Can the Tightened Muscles of a Tummy Tuck Come Loose?

The muscle repair of a Tummy Tuck can definitely be disrupted. The amount of force required to separate the 6 pack (Rectus Abdominis) muscles would vary with WHEN the force was applied to the muscle repair, the AMOUNT of force applied and the WAY the muscles were stitched together.

A sudden coughing, vomiting, bucking, straining or blow to the tummy in the early healing phase (end of surgery up to 3 weeks or so after the surgery can either break the stitches or cause them to cut ("cheese wire") through the muscle causing bleeding and recreating the original muscle separation before the surgery.

If the only stitches used in the muscle repair were a running continuous suture instead of multiple, interrupted stitches, a single break in the stitch could cause the unraveling of the entire repair. For this reason, many surgeons hedge their bets by using the more time consuming interrupted stitches - if one of them breaks the repair is kept together by the integrity of the other, non-broken stitches.

As more scarring welds the muscles to the overlying skin, any forces to the midline are distributed over greater surface areas and much greater tension would be require to break the muscle repair stitches.

You should see your surgeon as soon as possible to see if your muscle repair was compromised.

Good Luck.