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How Are the Muscles Tightened in a Tummy Tuck?

asked 7 months ago by anon
Latest answer by Lisa L. Sowder, MD
Question viewed 571 times
Tags: male, exercise, long-term, muscle, muscle tightening

After the tummy tuck, will my muscles respond to exercise better?

14 answers to How Are the Muscles Tightened in a Tummy Tuck?

+1

Muscle tightening during tummy tuck

Abdominal wall tightening (muscle plication) is performed routinely during a tummy tuck procedure. This is basiclally done by using permanent stitches and forming a pleat, like a tailor would do when taking in a shirt, which runs vertically from the pubic bone up to the sternum (breast bone). This creates a flat appearing abdomen by relocating the abdominal muscles back into their original position. Pregnancy, aging and weight fluctuations can weaken these muscles. Discuss this in... more
William Bruno, MD

Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

www.williambrunomd.com

+3

Tightening muscles with a Tummy Tuck

I'm going to try to answer this question with as little doctor-speak as possible. When you gain and lose a lot of weight or go through pregnancy your tummy gets stretched out and then relaxes back down. The muscles of your tummy also stretch out. The main muscles we are talking about are two big muscles that run up and down in the middle of your tummy. They are called the rectus abdominus muscles. They are supposed to be side by side like two columns right next to each other. With weight... more
Adam Rubinstein, MD

Miami Plastic Surgeon
+2

5 important points about tightening muscles in a Tummy Tuck

5. the Rectus Abdomini (your six pack) that was stretched with pregnancy or weight gain if you haven't obviously been pregnant. It needs to be tightened. 4. The muscles are not cut, but are "Imbricated" (folded centrally and sewed to tighten) in a "north-to-south" position. 3. If you are a "massive weight loss" patient (classified as greater than 70 pounds) you may also have an imbrication in the... more
Douglas S. Steinbrech, MD

New York Plastic Surgeon

www.drsteinbrech.com

+2

Muscle tightening during tummy tuck

Hello, There are some misunderstanding about muscle tightening among patients. It is frequently believed that the muscles are cut and sewn tighter. In reality, muscles are deisgned to stretch and contract so the pregnancy process doesnt so much as stretch the muscles as much as it stretches the enveloping connective tissue of the muscles and in between the muscles. That is why women who have had children see a laxity or roundness of their abdomen after childbirth.... more
Remus Repta, MD

Phoenix Plastic Surgeon
+2

After the tummy tuck, will my muscles respond to exercise better?

Pregnancy and child birth, the ability to expand a uterus to a full term is associated with a progressive unrelenting distention and stretching not only of the uterus but of everything in its path. You cannot have skin stretch marks without having previously stretched and split, to a varying degree, the tummy muscles. As a result, to RESTORE the tummy to its pre-baby(ies) look, if not better, the muscles MUST be "taken in" to the size AND location they wetre in before the... more
Peter A. Aldea, MD

Memphis Plastic Surgeon
+1

Muscles tightening with abdominoplasty

The muscles are not really "tightened". The rectus muscles (six-pack muscles) are brought closer together in the midline by stitching the fascia that envelops them. Muscles themselves don't hold stitches very well but fascia is a strong as packing tape and it sort of looks like packing tape.
Lisa L. Sowder, MD

Seattle Plastic Surgeon

www.sowdermd.com

+1

Repair of muscle separation can help core muscle strength

The stretching forces of pregnancy can cause the rectus abdominis muscles to pull apart from each other. This is called rectus diastasis. When this happens, the position of all the muscles of the abdominal wall shift out of position, upsetting the balance of your "core" or abdominal wall and back. Tightening the connective tissue between the rectus muscles, to pull both muscles back into the middle so they are right up against each other, restores the proper... more
Elizabeth Lee, MD

Bay Area Plastic Surgeon

artfulsurgery.com

+1

Muscle repair with tummy tuck

The muscles of the abdomen like all parts of the body are encased in a fibrous envelope (fascia), so the muscle repair actually involves stitches into the fascia. This is necessary because the muscles often get pushed apart with pregnancy, but the direction of muscle contraction doesn't pull them together with exercise. Muscle tone is always a matter of exercise so the results of working out after tummy tuck may look better than without but the surgery won't make the muscles stronger. more
Richard Baxter, MD

Seattle Plastic Surgeon
+1

How Are the Muscles Tightened in a Tummy Tuck?

You have asked 2 different questions in my reading of your posting. One is technical, in that, the method of recti plication is that issue. Each doc has their methods of suture, incisional, mesh plication. As gfor the second issue of better muscle response after TT. I know of no studies showing or responding to this issue.
Darryl J. Blinski, MD

Miami Plastic Surgeon
+1

Vertical & Horizontal Tightening of the Muscles

Expansion of the abdomen following pregnancy of excessive weight gain & subsequent loss will cause separation of the muscles away from the midline. Muscle tightening involves in approximating the separated muscles and sawing them in the midline. If there is horizontal laxity of the muscles, horizontal tightening of the tissues covering the muscles will result in tighter and flatter abdomen and significantly improved waistline. After adequate healing of minimum 2 months... more
Ivan Thomas, MD

Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon
+1

Tightening of abdominal muscles with a tummy tuck

The fascia which surround your abdominal muscles are usually tightened with a series of sutures horizontally. The degree of tightening and the suture type may vary but one attempts to not actually injure the muscles themselves. After post op healing is complete you can work on strengthening your abs more. Best wishes
Craig Harrison, MD

Tyler Plastic Surgeon
+1

Muscle "tightening" in tummy tuck surgery

The underlying issue with regard to the rectus abdominus muscles of the abdominal wall ("the Abs") is not that they stretch out longitudinally with such causes as pregnancy but that there is increased separation between the left and right muscle, an area that is usually occupied by a narrow strip of tissue. It is this separation that results in most of the bulging of the abdominal wall. The correction of this is to bring and sew the the muscles back "together" again... more
Steven Turkeltaub, MD

Scottsdale Plastic Surgeon

www.turkeltaub.com

+1

Muscle tightening in tummy tuck

Hello! Great question. Muscles are brought together by sutures. Bringing the muscles together is a powerful boys shaping technique and is the one of the main advantages of tummy tuck surgery! Dr jeneby
Thomas T. Jeneby, MD

San Antonio Plastic Surgeon

www.beautybyjeneby.com

+1

Muscle Tightening during Tummy Tuck?

Thank you for the question. One of the steps of a tummy tuck procedure involves reapproximation (plication) of the rectus muscles. These muscles have spread apart during pregnancy and/or weight gain. Bringing them together again in the midline helps to “tighten” the abdominal wall as well as to narrow the waistline. I use a two layered technique to reapproximate the rectus muscles. The first layer is comprised of interrupted “figure of 8” permanent... more
Tom J. Pousti, MD

San Diego Plastic Surgeon

www.poustiplasticsurgery.com

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