This is VERY Normal to have the mons become swollen, bruised and enlarged following abdominal surgery.  Everything drains downward and the catch all is the mons. This area will often become enlarged and discolored and stay that way for quite some time.  You also can have a vessel in that area bleed a fair amount with the placement of the drains.  This is very common and will fully resolve.  If you had liposuction of this area, it is more likely to have manifest swelling.  Hardness would reflect either clotted blood or scar tissue inseting following the liposuction.  In all cases, it will resolve.

Pain control following any procedure is critical. I recommend the patient’s take Ibuprophen 800 mg every 6 hours and add to this 1-2 Vicoden or equivalent narcotic as needed. The Ibuprophen will reduce the need for the narcotic by up to 50%.  It is important to be up and moving and control the pain well. The pain will resolve on it’s own.

You can start massage to the area of hardness in 2.5- 3 weeks following surgery/ or drain removal (which ever is last) if your doctor agrees with that.

Good luck!

At this point, 2 weeks following abdominoplasty & liposuction, you can expect to have ongoing swelling and limited contraction of the skin in the treated areas.  The swelling will not be able to drain adequately as the entire lower abdominal wall flap has been cut and your body has not reestablished the lymphatic drainage yet.  My recommendation is to wear your abdominal garment ( I like Design Veronique as they have very uniform compression with an opening to go to the bathroom) as much as possible for 6 weeks to 3 months ( which ever your doctor recommends).  This will help to eliminate the dead space, reduce swelling and help the tissue to adhere down and contract uniformly.  You will see the worst of the best at 6 months.  The body lays down internal reactive tissue to help the healing and scarring of the operated areas in the 1st 6 weeks and then takes a break for 6 weeks, so between 3 months & 6 months you will see improvements in shape, decreased edema formation etc.  It takes a full year to see the final result.  I recommend you focus on eating lots of protein and let the tissue contract and try not to judge the  result or expect marked change for 3 months post op.  Your body takes time to induce the contraction of the tissue.  If you still feel that things are just not right at 8-12 months, consider revision with  your doctor.

The result of the abdominoplasty is not negatively affected by having extra weight and will only improve with ongoing weight loss.  You do not need to achieve your ideal weight prior to surgery. The surgery itself has a remarkable result and will improve your self esteem, allow you to see the benefits of your exercise and is often helpful for exercise because you are carrying less tissue and exercise is easier.  If you look at our pre and post op photos on our web site you can see the remarkable difference that the surgery will create.  This is truly inspiring for many patients or allows patients to engage more enthusiastically and successfully.  That tissue below the umbilicus/belly button, is the area which tends to accumulate most of the fat.  By tightening the muscles, the front -to back / side view is narrowed.  To lose weight after abdominoplasty will thin the flap that remains and the result will only improve.

In general the markings for the tummy tuck may vary from surgeon to surgeon.  I like to have the patient bring in their favorite bikini or undies to the surgery so that the markings can be placed to end up within this area.  What has to be understood is that skin and fat of the tummy is being removed from the belly button to the pubic area. The upper belly skin/fat flap will be stretched down to the incision.  This may cause the incision to rise up a little during the healing process.  This does add a tiny bit of variability and the potential for the scar to rise a little.  Typically this will still be within the area of the bikini.  However, if the scar is a little high, it is possible after a year to lower that scar further down.  This is done on people who have had scars placed too high by another physician, or whose style has changed over the years with new positions of the bathing suit as fashions change.  This is a very important issue to be considered. It is very important that you look at the results of the doctors you interview to be sure you like the position of the scar with the technique that they choose.