6 weeks post op Tummy Tuck and muscle repair. Can I start static planking and other ab exercises yet? (photos)

Question

Exercise 6 weeks after tummy tuck and muscle repair. Can I start static planking and other ab exercises yet ? Before my tt I worked out most days and did a lot of abdominal workouts I also do a lot of pole fittness which uses a lot of abdominal core strength how long before I can start basic pole and inverting on the pole ? Pic below of trick on pole

Gary Lawton, MD, FACS · Answer

I do not allow my patients to do any core exercises for 6 months after a tummy tuck.  You are likely to tear the muscle reconstruction with this activity.

Joel Patrick Maier, MD · Answer

In my practice, 6 weeks is adequate
recovery to start your normal workout routine including abdominal exercises.
One must use judgment holding off if you get sore or feel pulling sensations,
swelling or other signs of stress on the healing tissues. Ultimately, you need
to follow your surgeon’s recommendations since she/he performed the surgery. Congratulations
on you successful procedure and recovery!

Vincent N. Zubowicz, MD · Answer

Is really not proper for someone to answer your question specifically. You should listen to the instructions of your own surgeon. My patients can begin exercises that target the abdominal muscles in six weeks and gradually increase intensity until full activity is achieved in three months.

Joseph L. Grzeskiewicz, MD, FACS · Answer

To be truthful, any time frame that you get to resume exercise like this will be somewhat arbitrary as it will be designed to protect the abdominal muscle repair from excessive stress which could disrupt a repair that is not completely healed sufficiently to tolerate that stress.  In reality, scar tissue does not fully mature and gain its maximum stable tensile strength for a year following injury/surgery, however, in reality, nobody is going to wait an entire year to return to normal activities.  Thus, we have to arrive at a time at which we feel that most of the patients have developed sufficient strength in their repairs to allow at least a gradual and measured return to such activities.  If we pick a time to start that is too soon, a greater number of repairs will fail; if we wait longer than we need to, people will lay off of their exercise and other normal routines longer than need be.  For me, in my practice, and with the type of repair that I perform, this time frame seems to be around 12 weeks, or 3 months before I would let my patients resume that type of rigorous exercise.  Can some people do it sooner?  Probably.  Do some people need to wait even longer?  Probably.  However, this time frame seems be well tolerated by people, and it seems to cover the vast majority of my patients, as we see few, if any, problems with weakening of the repair.  Much of this, of course, is predicated on the type of repair that is performed too, as in the early stages most of the stress on the repair is borne by the sutures and the tissues holding the sutures.  Single layer repairs and repairs using absorbable sutures might be expected to require more time to heal sufficiently before stress than other types.  Another thing to note is that in the early weeks, probably from 2 weeks until about 6 or 8 weeks, the tissues are actually WEAKER than they were on the actual day of surgery.  This sounds crazy, but it's because during that time the tissues are maximally inflamed, and this causes softening of the tissues allowing the sutures to "slice" through them sort of like a cheese cutter through cheese.  My suggestion is to check with your surgeon before beginning ANY type of physical activity, and for your own protection follow his or her advice precisely.  In the end, a short investment of time to heal will result in a longer lasting, beautiful result for years to come.  Good luck.

Jourdan Gottlieb, MD · Answer

Not being a witness to your recovery, I am reluctant to advise you on this. Your own surgeon is your proper resource for this question.Most allow resumption of activities with some limitations by 6 weeks, at which time the wound strength has reached 90% of its eventual strength.All the best.

6 weeks post op Tummy Tuck and muscle repair. Can I start static planking and other ab exercises yet? (photos)

Answers (5)

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