I am wondering if 10 days off from work will be enough time for me to return to work after a tummy tuck? I am a teacher.

Returning to Work after a Tummy Tuck depends mainly on the physical demands of your job, and how extensive your surgery is. For example a kindergarten teacher will have very different demands than an 12th grade AP English teacher. Although strenuous activity, and lifting more than ten pounds, must be avoided for 6 weeks, some people can return to work and daily activities as soon as 2 weeks after surgery. Softening of the surgical scars, return of sensation, and loosening of the tight sensation may take several months to a year or more. Abdominoplasty involves a recovery period of 10 to 14 days longer than most plastic surgical procedures. Initial discomfort and decreased mobility is typical. 3-5 days or more of assistance at home is usually indicated. Light activity is comfortable in 10-20 days. No sports or heavy lifting for 6 weeks or more – please discuss with your doctor for specific questions

The smaller tummy tuck operations that involve minimal liposuction in a close to normal weight patient allow recovery faster than more extensive lipo-abdominoplasty operations. It also depends on how tightly the abdominal flap is pulled and how major the abdominal wall repair is. If one is fairly tight because the upper abdominal skin has to be pulled more to get rid of the umbilical donor site, and/or the rectus fascia repair is correcting a very stretched out abdominal wall, the recovery will be 5-10 days longer for comfortable standing up and activity.I have seen patients who got on a plane for business or important personal travel seven days after a tummy tuck and did fine.Using Exparel, long-acting bupivacaine injection, at the time of tummy tuck, greatly diminishes the need for oral pain meds after surgery and allows more mobility in the first three days after surgery.  Using a drainless procedure, with quilting sutures to re-attach the abdominal flap down to the abdominal wall, also increases mobility, since there are no drainage tubes or pain pump tubes to deal with.Patients gradually return to a standing position over 3-7 days, sometimes a little more. When liposuction is done, there can be more discomfort after the first few days from the liposuction of the flanks, than there is from the tummy tuck itself.Full activity with running is usually at about six weeks, although I have seen patients run on a treadmill (without telling me) at two weeks.Recovery is variable and you should discuss this with your plastic surgeon to get a better idea in your own particular case. It will depend on how active your teaching job is, and if it can be modified to be more sedentary or less physically stressful in the first few weeks back on the job. Two or perhaps three weeks after surgery you should probably be able to do an office or sedentary teaching job and feel pretty good. By then you should not need oral narcotic pain meds, except occasionally or at bedtime, and get by on Tylenol.

I tell my patient's to plan on 10-14 days before going back to work. Jobs that demand high levels of physical activity may require a longer recovery period. Good luck!