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Swelling After Abdominoplasty
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Question: I will be having a hysterectomy in January.
I have two questions.
1. I plan on lifting as usual until about a week before the surgery, and
then taking that week off to let my body fully recover and be strong for
the surgery. Does that sound reasonable?
2. What recommendations do any of you have as far as easing back into
lifting after the surgery.
Answer: As a surgeon and as an athlete, I have a couple of thoughts. For one,
there is no reason to take time off before your surgery. In fact, if your
like many of us, the less time off the better--from a psychological
standpoint. Maintain good nutrition and good hydration, as you should
always be doing, and you will be more than ready for your surgery. Then,
afterwards, you will be more comfortable taking some time off to recover
from the surgery, without having that nagging sensation that you'd already
taken a week off before...chomping at the bit to get back.
As for your recovery and return to training, I operate on lots of
bodybuilders and athletes. I make general recommendations and then modify
them according to the individual needs and progress of each patient. It
would be nice if your surgeon has some sense of what your training is all
about, and then he or she might be able to help you with this plan.
Basically, though, I suggest the first week completely off. I let my
patients walk at a casual pace, but no cardio to elevate heart rate or
blood pressure, since you don't want to bring about bleeding or a fluid
collection around the operative site. After the first week, I let nearly
all of my patients start back on cardio, bringing it up to a level with
which they're comfortable. After two weeks, in most cases, I let them
start lifting, and gradually resume all activities over the next two weeks.
My one exception is in ab work and heavy work after abdominoplasty (tummy
tuck) or hernia repair, in which case, I limit heavy work for 6 weeks to
allow for healing at the repair site. Otherwise, they might pop a stitch
or the tissues might be too weak to support the activity. I've had no
complications in any of my patients following this regimen. You should
talk to your surgeon before doing anything, but you might tell him or her a
little bit about what I've suggested.
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