I’m two years out from a tummy tuck, can an intense workout including abs undo the muscle repair?

Thank you for your question. If your tummy tuck was performed with permanent sutures, then theoretically it should be very strong and ready for exercise and stress at the 6-8 week post-operative period. With your surgery being several years ago, it is unlikely that you had a disruption of your abdominal wall repair. For right now, best treatment would be use of topical ice, use of Tylenol or NSAIDS for pain relief, and gentle external compression with a Spanx type garment for a short period of time. Once the swelling and pain resolve, you could resume your heavier activities and follow for symptoms. If it does appear that the pain and swelling tend to be more permanent, then best advice would be to obtain an ultrasound of the area, which would evaluate for possible changes to the abdominal wall and possible hernia formation. My prediction is that this is just a temporary injury.
Dann Leonard, MD

Although it is rare, rectus diastasis repairs can fail. The abdominal muscles are powerful, and can rend the fascia and sutures if tested with vigor and repeated exertion. Abdominal extercise generally does not cause swelling above the umbilicus. Give it a couple weeks to settle down, then if it persists go see a plastic surgeon. Best wishes

Matthew C Camp

At two years post op you are seeing your final results from your abominoplasty and any repairs are completely healed. You may have caused an injury/strain to the muscle that should improve with rest. If not, return to your surgeon for an evaluation.