Will binge eating large amounts of food stretch the faschia/muscle repair from a tummy tuck 5 months post op?

The muscle repair will usually relax with time and initially makes eating large amounts of food somewhat uncomfortable if the stomach does not have enough room to expand.  However, I think the more important question is, why would you want to binge eat a large amount of food?  This is not a healthy eating style and will likely lead to other problems including weight gain and potential metabolic problems, so I would really recommend against it.  If you are attending a one-time event and expect to overindulge, you should be fine.  Best of luck!

Dear foreveryoung908,

Thank you for your clinical post. Tummy tuck generally involves removal of
excess skin, recreation of a new belly button and tightening of the rectus
abdominis muscles. It may include some
liposuction on the flank to give a total torso contouring. The muscle repair after 5 months is extremely
strong and held together by your own collagen fibres, not just the
sutures. A single or occasional binge-eating
episode should not challenge the rectus plication or muscle repair. However, a significant weight gain following
overeating will over time increase the intra-abdominal omental fat and can
indeed stretch out the rectus repair.
After investing time and energy in an abdominoplasty a very structured
approach to weight maintenance and diet is important. Binge eating or emotional eating can usually
be counterbalanced by support groups, such as Weight Watchers and I would
strongly advise that you seek a healthy, balanced lifestyle both
psychologically and physically and commit to weight neutrality to protect your
investment achieved through the tummy tuck.
Occasional binge-eating can occur and when it occurs in isolation and is
extremely intermittent should not challenge your cosmetic result.

I hope this information has been of some assistance and best
of luck.

For more information, please review the link below.

R. Stephen Mulholland, M.D.

Certified Plastic Surgeon

Yorkville, Toronto