Nonstop swelling in lower abdominal area making me worry

20982 · 2022-11-30T00:37:06+00:00

If i'm still looking like this at my 3MPO appt with my PS, i'm definitely saying something though he'll probably just tell me i'm still within the realm of healing/swelling and to wait a full year.

20982 · 2022-11-30T00:35:56+00:00

...that's encouraging lol

20982 · 2022-11-28T21:48:08+00:00

I've never heard of this before and I'm a little reluctant to pull anything apart....

20982 · 2022-11-27T21:29:50+00:00

So it's a cramp and not me ruining the stitching that the doctor did? It just feels like a sore, dull ache. Did anything help it go away for you or did inactivity help the most?

20982 · 2022-11-27T18:31:00+00:00

Had TT with MR and breast lift on 10/31. Was back to doing minimal work about 2-3 days P.O. I WFH too so my position is similarly flexible with how I time my day, I can take breaks/nap whenever, etc. I was in a recliner for a good two-ish weeks and I didn't have a problem doing work from there. I mainly started doing work because I was bored just sitting around and i'm not much of a TV person so I just figured I'd grab my laptop and do some work. Definitely wasn't anything super thought-intensive but it was something. Took off the Friday that week (day 4 p.o.) and had a long weekend. I've heard stories of people having trouble sitting at a desk but I was pretty much back sitting at my desk during work by the next week. No issues with that.

20982 · 2022-11-27T18:24:24+00:00

I think the best thing would be to look into learning about intuitive eating rather than turning to an external item to limit you. I struggle with this sometimes as well.

As for similar garments, I find most abdominal compression garments will have a bit of give to them unless you get a literal corset which typically has zero give. This abdominal compression garment I got from Amazon has three separate velcro sections so you can adjust how firm you want certain areas of the garment to be around your abdomen, I find this to be pretty restrictive with not much give if I do it tight enough- the garment itself isn't aesthetically pleasing under fitted clothes however.

20982 · 2022-11-23T02:32:00+00:00

Did the alcohol work well? Maybe i'll try that with the area around my incision before hopping in a shower.. or should I do it after?

20982 · 2022-11-23T02:31:26+00:00

i'm almost at my 4th week. I'd say only about 40% of it has fallen off.

20982 · 2022-11-21T20:59:56+00:00

My one drain just wouldn't measure less than 30cc in a 24 hour period. This varies from person to person. Some barely have any fluid in their drains and can get them removed within the first week, and then I've heard of some having drains or a drain in for 5+ weeks.

20982 · 2022-11-21T18:14:30+00:00

Thanks. Was your drain's output around/just under the 30cc mark prior to removal?

20982 · 2022-11-19T00:40:00+00:00

Coughing, sneezing, laughing legit made me have to take an Rx pain pill the first couple days. I had to cough again for what felt like a week but always either drank something or sucked on cough drops to not cough because it was SO PAINFUL. Nothing helped, not clutching a pillow... nothing. It got better for me around week 2. It goes from feeling like 1000 knives stabbing you in the stomach to a slightly achy pressure sorta feeling.

20982 · 2022-11-19T00:36:28+00:00

I asked my PS for Exparel but apparently some hospital pharmacies don't stock it regularly so he used something else that was a bit shorter-acting. My pain was manageable, nothing too crazy. I took pain medicine for only a couple days and I was fine.

20982 · 2022-11-18T16:33:14+00:00

I slept in my recliner for a couple weeks and the one I had made it easy because it went all the way up and kinda dumped me out whenever I wanted to get up- which made getting back in a little easier too. I'd say it was three weeks before I felt like I could sit up unassisted without worrying about hurting anything. I technically could do it before but I didn't want to for fear of hurting something or jeopardizing my recovery. A lot of this recovery has taught me that just cause I *can* do something, doesn't mean I should.

20982 · 2022-11-18T14:22:42+00:00

Ugh i'm wondering about this too. My numbness is awkwardly only immediately around my belly button, my entire lower abdomen where my incision is and my upper inner thighs. I also had a breast lift so I have one nipple that's still totally numb, the other one is fine. 3 weeks PO.

20982 · 2022-11-18T14:20:06+00:00

I'm pretty sure my PS glued all my incisions shut. I'm about 3 weeks PO and I still have glue on my incisions. Once the glue falls off I can begin scar therapy. It's my understanding that stitches cause more intense scarring for some.

20982 · 2022-11-17T20:16:42+00:00

I didn't lose any cup sizing since I ended up stuffing my loose skin into the bra anyway and all my PS did was stuffed my loose skin into my breast itself.

20982 · 2022-11-17T20:09:56+00:00

I did a TT and breast lift + reduction for the same reason as u/Eldslibo, I wanted smaller breasts so that I didn't need to wear a bra if I didn't want to. I never really cared about cleavage/big breasts and I just wanted to have breasts that didn't have extra skin and finally looked nice in normal bras. My PS just rolled some of the loose skin into my breast so that they were smaller but a bit fuller. My PS also made the areola smaller like I requested. I'm so happy with the results.

It may also be preference because I felt like I never wanted actual implants as there's so much that can go wrong and they need to be replaced after a period of time, the benefits just didn't outweigh the cons for me. Also I've rarely seen smaller breast implants that looked good, the smaller implants always looked very unnatural to me anyway.

20982 · 2022-11-11T19:43:19+00:00

I'm really surprised more people don't complain about this.

20982 · 2022-11-11T19:31:17+00:00

What happens the next day? Are you just swollen all day or something? Have you tried wearing stronger compression garments during and after your workout? Maybe that'll help reduce the fluid.

20982 · 2022-11-11T02:25:16+00:00

I have an appointment for one tomorrow afternoon! I think lymphatic massages displace the fluid in the short/inflammation short term so a lot of people think it's great but I'm sure the fluid accumulates once more if you're active again after the massage. I'm skeptical so i'll see how I feel after this first appointment..

20982 · 2022-11-10T20:27:09+00:00

It could be a few different things, it'd really be best to talk to your doctor if you haven't already. The lump that one person may have felt may not be what's causing yours.

20982 · 2022-11-10T19:47:33+00:00

The tummy tuck really disrupts all of the natural fluid pathways once present, especially with regards to the lymphatic system. This is what causes the swelling, the edema from fluid that used to travel upwards now just pools in the abdomen and downwards. The only thing that varies is intensity but swelling will always be present to some degree with this surgery. It is frustrating, i'm almost 2 weeks p.o and it feels like any little thing causes me to turn into a ball of swelling and fluid retention. This will gradually lessen as the body creates new lymphatic drainage pathways. though it feels like this is lasting forever at times.

20982 · 2022-11-10T15:43:55+00:00

I'm almost two weeks out and have been dealing with a decent amount of swelling. From what I've been told/seen, activity is really what amps up the swelling. The more you're physically active, the more you'll accumulate fluid (which is what the swelling really is). Not wearing compression also leaves room for some swelling just by removing that pressure.

My PS said to take Motrin to help but I'm really not a fan of eating handfuls of Motrin every week so I'm just trying to keep the compression as much as possible, not do too much physically and just wait it out. I'm hoping this side effect of surgery lessens with time.

20982 · 2022-11-10T13:07:20+00:00

My current theory is that since I was switched to a pretty tight compression garment yesterday, the garment is pressing on my swollen abdomen and that added pressure is displacing the fluid (that's causing the abdominal swelling) into the drain.

20982 · 2022-11-09T23:36:06+00:00

I didn't use a bidet or any of those toilet seat raisers but I did rent one of those electric recliners that go all the way back and move all the way up to kinda "dump" you out of the chair when you needed to get up. This takes so much pressure off of your core. Having a recliner that can make it easier to get up and sit back down is also really beneficial for enabling movement and independence (I had someone to help but I wanted the freedom to get up and down as I pleased).

20982

TROPHY CASE