For those of you who have had TTs, would you recommend the ab muscle tightening/stitching? I'm not going for a bikini body with my TT, I just want my belly flap gone. Has anyone else skipped the ab muscle stitching who would be willing to share their experience? Has anyone had the ab stitching and wished later they hadn't?

I'm 99% sure I'm going to have my stomach fixed. I have a smallish panis (sp?) and loose skin/stretch marks.

When I went in for the consult, the surgeon went through what he does and talked about stitching the ab muscles together to further tighten things up. I asked him about that part and he said I didn't have to do it but he recommended it. He's the expert so I just went with it and didn't ask much more.

However, this seems like something that won't heal together and will forever be held together with the stitches. This might sound dumb since I'm considering plastic surgery, but that seems really unnatura and I'm not sure I want my abs forever stitched together.

Thanks!

I just used a ton of pillows to prop up my legs and back..

Hello All,

I'm I'm 3 weeks post-op now. I had the panniculectomy and belly button fix but I didn't do the abdominal plication. My insurance covered the panniculectomy (yay!) and I paid for my belly button.

I slept in a bed for the first week after surgery with pillows under my knees and lots of pillows proping me up to sort-of replicate a recliner. That includes the first night post-op in a hotel bed! I'm a side sleeper so this was hard on me. I quit taking the pain meds/muscle relaxants two days post-op so I didn't have them to help me sleep either. After I got back to my house I did sleep in the recliner until just a few nights ago. I'm ok to sleep on my side again (at least it doesn't hurt!) so I'm pretty much back to normal for sleep.

I'm completely satisfied with my outcome and don't regret skipping the abdominal plication one bit! Less pain, shorter recovery!