I had a full tummy tuck in April '15 due to twins. He used permanent sutures to repair my muscles. One year after surgery I developed a hernia an inch above my belly button. I saw my plastic surgeon about it immediately and was told we would just "watch it" despite the fact that I could push it in and out. Upon seeing a surgeon yesterday due to some new pain near my hernia site, I was told I not only have a hernia but i have diastasis again as my lower sutures failed. I am not abnormally active.
June 5, 2017
Answer: Failure of permanent sutures Dear Scarlett James,permanent sutures don't guarantee that your diastasis will be corrected and that you won't have any complications in the future. In some cases, a hernia or diastasis can occur again. In that case a revision surgery might be needed.Daniel Barrett, MD, MHA, MS Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery Member, Am. Society of Plastic Surgery
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June 5, 2017
Answer: Failure of permanent sutures Dear Scarlett James,permanent sutures don't guarantee that your diastasis will be corrected and that you won't have any complications in the future. In some cases, a hernia or diastasis can occur again. In that case a revision surgery might be needed.Daniel Barrett, MD, MHA, MS Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery Member, Am. Society of Plastic Surgery
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June 5, 2017
Answer: Umbilical hernia 2 years after tummy tuck After around 3 months or so, the sutures for the diastasis repair become irrelevant - unneeded. The tissue has enough strength that the repair no longer relies on the sutures. In your situation, there can be at least 3 possibilities for why this developed: 1.) the repair around the belly button didn't extend close enough to it, leaving a weakness still present for the hernia to develop 2.) the was an early disruption of the repair, possibly within the 1st 8 weeks which was not detected but is more evident now for many reasons 3.) your tissues as related to the repair did not heal with enough strength to resist later strong intra-abdominal forces.Regardless, now it sounds like you need to be fully evaluated and have your hernia appropriately repaired.Steven Turkeltaub, MD
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June 5, 2017
Answer: Umbilical hernia 2 years after tummy tuck After around 3 months or so, the sutures for the diastasis repair become irrelevant - unneeded. The tissue has enough strength that the repair no longer relies on the sutures. In your situation, there can be at least 3 possibilities for why this developed: 1.) the repair around the belly button didn't extend close enough to it, leaving a weakness still present for the hernia to develop 2.) the was an early disruption of the repair, possibly within the 1st 8 weeks which was not detected but is more evident now for many reasons 3.) your tissues as related to the repair did not heal with enough strength to resist later strong intra-abdominal forces.Regardless, now it sounds like you need to be fully evaluated and have your hernia appropriately repaired.Steven Turkeltaub, MD
Helpful