What does remodeling mean and what goes on inside as a tummy tuck heals?

Dear drflhelp,

Your question is a great one and it highlights the truly intricate and impressive nature of the human body's healing mechanisms. When we say "remodeling," we're referring to the changes your body undergoes as it heals and adjusts to the alterations made during surgery. This process involves a number of different components.

Let's break it down:

Inflammation: In the immediate aftermath of your surgery, your body's immune system responds to the surgical trauma with inflammation. This involves an increased blood flow to the area, bringing immune cells to combat any potential infections and to start the healing process.

New Tissue Formation: Your body then begins to create new tissue to replace any that was lost or damaged during surgery. Fibroblasts, a type of cell, start producing collagen, which forms the building blocks of most tissues in the body.

Scar Tissue Formation: The body forms scar tissue at the site of the incision. This is a natural part of the healing process and is made of collagen just like the new tissue. Over time, this scar tissue will flatten and fade, although it never completely disappears.

Tissue Remodeling: This is a crucial part of the healing process. The new tissue that's been created is slowly remodeled to more closely resemble the tissue that was there before. This process can take months to years and is the reason why your final surgical results aren't immediately visible after surgery.

Muscle Repair and Nerve Regeneration: In terms of muscles, they are sutured together during the tummy tuck to repair the abdominal muscle separation (diastasis recti). Over time, these sutures dissolve and the body replaces them with scar tissue. This process can cause some discomfort, but it's a necessary part of reinforcing the muscles. Regarding nerves, it's normal to experience numbness after a tummy tuck due to the nerves being disrupted during surgery. However, nerves can slowly regenerate over time, often returning sensation to the area.

Lymphatics and Blood Vessels: Immediately after surgery, you may experience swelling due to disruption of the lymphatic system, which helps to remove fluid from tissues. However, over time, new lymphatic vessels are formed to help reduce this swelling. Similarly, new blood vessels are formed to ensure adequate blood supply to the healing tissues.

Remember, every person's body heals at its own rate, and the healing process may look slightly different for everyone. I hope this gives you a clearer idea of what your surgeon meant by "remodeling". Feel free to ask further questions if you have them!

Dr. Katzen

Hi! Thank you for your question.After tummy tuck and liposuction operation, combined with muscle repair, the healing process starts. The inner structures of fat and fascia adheres back to the abdominal wall. The repaired rectus muscle (actually the fascia of the muscle) is narrowed and formed as a stronger connective tissue structure. The lymphatics that are cut during the operation improve and find their new ways and regenerate. The sensory nerves that are cut during the surgery heal and they start to take the skin sensation with time. So this overall healing process happens with time and may go up to two years. Remodeling phase is mainly describes the scar healing process when the scar fibrous tissue healed but is still changing in shape, size and color and most probably will fade and result in a finer appearance.I hope I could answer your question.