If You Are Suppose to Walk As Much As Possible After Tummy Tuck Surgery. What About During the Night.

During the day, you should walk leisurely around to maintain your circulation, however at night you don't have to get up every hour to do that. This would interrupt your natural sleep cycle, which would adversely affect your recovery. If you make sure you remain fairly active during the day, you won't have to worry about the night.

You should try to walk around as much as you can after a tummy tuck in order to minimize the chance of forming a blood clot (DVT) in your legs. You don't have to necessarily walk during the night, but while you are awake you should walk every hour or two- even if it's just for a few minutes.  You can also wear some TED hose, which are elastic stockings which increase the circulation in your veins-even when you are resting.

Consult your plastic surgeon for more specific guidelines regarding your activity after a tummy tuck.

Best wishes,

Dr.Bruno

Any walking is great no matter the time of day. But best to discuss with your chosen surgeon his post operative walking protocols. 

Walking is important after tummy tuck to encourage the circulation in your legs to prevent bloods clots or DVT. We encourage all to up frequently around the house and not to lie in bed. At night of course you can sleep, and your doctor may send you home with elastic hose to wear the first few nights. Avoid the temptation to sit still and you will feel better and recover faster.
Best of luck,
peterejohnsonmd

As previously stated by other responders, the walking you are doing during the day should be sufficient. 

The primary reason to walk and move your legs is to prevent  a blood clot in the legs that can travel to the lungs and cause a pulmonary embolism.  The muscles in your legs help keep the blood from pooling which can lead to clotting.  If you are ambulating regularly throughout the day then you should be fine.  At night, we tend to move around naturally- the body seems to take care of repositioning itself while we sleep.  The only time that I would recommend anything different would be if a patient has a history of blood clots or family history of blood clots.  In those cases I will either add a blood thinner such as lovenox or send you home with sequential compression boots on your legs.  If you do not have any such history then just make sure you move around frequently when awake and rest at night without much worry. 

Walking is encouraged to prevent phlebitis and DVT.  It does not take more than a light stroll several times in a day. Strenuous activity is to be discouraged as this may bring on wound healing problems.  Waking yourself from a night’s restful sleep to walk is also not necessary as your daytime activities will be sufficient in preventing complications.

I like for my patients to get up and down to go to the bathroom, and eat. While you are recovering we encourage you to flex your hips, bend your knees, wiggle your feet and toes. Get some nice calf massage from the Hubby. Why? we do not want the dreaded complication of a blot clot in your leg vein. Even worse is if you get a clot and it breaks off and travels to your lungs and give you a pulmonary embolism. By keeping your lower body in action, you minimize your potential for this problem. Do these exercises for 2-3 weeks or until you are fully ambulatory

It is important to be up and walking during the day in order to reduce the risk of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) or a blood clot in the leg, which can break off and travel to the lung (pumonary embolus).  Although not common, it is a higher risk in tummy tuck patients than with other procedures, and it is more of a risk in patients after any surgery who are at extended bed rest.  I do not have my patients get up during the night to walk around.  It is important to get your sleep as well!