How painful is the Tummy tuck procedure on a scale of one to ten?

Post op pain after a tummy tuck is variable. It depends on what kind of local medication is given at the time of surgery. Also Exparel is a long acting numbing medicine that can be put in at the time of surgery which can last several days. Some docs will use post op pain pumps. Also it depends on the actual patient's own pain thresh hold. That being said, across the board I would anticipate a pain level of 4-7 ( 1 being none - 10 being the worst) for the first few days.

Thank you for sharing your question and congratulations on your desire to pursue a tummy tuck.  In most cases tightening of the stomach muscles is performed during the procedure  in order to obtain the best result, with a cinched waist and flatter appearance.  This does come at increased post-surgical pain, typically rated as 6-7/10 in severity for the first several days after surgery.  This varies widely by patient however as I have had some patients be able to return to work comfortably within a week.  Hope this helps.

Hello Lori and thanks so much for this question. Tummy tucks are painful when the muscles are tightened. I would rate a 7 to 8 out of 10 for the first 48 hours without local anesthesia. I now prefer to use Exparel for all my tummy tucks because it drops the pain level by about 50%. I'm not the only one that's seen that type of result with this local anesthetic that works for 72 hours to improve pain control. The other surgeons at the facility I used have also switched to this technique. Hope this helps! Dr. Aldo

Thank you for your question. A tummy tuck  is certainly one of the most uncomfortable plastic surgical procedures to recover from. This discomfort is due to the plication (tightening) of the separated rectus muscles which occurs due to child birth. The plication is necessary in order to create a flatter/tighter tummy. However the post operative pain can be greatly reduced by placing  pain pump infusion catheters or injecting Exparel into the plicated muscle region during the tummy tuck procedure.  With one of these two options patients experience much less discomfort and are pleasantly surprised how much more comfortable the recovery is compared to women who did not receive these pain preventative measures. Best of luck!

Thank you for your question. it is really individual when it comes to the level of pain. A lot of clients compare it wih the discomfort of a C section. A pain pump decreases the pain drastically in the first days after surgery. Best of luck