How long after my abdominoplasty and flanks lipo is it safe to snowboard? Obviously risk of failing on jumps and rails

After tummy tuck surgery, I advise the patients to take two weeks off from work. The patients may return to work, but may not engage in any strenuous activity. At two months, the patients start low impact cardio. At three months they can engage in more strenuous physical activity. If anything hurts or causes swelling, we ask them to back off somewhat. If you exercise or do some particular activity that results in pain or swelling you are doing too much for your personal recovery at that time.  Not everyone heals the same.  You need to make sure that you don’t cause more swelling.  Fighting the swelling or working through the pain will certainly backfire. I prefer the patients to stay in town for two weeks if they from more than 2-3 hours away.  I do not allow patients to fly before 2 to 3 weeks at the very minimum.

Thank you for your question regarding when it’s safe to resume snowboarding after abdominoplasty and flanks liposuction. While it's great that you’re eager to get back to your active lifestyle, it’s important to give your body sufficient time to heal before engaging in high-risk activities like snowboarding, especially when jumps and rails are involved.

In general, after abdominoplasty and liposuction, most surgeons recommend waiting at least 6 to 8 weeks before returning to moderate physical activity. However, snowboarding involves twisting movements, falls, and high-impact forces, which could put strain on your abdominal muscles and healing incisions. For activities with a higher risk of falls, like snowboarding, it’s typically safer to wait 3 to 6 months before resuming, depending on how your recovery progresses.

The key is to avoid any activity that might strain your abdominal muscles, stretch your incisions, or cause direct trauma to the surgical areas. I recommend consulting with your surgeon for a personalized timeline based on your recovery, as they can assess your healing and guide you on when it’s safe to resume more intense activities like snowboarding.

Sincerely,
Dr. Katzen

I would recommend you wait at least 3 months before any strenuous activity,start with some low impact cardio,best of luck!

Thank you for sharing your question and congratulations on your procedure.  If you did not have a muscle repair performed you could likely resume snowboarding 4-6 weeks after surgery.  If a muscle repair was performed you are likely looking at 3 months due to the torque and tension placed on your stomach muscles, as well as the risks of falling.  Hope this helps.

Good morning. Consult your plastic surgeon directly before resuming snowboarding, but as a general rule, wait a minimum of 12 weeks (3 months) and up to 16 weeks (4 months) if you plan to perform high-risk maneuvers (jumps, rails, etc.). You can contact us at 920-554-6062 for all the recommendations regarding your surgery.

Hi, thanks for your question. Regularly, a patient can go back to regular physical activity after six months. Anyway, as you may know, every patient is different and it depends on your condition and the procedure performed. Only your surgeon can allow you to snowboard after a physical exam. Good luck!