A Tummy Tuck is among the most common   plastic surgery procedure done in the United States. Tummy tucks are usually done to undo effects of pregnancy, sagging skin, stretch marks, and separated muscle. A tummy tuck can be done along with a mommy makeover or performed by itself. More and more tummy tucks are performed for patients who have lost large amounts of weight.

Whatever the reason, a tummy tuck is a 2.5 hour operation with about 7 to 10 days recovery. Most of our patients are off pain pills within several days and taking Tylenol. By the time stitches come out at a week they are very comfortable.

Some patients who have had a tummy tuck performed elsewhere complained that it was one of the most painful surgeries that they have ever experienced. What’s the difference?

Like most things in life, prevention is better than the cure. Blocking pain upfront is better than treating it. Minimizing the damage to the tissues minimize the pain message that comes from the tissues to the nervous system.

Many surgeons when doing a procedure under general anesthesia don’t use local anesthetic in the incision. In our office, a local anesthetic is put into all the incision areas and we allow enough time for it to work before making an incision. In addition to tumescent anesthesia, ballooning up the area with a combination of a local anesthetic and saline, is placed in the area of lifting. And lastly when the lifting of the skin is done, most of it is done with a scalpel or scissors as opposed to a cautery unit. This causes minimal trauma. The traditional way of using cautery causes burn damage. These burns on the inside can be very painful and are best avoided.

With minimal trauma and damage a substance called substance P. is minimally released. The more substance P. there is, the higher your pain. By decreasing this up front, there is less pain. At the end of the procedure, a long acting local anesthetic is left inside the wound. Pain pumps have not been necessary. Finally, laser treatment is begun the next day to further decrease pain and inflammation.