What happens to one's body if a person gains about 15 lbs, after tummy tuck?

Normal fluctuations in weight, from 10 to
15 pounds, shouldn’t affect your tummy tuck results. However, if your weight
continues to creep up and you gain 20 or more pounds, the shape of your abdomen
can become distorted and your skin may stretch. If the skin fails to “spring
back,” at that point, you would require corrective surgery. As we age, our
metabolism slows, and it’s important to adapt your diet and lifestyle to these
changes in order to maintain optimal health as well as to preserve the results
of your abdominoplasty.

Weight gain after surgery really depends on your genetics. Some people notice the weight show in their thighs, and others may see it in their mid-section first. However, since fat cells were removed during your surgery, you have less in the area. Therefore, weight gain will be more obvious in other areas of your body. Not everyone will see it in their breasts, but it appears that's the case for you.

Gaining weight in your breasts and not your tummy is really not the result of your tummy tuck.  Everyone distributes their weight gain in different areas of their body. I am always asked the question of "what happens if I liposuction or a tummy tuck and wind up gaining weight?  Will I gain it in another area not my tummy?"  My answer is that you will likely gain your weight in the areas that you typically do.  Now with menopause, that bet is off and the distribution changes.  Usually women will tend to gain weight in the abdominal area once they hit menopause.Hope that helps.

If you gain weight, the fat cells increase in size evenly in your body, where are more fat cells like in the abdomen, the increase in size is more noticeable. When a tummy tuck and liposuction is done, many of the fat cells from those areas are removed and they will not grow back in the same area. So if you gain weight after the tummy tuck, the increase in size will show in the areas you have not had liposuction done, usually the breast, arms, back, etc.

lucky you. a lot of people lay a lot of money to have that kind of occurrence.in all seriousness, you need to look at your lifestyle as your basic metabolic rate goes down with time and you need to eat less

Thanks for your question.This is normal. You might find that your tummy is still flat but you are gaining weight in other areas of your body. It is important to keep your health up to fully take advantage of your surgical results. All the best,Dr. JSB

Thank you for your question.  Adipocytes, or fat cells, are unlike other kinds of cells in the body, in that they don't divide.  The number of fat cells you have is constant after your teenage years.  The way we gain weight is that the individual cells grow with the absorption of more fatty acids.  After an abdominoplasty, there are fewer fat cells on the abdominal wall, so weight fluctuation will tend to affect other sites of the body more prominently.  Certainly some fat cells persist on the abdomen, so weight change can still be noted on the tummy.  The truth is we all have individual genetic predisposition to the specific sites that we gain and loose weight.  We all have different problem sites, and we don't get to pick where we gain and loose weight.  As you know, the best strategy to preserve the results of your surgery, is to do your very best with diet, exercise, and healthy lifestyle.  Although this may be difficult with hormone changes, your efforts will pay off!  Good luck!

The residual fat cells in your body will enlarge, but at different rates depending on their sensitivity.  Often, during liposuction or abdominoplasty, cells which are more sensitive to enlarging are removed to permit a more even or desirable contour.  However, by gaining weight, you are likely adding weight over your whole body.  You may be adding slightly to the thickness of your trunk or to your intraabdominal fat stores.  You may need to increase your activity or adjust your calories to keep your weight down.