Ledge after tummy tuck? Normal swelling? Very worried, belly button too shallow? 30, 4 kids, piercing stayed? Revision? (Photo)

You are very early in the healing process. Those areas should calm down over several months.Close follow up with your plastic surgeon is recommended during this settling time.

Thanks for reaching out.  The shelf may still be do to swelling in your abdominal skin.  I would wait a full six months before any revision. The same goes for the pleating.  Are you using any scar cream to help with the scarring?  If not I would definitely recommend that.

Thank you for your question.

You are still quite early in the recovery process and many of the concerns you are seeing will improve as your post operative edema resolves and some skin tightening occurs.  Hang in there and maintain contact with your plastic surgeon they will be most interested in seeing you have the expected results.  Given your preoperative photo it is not surprising that the old belly button piercing was not able to be removed based on low position of scar (that is desirable) and the moderate skin excess you had before surgery.

All of these concerns can be addressed with minor touch up work if they do not resolve with more time.  I advise all my patients that we will wait 9-12 months before touch up work like dog ear excision, spot liposuction, or scar revisions.

Best Dr. L

You look very early in the healing process and likely are very swollen.  You may end up needing dog ear revision on the sides but I would give it 6 months or longer to settle.

Thank you for your question. Your concerns are very normal - depending on the amount of muscle tightening, skin removal, and liposuction performed, it can take up to about 6 months to 1 year to see your final results. The shelf that you're talking about is normal - the lower abdomen can remain swollen for a long period of time. I would advise continuing compression - I have my patients wear some sort of compression for at least 3 months if tolerated. The pleating will get better over time, and soften. It will just take time. The pleating is used to help eliminate the potential of dog ears. As far as your belly button, that too will take time. I suggest keeping close follow-up with your plastic surgeon, and listening to his or her advice. So far though, it seems as though you are healing quite well. Best of luck! 

While it is easy to look at results 4 weeks out and be dissatisfied, it often takes several weeks to months longer for the body to go through the normal healing process of swelling (edema) reduction, skin tightening and shrinking, and nerve and blood vessel healing.  And patients heal at different rates than other patients for a variety of different reasons.  Keep in contact with your surgeon and don't hesitate to voice your concerns.