Home / What's going on? / Tummy tuck recovery
Post-operative care · South Berkeley
The swelling lasts longer than anyone told you.
Abdominoplasty is one of the most disruptive procedures there is, lymphatically speaking. A hip-to-hip incision cuts straight across the pathways that drain your entire lower abdomen, so fluid arrives and then finds the road closed. That is why you are tight, heavy, numb in places, and still swollen at week six when you expected to be fine.
- Common start
- Once your surgeon clears you
- Typical course
- A short series, not one visit
- Also covers
- Fleur-de-lis, mommy makeover
- First step
- A free phone call with me
What is actually happening
Fluid has nowhere to go.
Your lymphatic vessels run in predictable routes, and a horizontal abdominal incision severs a great many of them at once. The fluid your body produces in response to surgery still arrives, but the usual drainage routes are gone.
Manual Lymph Drainage does not push fluid out. It encourages it toward the pathways that still work, often re-routing across the body to nodes that were not affected. That is why the work often happens nowhere near your incision, particularly early on.
It also matters for what does not happen. Fluid that sits still is fluid that can harden, and hardened tissue is much slower to resolve than fluid that kept moving.
Everything mobilises the moment an incision happens. The question is whether it has anywhere useful to go.
What this helps with
The things people actually call me about.
Every one of these depends on your surgeon clearing you first.
Swelling and tightness
The main event, and the reason most people find me. Steady, gentle work over several visits does considerably more than one dramatic session.
Fluid and seroma risk
Keeping fluid moving through the early weeks. If a seroma has already formed, that is your surgeon, not me.
Bruising
Damaged cells and blood products clear faster when the lymphatic system is helped along.
Numbness and odd sensation
Very common across the lower abdomen and usually temporary. Gentle work helps the tissue settle.
Hardness and fibrosis
Areas that feel firm or lumpy. Easier to prevent than to resolve, which is why early visits matter.
The scar, later
Once fully closed, I work the scar with Dolphin microcurrent and hand technique. An abdominal scar can pull for years if nobody addresses it.
Timing
When to start, and how often.
Your surgeon sets this and I work inside it. Many surgeons are happy for gentle drainage within the first week or two, sometimes with drains still in, sometimes not until they are out. Some prefer to wait longer.
What is close to universal: recovery after abdominoplasty is a short series rather than a single visit. Sessions close together early, spacing out as things settle. We work out a realistic cadence on the call, including what is realistic for your budget.
If you have had a fleur-de-lis tummy tuck, with both a horizontal and a vertical incision, or a full mommy makeover with breast surgery as well, expect more sessions. There is simply more disrupted territory.
Scar work waits until everything is fully closed. That is usually weeks later, and it is worth coming back for.
Worth saying plainly
Where my part ends.
I do not diagnose a seroma
If you have a pocket of fluid that is not moving, or an area that suddenly changes, that is your surgeon the same day.
Anything sudden goes to them
New or worsening swelling, redness, warmth, fever, or unusual pain. Drainage is never the answer to a possible complication.
I do not do wound care
If something opens up we pause, your surgeon deals with it, and we resume once they are happy.
I will not promise a number
Anyone who tells you exactly how many sessions before they have seen your body is guessing.
Before you call
Questions I get asked.
How soon after a tummy tuck can I have lymphatic drainage?
It depends on your surgeon, your drains, and how you are healing. Many people start within the first week or two with gentle work away from the incision. Ask your surgeon, tell me what they said, and we will plan from there.
How many sessions will I need?
More than one. Abdominoplasty recovery is usually a short series, closer together early and spacing out as swelling settles. I will give you an honest range once I have seen and felt what is happening.
Will it hurt?
It should not. This is very light work, and early on it happens well away from the surgical site. If anything is uncomfortable, you say so and I adjust.
Can lymphatic drainage prevent a seroma?
Keeping fluid moving is helpful, but nobody can promise prevention, and I will not. If a seroma forms it belongs with your surgeon.
When can you work on my scar?
Once it is fully closed: steri-strips off, scabs gone naturally, skin intact, and your surgeon satisfied. Usually several weeks. It is worth coming back for.
I had a mommy makeover, not just a tummy tuck. Is it different?
Yes, in scale. Breast surgery adds a second set of disrupted pathways in the upper quadrants. It is the same work, there is simply more of it.
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The next step
Tell me where you are in this.
Fifteen free minutes on the phone. Tell me your procedure, the date, and what your surgeon has said, and I will tell you honestly when to start, roughly how many visits to expect, and what is normal for where you are.