Tummy Tuck After Hysterectomy

Are you considering having a tummy tuck after hysterectomy? A lot of women undergoing a hysterectomy procedure also opt to have a tummy tuck at the same time.

A tummy tuck is performed in an operating room and requires the administration of anesthesia. A patient who undergoes a tummy tuck after hysterectomy can be discharged in a few days, mostly depending on the recovery from the hysterectomy procedure.

Also termed as an abdominoplasty, a tummy tuck after hysterectomy is possible only if the hysterectomy surgeon allows the patient to undergo the tummy tuck procedure, too. Undergoing a tummy tuck after hysterectomy may expose the patient to more risks, which the surgeon may want to prevent. It should be kept in mind that the hysterectomy is still the primary procedure and that the tummy tuck is only secondary.

If the hysterectomy surgeon approves a tummy tuck after hysterectomy, it should then be determined who would perform the tummy tuck procedure. Some hysterectomy surgeons are also capable of performing the tummy tuck; otherwise, another surgeon will have to perform the tummy tuck. In this case, the two surgeons should coordinate on how they would perform the two procedures during the surgery.

The benefits of having a tummy tuck after hysterectomy as opposed to having separate procedures for the two include the following:

• Anesthesia is administered only once.
• The patient undergoes the recovery process only once.
• This may lead to savings in costs.
• This may cause a boost in the woman’s morale because of the sculpted abs.

On the down side, although undergoing a tummy tuck after hysterectomy results in the patient undergoing only one recovery process, it can make the recovery process doubly hard. Undergoing the two procedures at the same time would result in more pain, and the process of recuperation would require more energy from the patient. The tummy tuck procedure might also cause some depression aside from the depression that hormonal changes from a hysterectomy would cause.

Be sure to thoroughly discuss the consequences of undergoing a tummy tuck after hysterectomy with your doctor, so you can weigh the pros and cons of having the two procedures performed at the same time.