How Long After a Tummy Tuck Can I Drive?

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driving safety

4 Doctor Answers | Asked by maggie10 in ca

Doctor Answers (4)
Community Comments (0)

Resuming Driving after Cosmetic Surgery

You can resume driving after Cosmetic Surgery when you can make rapid decisions and execute them without the influence of pain pills. Driving while taking pain pills is a felony that may hurt you and or others. It is best to postpone driving until you are off pain pills and can make sudden turns or stops, should you have to. For most people this would be around 2-3 weeks.

Driving after tummy tuck (abdominoplasty)

In most instances being able to drive is a function of whether you are taking pain pills which could impair your ability to drive. In some cases this is within 4 days while for others it may take longer in the range of 2 weeks.

Otto Joseph Placik, MD

32 reviews

Chicago Plastic Surgeon

Driving after surgery

The advice I give my patients is that they should not drive if they are impaired. You should be able to operate your car in a safe manner. This means you have to be able to react and move with out pain and not be inebriated with pain medications. This is very important from an insurance stand point because your insurance company does not insure you as an impaired driver. Best Wishes.

Marcus L. Peterson, MD

4 reviews

Saint George Plastic Surgeon

Driving after tummy tuck

There are a number of issues relating to driving. Of course your pain should be minimal. You also cannot be on narcotics for pain. You should be mobile enough to maneuver quickly out of the car in case of an emergency, and you should be healing well enough so that any trauma by the seat belt of steering wheel in case of an accident is minimized. Usually this is between 10-14 days post-op, perhaps sooner in minimal cases.