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  • Know Before You Go: Tummy Tuck Tips
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Male Voice: So if you think about having a tummy tuck, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. One is you really should be at an appropriate weight. If you have some weight loss to do, then do that in advance because the tummy tuck is not really going to do it for you. You should have a body mass index of less than 30.

Think about any medications you're on that might interfere with the surgery, things like certain supplements. Make sure you talk to your surgeon about that. If you're a smoker, you absolutely have to quit. That's just completely incompatible with doing the surgery safely.

You want to think about kind of postoperative arrangements. You are going to first of all want to be a little bit active. You want to get up and walk around a little bit just to keep the blood flow into your legs and minimize the risk of blood clots.

On the other hand, some people say, "Oh, I'm a good healer. I'm just going to kind of power through this." And if you're too active, then you risk causing bleeding and just kind of issues that can cause a bigger setback.

So follow your surgeon's advice about what medications to use. Sometimes people hear, "Oh, my friend took this supplement and she said it really helped her healing." You know, it might actually have completely untended effect. So really make sure that you're clearing with your plastic surgeon whatever medications you're going to take. Make sure you've got, you know, a help around the house, movies to watch maybe if you don't feel like going out.

Know Before You Go: Tummy Tuck Tips

Dr. Richard Baxter shares some things to consider before your tummy tuck procedure.