Diastasis Recti - can it come back again after a tummy tuck?

Question

Can a tummy tuck come "undone"? I have diastasis recti from having twins. I told Julie Tupler (Tupler technique) that I would be having a TT this year and was going to stop following her program. She said tummy tucks will come "undone" if I don't continue her program!? When I went to a consult appointment last year the cosmetic surgeon told me that once I healed from surgery, I could go back to any type of workout I wanted - core work, planks, pilates, crunches golf - anything I wanted. Who's correct?

Carmina Cardenas, MD · Answer

There is no way to "undone" a Tummy Tuck besides putting on weight (50lbs or more) after Tummy Tuck or getting pregnant of twins again. The Tummy Tuck is done in combination with muscle repair, which is, in reality, the procedure which fixes the recti diastasis throught suturing or stitching together and tighten the muscular fascia to reduce or eliminate the gap or the loose muscle. That firmness will be a bit softer over the months but never again loose or diastatic, again, unless to put on weight or get pregnant of twins. So be encouraged. You will not loose your nice and tight abdominal wall after your tummy tuck just to stope an exercise program. Dr. Cardenas

Kenneth Hughes, MD · Answer

The answer is that this can happen.  I have not seen it happen in about 1000 tummy tucks.Find
 a plastic surgeon who performs hundreds of tummy tucks each year, has great reviews, and has great before and after 
pictures.Kenneth Hughes, MDLos Angeles, CA

Earl Stephenson, Jr., MD, DDS, MBA · Answer

I'm not familiar with the Julie Tupler work out. If you have a nicely executed tummy tuck with a muscle repair the repair should hold. The only way that your diastases can return is if you gain a lot of weight or have another baby to stretch the repair.Good luck.Earl Stephenson Jr. MD D.D.S. FACS

Thomas A. Pane, MD · Answer

A tummy tuck seldom becomes undone.  Having a pregnancy afterwards can (but does not always) lead to a return of abdominal laxity.  Gaining and losing a lot of weight can also affect tummy tuck results.  But there are some issues with the advice you have been given from the diastasis program.  One is that in a tummy tuck, the muscles will be secured together with heavy sutures.  It is unlikely for this to come undone without a pregnancy and/or significant weight loss.  Second, it does not seem that any exercise program to correct diastasis has been published in the peer-reviewed surgical literature, at least as far as I can tell.

Diastasis Recti - can it come back again after a tummy tuck?

Answers (4)

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