Tummy Tuck with Muscle repair at 58. Yes or No?

[Anonymous]

I had breast reconstruction which required fat. My surgeon took the fat from my stomach, which sounded great, but now my stomach is very loose. I also have an extensive diastasis recti which will be repaired which I’m hoping will help with core stability. At my age, would you do it? I’m a great health and at a good weight.
Also, any surgeon recommendations known for great muscle repair and nice aesthetic results would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

I was younger than you when I did it, but it was literally life changing. There's no way to get rid of loose skin without it. If the problem was mostly diastasis you could repair it with PT (and you still should consider that both before and after to put you in the best position for surgical repair), but the skin has to be removed by a surgeon.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I would do it. My sister had hers at 55 with zero regrets and I’m considering mine at 54.

[Anonymous]

I did it at 43. I'm 57 now and would do it again today. My diastasis and umbilical hernia made me look perpetually pregnant--PT helped a bit, but it could not undo what stretching of the fascia had done.

[Anonymous]

I did it and I LOVE the way it looks. Recovery was awful though. The other I have years later though is there is some skin that didn't fully get back the nerves. So it feels "weird" to touch that skin and I don't love the way my pants feel against my skin (4 years later).

But that being said. I probably would do it again as it looks amazing and fixing the diastis fixed my lower back issues. Just be prepared for the worst recovery ever.

[Anonymous]

Nope!!

[Anonymous]

Worst recovery ever means what? How long with no cardio? (I am a runner) And how long before you can do simple things like go pick the kids up at school? I'm not OP but considering the same surgery as I have terrible diastis recti and can't do any core work as a result. Also looking more and more bloated as I age due to the separation of the muscles I guess. I think repairing this sooner or later will help with aging because it's terrible on the core. I don't have any loose skin just bad diastis/separation it seems.

[Anonymous]

P.S. - Please post any great surgeon recs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Worst recovery ever means what? How long with no cardio? (I am a runner) And how long before you can do simple things like go pick the kids up at school? I'm not OP but considering the same surgery as I have terrible diastis recti and can't do any core work as a result. Also looking more and more bloated as I age due to the separation of the muscles I guess. I think repairing this sooner or later will help with aging because it's terrible on the core. I don't have any loose skin just bad diastis/separation it seems.

Not the person who said the worst recovery ever, but co-sign that thought. I had 3 c-sections. I was walking after 2-3 days regularly, and up and about after 2 weeks practically living a normal life. Doctors always comment on how well I heal.

The tummy tuck totally knocked me out for 6-8 weeks. I extended the amount of time I initially requested to work from home. For the first week I remember a TON of sleeping - just sleeping. Dealing with drains, being basically unable to do much of anything, it was intense.

[Anonymous]

HECK NO!

[Anonymous]

I think the thing for me here is that it's a long term health/function issue with repairing the diastis so that the core can function for the back as we age. If it were purely aesthetic it wouldn't be worth it to me - supposed to be imperfect in our 50's.

[Anonymous]

I see no reason not to go to a consultation and figure out if it makes sense in your case. No reason to live with that if it can be repaired. Recovery is legitimately tough for a couple of weeks. You will need a fair amount of help the first week and then can resume a pretty normal life at 2 weeks. But it's definitely one of those surgeries that you want to take the time to recover properly to ensure the best results.

Highly recommend Dr. Adam Tattelbaum in Rockville.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the thing for me here is that it's a long term health/function issue with repairing the diastis so that the core can function for the back as we age. If it were purely aesthetic it wouldn't be worth it to me - supposed to be imperfect in our 50's.

But isn’t PT better than surgery for the function piece?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the thing for me here is that it's a long term health/function issue with repairing the diastis so that the core can function for the back as we age. If it were purely aesthetic it wouldn't be worth it to me - supposed to be imperfect in our 50's.

But isn’t PT better than surgery for the function piece?

Nope. I had a significant DR (full 5 fingers wide) and a hernia. My mid section felt like a black hole and I had to use my arms to push myself up from sitting or laying down.I did 3 months of PT with no improvement. My PT was very clear it would not resolve with PT but I gave it a try. It took several hundred stitches by my surgeon to close. So, so glad I didn’t have to live like that for any longer!

[Anonymous]

Dr. Barry Cohen in Rockville is great.