How long is recovery from a full tummy tuck?
With a full tummy tuck a longer incision is made. Every effort is made to plan the incision in such a way that it will be covered by the briefest of clothing. This normally is your bathing suit. Through the incision, skin and fat is lifted off of the muscle up to the belly button. At that point an incision is made around the belly button to allow for the skin between the belly button and the bottom of the rib cage to be freed up. The extra excess skin is then measured and removed. The muscle is then tightened. Once the muscle is tightened the incision is closed. Normally one or two suction drains are placed to remove fluid which may accumulate in this area in the postoperative period. The suction drains remain until drainage diminishes.
