whereas this numbness and a certain degree of discomfort can be expected, it can be a problem when nerve pain has developed and is not going away after a reasonable amount of time.

In the case of nerve pain following a tummy tuck, it is probably a small nerve called the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve that is affected. This particular nerve travels directly through the areas manipulated during a tummy tuck and could easily be injured directly by a suture or scalpel, or indirectly when the nerve becomes entrapped in scar tissue.

That said, it is important to note that factors other than nerve damage could be responsible for pain and sensory abnormalities. For example, massive weight loss can cause extreme skin expansion and a patient who has undergone bariatric surgery may also have had other issues (secondary fibrosis, hernia) corrected during the tummy tuck.

Diagnosis and Treatment

When you have nerve pain following surgery—particularly if the pain has been present for an extended period—you deserve to find out what is responsible. In the case of C-sections and tummy tucks, it could be inadvertent nerve damage. If so, we may be able to provide the care you need.

Managing Pain After a Tummy Tuck Surgery

Abdominoplasty, also known as a tummy tuck, is a cosmetic surgical procedure that flattens the abdomen by removing excess fat and skin and tightening the underlying muscle. Most people recover within several weeks. You may experience swelling and moderate pain during your post-operative recovery, both due to the procedure itself and because of movements you make while your incision is healing. You can get through this period more comfortably by trying several strategies for managing the pain after a tummy tuck.

Symptoms Of Muscle Separation After Tummy Tuck

As you are recovering from your surgery, there are practical things that you can do during the first few months to prevent pain from starting and to reduce your pain if you have any.

• Maintain physical activity: As you recover, you should continue to carry out simple day-to-day tasks and regularly get up and walk around your home. This is recommended to reduce your risk of developing harmful blood clots, and it also prevents you from remaining in one position for too long, which can make it painful when you finally get up and move.
• Avoid strenuous exercise: As you are recovering and your wounds are healing, you should not put a strain on your incisions by engaging in strenuous activity or lifting heavy objects for at least six weeks or until you get the green light from your healthcare provider. If you would like to begin or get back to challenging exercises once you are fully recovered, it is a good idea to maintain some level of fitness by walking for exercise throughout your recovery period.
• Don’t smoke: To enhance the healing process, you should avoid the use of tobacco. Nicotine severely compromises the body’s ability to heal. It causes blood vessels to narrow, making the delivery of oxygen to the skin cells at the incision site more difficult, ultimately delaying the healing process.
• Avoid constipation: You may be constipated if you are not eating due to nausea or fatigue. Narcotic pain medications also cause constipation, which eventually leads to abdominal pain. Try to eat food that is high in fiber and drink ample amounts of fluid to avoid constipation. If nausea or constipation are persistent, you may need to take over-the-counter or prescription medication.

Pain Management

Often, tummy tuck procedures include injection of pain medications into the area around the sensory nerves, resulting in a nerve block. This pre-emptive measure has been shown to reduce postoperative pain. However, if you experience postoperative pain, you may need treatment as you recover from your tummy tuck surgery. Options include:

1. Over-the-counter medication: Many surgeons recommend taking ibuprofen or naproxen 24 to 48 hours after the procedure if there is no evidence of bleeding. NSAIDS can decrease the swelling and offer pain relief, which can allow patients to stop narcotics earlier, resulting in fewer side effects from those drugs.

• Prescription medications: Long-acting narcotic pain medications are often prescribed because they do not cause bleeding. However, at low doses, narcotics can cause constipation; at high doses, they can cause breathing and heart problems, as well as addiction risk.
• Pain pump: If you have severe nausea and cannot take medication by mouth, a pain pump—a device that delivers medication directly into the body via an inserted tube—can be another alternative. If your pain is severe, a pain pump can reduce your need for high doses of prescription narcotic pain medication.

Post-Operative Care

There are some routine things you need to take care of as you heal after your surgery, including wearing a compression garment, wound care, and drain care. Paying careful attention to these tasks can help reduce or prevent pain.

• Compression garment: After surgery, you will be wrapped in or given a compression garment to wear. The compression garment will reduce swelling and support the abdomen, promoting proper healing. You should expect to wear this for two weeks to two months, depending on how quickly you are healing. Be sure to tell your medical team if the compression garment is causing any pain, as adjustments may be needed.
• Incision care: Surgical dressings or bandages will be applied to your incision area. You will be given instructions about whether you should change these bandages and, if so, how often and how to do it. The most important aspect of your at-home wound care is that you keep your wound clean and remain gentle with it to avoid injury or bleeding. You will also be given instructions to be on the lookout for problems, such as pain from the incision site, swelling, redness, pus, warmth, or bleeding.
• Drain care: After an abdominoplasty, temporary tubes to drain excess fluid from the surgical site will be inserted under your skin. They will be removed during the first week of recovery or when your healthcare provider is assured that the fluid no longer needs to be drained. If you experience pain at the drain site, or if you notice redness, swelling, or oozing of pus or blood, tell your healthcare provider’s office.
• Antibiotics: You may be given a prescription for medication to apply to your surgical site and/or to take orally to reduce your risk of developing a postoperative infection. An infection can cause pain, but more common symptoms of infection include fever, swelling, warmth, or pus.

Worst Days After Tummy Tuck

A tummy tuck is generally well tolerated. However, it is a surgical procedure, and there are some risks and side effects—including pain. If you are planning to have a tummy tuck, you should be prepared for one to two months of recovery, and you may experience pain throughout this time. In general, pain is mild to moderate after a tummy tuck. Rarely, pain or sensory abnormalities can persist for months or even years after the procedure. If your pain is severe or persistent, you should tell your healthcare provider.

How To Get Rid Of Upper Belly Bulge After Tummy Tuck

During a tummy tuck, liposuction is frequently used on problem areas like the hips, flanks, and pubic region to achieve a more trim and toned look. It is not as common, however, for surgeons to perform liposuction on the upper abdomen. This is because of worries about slowed or stalled recovery.

So, some people have persistent abdominal fullness in the upper abdomen even after surgery. Liposuction can be performed three to six months after a tummy tuck to remove excess fat in this area.