Hardened Tissue After Tummy Tuck

Occasionally hard tissue after a tummy tuck may be a sign of fat necrosis or of plicated tissues. Discuss this with your surgeon. Other than resecting the tissue, I am not sure if much can be done. Early on, fibrotic tissues can be softened with intralesional steroid injections but scar maturation should have occured by 3 years and are not likely to be improved at this point. see video

Hard spots should be gone three years after Tummy Tuck. Have your surgeon evaluate these spots to determine if anything need be done.

These areas of hardness you describe are abnormal to persist after three years. You need full evaluation and I am surprised your surgeon did not continue to follow up with your progress. These can be scar or Fat Necrosis. You need to see Board Certified PS and be evaluated and discuss your options.

While it is normal to have some areas of hardness in the first few months after a tummy tuck most of these should resolve over the course of several months. After 3 years, you are probably feeling some areas of fat necrosis or if your skin is really thinned out, you may be feeling some areas of the abdominal wall muscle. I would recommend you go see your surgeon and get his / her opinion. I agree that massage at this point probably won't help.

After 3 years, all the healing and tissue softening from a tummy tuck has occurred. There shouldn't be any hard areas left over at this point. Either you have scar tissue in the muscle from tightening it or you have hard lumps in the fat where the blood supply was injured. These areas are called "fat necrosis." It is probably too late to massage these areas and soften them. Unless they could be removed safely, I suspect these are permanent.

Seromas are occasional complications after an abdominoplasty.  This is a collection of fluid that is often treated with repeat aspirations in the doctor's office.  Left untreated, they can organize and effective be replaced by scar tissue.  It might take years for this to resolve if my guess is correct.  It is not dangerous, however.

Firmness in the soft tissue is normal up to a year or so after a tummy tuck. Unless there is significant scarring, it is unlikely to remain firm at 3 years. I would recommend a full evaluation with your plastic surgeon. In cases of "abdominal etching" where the goal is to effectively scar the dermis or skin down to the abdominal wall to give the illusion of a six-pack, this firmness is expected. Over-aggressive liposuction of the skin flap can give this same quality of "stuck... more

Patients who received tummy tucks love their new tight abdomens and the way they look in their clothes. However, patients should anticipate a significant recovery process. For the first several months after their surgery, is expected to have significant swelling and firmness. In our practice, we provide our patients with two postoperative compression garments to help manage this swelling. At this time, you should revisit with your surgeon to determine if these areas you are feeling are... more

The scar healing and maturation process goes on for up to a year. By then, everything becomes soft and if need be, other operations can be done and the tissue will feel and behave like NON-operated tissue. In your case, three years SHOULD have more than allowed all the areas to soften. Persistent hardness is either due to excessive scarring (most Likely) or to an area where the fat died (fat necrosis) and was replaced by scar tissue (less likely in this area above the belly button). You... more

It can be normal to have hardened tissue within the first year after a tummy tuck. This can be scar tissue, or some small areas of fat necrosis (fat that loses blood supply). However, after three years, this is probably not the case and especially not in the location that your describe. It could be a suture reaction where the muscles may have been tightened or it could be areas of fat necrosis or even (but less likely) some small hernias in your muscle. I would have this evaluated by a... more

This may be scar tissue that you are feeeling below the skin or even an old seroma cavity.  You should see your surgeon to examine you.