I have read that a few people have recommended wearing some sort of binder after surgery. Can any of you veterans speak to whether that is helpful and whether someone should bring one with them? And also, any recommendations as to kind?

Thanks!

My hospital supplied mine.

It really helped after I was released from the hospital.

It kept my stomach from moving a whole lot and reduced the pulling on my stitches.

I'm glad I had it for the ride home. I felt every bump and turn on the road, pulling on my stomach.

I was paranoid and wore mine 24/7 the first month.

Although my doc said I could stop wearing it after 2 weeks.

Really, it's just a 3 foot wide, 6 foot long ace bandage.

This pic is not of me, but it shows the binder I wore.

I didn't have a binder for my sleeve. Since it was laproscopic and they only pushed muscle fibers out of the way, not cutting through them, my muscle soreness was minimal. After my tummy tuck though.... that's a whole other story! I couldn't even breath without pain in my abs.

I didn't have one. I had a mostly uneventful surgery with only a little discomfort.

After they took my drain out, I had very minimal pain. I think a binder rubbing against me would have caused more irritation on the incisions.

I didn't have one after the sleeve, but it was really nice to have after an abdominoplasty. In hindsight, I think it might have been nice to have after sleeve surgery just because it makes your stomach feel all secure. I wore my binder after both my abdominoplasty and my posterior body lift and I ended up keeping it on longer than I needed just because it made me feel better. Because your procedure is laparscopic and the muscles and skin aren't being pulled apart in the same way as a tummytuck, you don't really need one...but it might be nice to have. They're around $8 at the drug store.