What does abdominal muscle plication feel like years after tummy tuck?

Tightening up the rectus sheath ( the covering of the abdominal muscles) is usually an intrinsic part of tummy tuck surgery. `As you know, it aims to correct any laxity and create a flatter contour.As you have heard, it aims to put everything back to normal rather than make things better than they once were. In theory therefore, this should not be a problem for you and in fact most ladies feel as the though the correction of their rectus sheath is a huge benefitDon't forget to mention your last minute concerns to your surgeon - I am sure they will allay your anxietiesGood luck!

I only tighten the abdominal wall to return it to an anatomic norm rather than tighten it as much as possible. This produces a functional result without producing prolonged discomfort.Find a plastic surgeon with ELITE credentials who performs hundreds
of tummy tuck procedures each year. Then look at the plastic surgeon's
website before and after photo galleries to get a sense of who can
deliver the results. Kenneth Hughes, MD Los Angeles, CA

Typically the muscle plication is done to restore the normal anatomy of the rectus muscles, which had been abnormally spread apart by weight change and/or pregnancy. The overwhelming majority of patients have no sensory awareness of a properly performed plication. There is early postop discomfort, but after a short while, no lasting symptoms. All the best.

The muscles that are tightened with a tummy tuck are the rectus muscles. These are the so called "6-pack" muscles. They are parallel muscles that run north and south on each side of the belly button. These muscle can stretch apart from each other after pregnancy or weight gain. One of the advantages of the tummy tuck surgery is that the separation of these muscles can be repaired and returned to the proper anatomical alignment. This does cause some discomfort after the surgery, but that should be short term. The increase in strength from returning these to the proper position along with the advantages in terms of gaining a flatter tummy out weight the negatives such as temporary postoperative soreness.

Muscle plication if done correctly instead of overdone, will leave you will feeling absolutely normal post op, for the rest of your life.The tummy tuck addresses the divarication of the recti post pregnancy or MWL,which leads to laxity of the abdominal wall. The muscle plication should therefore be performed as an anatomical repair as opposed to a muscle "tightening". All the best for your surgery.

Initially, most patients have pain for 3-5 days. This is followed by intermittent painful muscle spasms for about two weeks. Most patients only have occasional pain after that but it is possible to have prolonged pain. I think it is unlikely that you would have any pain after 4-6 weeks and not even perceive that you had your rectus muscles reapproximated.