Get the real deal on beauty treatments—real doctors, real reviews, and real photos with real results.Here's how we earn your trust.
Hello and Great Question. I know there is a significant amount of debate on this topic. I feel you should wear both a binder and a compression garment. I also think these should be worn at all times for 6 weeks after surgery. Then, I think you should wear the garment for an additional 6 weeks during the daytime. Why? My Tummy tucks include liposuction. This really helps to bring in the waist and create that “hour-glass” shape. It also allows me to remove fat from the upper part of the abdomen. This helps to sculpt a 3-Dimensional Torso. Liposuction is a great adjunct, but it causes the remaining fat to swell. The compression garment and binder help to put pressure and reduce the swelling getting you a quicker recovery and quicker final results. The Tummy Tuck itself involves lifting your tummy skin and tightening. The end goal is getting that tummy skin to be “tight and flat”. Thus, creating a tight and fit tummy. How do we make sure that the tummy skin heals in the area we want it? By utilizing compression garments and binders. In addition, the use of binders and compression garments minimize the length of a drain; and potentially does not require us to utilize drains at all! Alright, so compression garments and binders are good, but why do they need to be utilized for so long? Because it takes time to heal. The majority of healing takes about 6 weeks and this is why the compression garments and binders are worn at all times, except when showering, for the first 6 weeks. Swelling happens from any surgery. The swelling in a tummy tuck can last for about 3 months and this swelling can “hide” the hour glass figure. This is why you can stop wearing the binder after 6 weeks, but I still want you to continue the compression garment for another 6 weeks during the daytime only.I hope that helps. Best of Luck!
I typical do not use compression until it has been a month from the surgery, and the blood supply to the flap has been allowed to stabilizee. At that point, with the wounds healed, I will place the patient in a compression garment if they will benefit from it. Typically the beneficial effects of compression are maximized if the patient wears the garment for several months.
You should wear a compression garment after tummy tuck for a minimum of 6 weeks, but preferably for 3 months. This will help with the swelling, especially as you resume more activity postop.
After a tummy tuck, patients must wear a compression garment for a period of 2 months to keep the abdomen tight for a faster healing and to reduce swelling.
Depending on the extent of the procedure, I have my patients wear an abdominal binder for 4-8 weeks post surgery. I keep the binder snug, but not tight to where it is painful, hard to breathe or can cut off blood supply to the skin. The binder helps the tissues heal and helps resolve the swelling more rapidly in my experience. Some patients actually like the feeling of the snug abdominal binder/girdle and may wear it for several months or more post operatively.
This is a great question and something I think is variable from person to person. I spend a lot of time talking about compression in the post operative period and apply a regime that starts with a garment and binder day and night and then I gradually start reducing this at the 6 - 8 weeks post operative phase, dependant on how well the body swelling is responding to the compression. By four months most patients are just wearing the garment during the day but still advised to use both during exercise - up to six to nine months post operative. I'm sure that some of my patients curse my name during this phase but I happy to accept it as a good compression regime will give good results. Some of my patients reversely insist on carrying on wearing the compression even after 9 months and there is no doubt that these patients have the best results. Be guided by your plastic surgeon.
