Follow the advice of your surgeon and his staff and your tummy tuck recovery pain and trouble free. The day after your tummy tuck surgery you will begin to feel you have more energy as the effects of the anesthesia begin to wear off. At this point you must remember that you have to take things easy, you have just had major surgery. You may feel some pain the scale of this pain varies from patient to patient if the pain is uncomfortable don't suffer in silence ask for some pain relief medication to ease the discomfort.
After 24 hours it is fine to shower and you will probably be encouraged to do so. You should remove your dressing and replace it with a clean dressing. One important note though you will probably have steri-strips covering your wound / stitches it's important that you don't interfere with these. Over the next week or so these steri - strips will start to peel of their own accord. If needs be you can trim the peeled edges with a small pair of scissors but you should not pull them if they are still attached.
If you had the type of surgery that required drains to be fitted you should hang the drains securely while you are taking a shower. These drains are usually kept in place for around 7-21 days and should only be removed under medical supervision. They may be removed by surgeon together or he may decide to leave one in a bit longer than the other. This will depend on the amount of fluid that is being passed. The removal process is quite a simple process and is normally pain free with patient feeling a slight tingling sensation when the tubes are removed.
The drains are small clear tubes that are normally inserted either side of the stomach area and are connected to small bulb shaped drainage reservoirs. Your surgeon or his staff will show you how to empty the drains and measure the output from each drain. This should be done 2-3 times daily although the drains may feel a bit uncomfortable they are actually quite important. There job is to drain any excess fluid that builds behind abdominal incisions you had during surgery.
Your doctor or surgeon will place weight restrictions on you for the first couple of weeks after your surgery and may limit you to lifting no more than 3lbs in weight. Again it is very important to follow these instructions it is not worth risking bursting your sutures just to lift something yourself.
On a final note it is very important that when you bathe you make sure that everything is clean and sterile don't use any old towels or sponges buy new ones that you know are clean. This way you will minimize any risks of getting an infection. Following these simple steps and your surgeon's advice will go a long way to ensuring your tummy tuck recovery is as quick and pain free as possible.
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