I received a tummy tuck a couple of years ago and when I do crunches, my tummy looks weird like the muscles go to the sides and my abdomen looks wide if that makes sense. Could the muscles have separated? Not sure what to do. Thank you.
May 7, 2021
Answer: Muscle separation During your tummy tuck, your muscles were tightened. Sometimes the repair becomes undone in a certain area and that area can bulge out, you would need another procedure to go back in and re-tighten or reinforce that area. Hope this helps! Johnson C. Lee, MD Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon
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May 7, 2021
Answer: Muscle separation During your tummy tuck, your muscles were tightened. Sometimes the repair becomes undone in a certain area and that area can bulge out, you would need another procedure to go back in and re-tighten or reinforce that area. Hope this helps! Johnson C. Lee, MD Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon
Helpful 1 person found this helpful
Answer: Muscle separation after tummy tuck. The muscles will separate slightly with increased intra-abdominal pressure after a tummy tuck but this is fairly slight in comparison to how tight most plastic surgeons do muscle tightening. The biggest reason patients believe they have abdominal muscle laxity after having a tummy tuck is because of increased visceral fat. I’m not sure if that’s the case for you. It typically would not present with exercise the way you described. In some patients the rectus muscles get buried or partially buried in an attempt to do extreme muscle tightening. Regardless, there probably isn’t much to do about it at this point. I’m not sure if anyone can give you a truly accurate answer to what your concern is. Best, Mats Hagstrom MD
Helpful
Answer: Muscle separation after tummy tuck. The muscles will separate slightly with increased intra-abdominal pressure after a tummy tuck but this is fairly slight in comparison to how tight most plastic surgeons do muscle tightening. The biggest reason patients believe they have abdominal muscle laxity after having a tummy tuck is because of increased visceral fat. I’m not sure if that’s the case for you. It typically would not present with exercise the way you described. In some patients the rectus muscles get buried or partially buried in an attempt to do extreme muscle tightening. Regardless, there probably isn’t much to do about it at this point. I’m not sure if anyone can give you a truly accurate answer to what your concern is. Best, Mats Hagstrom MD
Helpful