The following post from our forum is from a woman who had a tummy tuck 1 year ago and now has pain and cramps in her stomach. She is wondering what is causing this.

Date: 01/16/2012 Submitted by: CathyPain In Stomach 1 Year After Tummy Tuck

Hello,
My name is Cathy and I had a tummy tuck and my breast lifted December 13,2010. My uplift went fine and my tummy tuck is still very troublesome. I went to a board certified plastic surgeon. It looks really good.. but still very painful, not the lower half of my stomach, but the upper half. In the mornings it is not too bad but by late afternoon it still hurts. I have trouble going to sleep at night because of pain. Besides hurting most of the time…it also snarls up like a leg cramp and is extremely painful..!!! I can only wait till this goes away and at times I start to cry.. I am at my wits end..I went back to the plastic surgeon at 7.5 months post op.. but she said she can’t understand what might be going on…She told me to come back in 6 weeks for either a cat scan or MRI.. I don’t remember.. I haven’t been back as I don’t wish to add to my financial debt. Do you have any possible solutions?? Thank You, Cathy

RESPONSE

Date: 01/16/2012 Submitted by: Tanner

Cathy,

Sorry, but I have never heard of that before. Besides, if your surgeon doesn’t know what’s going on it would seem that testing is the only way to know what is wrong.

It may not be related to your tummy tuck.

Also, if you have health insurance, the costs of the tests and treatment for this might be covered (I don’t know) since it’s been over a year and it may or may not be a result of the tummy tuck.

Maybe going to your regular doctor (and not a plastic surgeon) will more easily be covered by insurance. That’s something you may want to look into.

Wearing your compression garment may help a little until this gets resolved. It might be worth a try.

Also, you might want to research some non-tummy tuck related stomach issues to see if they apply to you.

One website is
http://www.webmd.com/ibd-crohns-disease/crohns-disease/abdominal-pain

Good luck,

Tanner

Follow-up Message

June 6, 2012
Hello Tanner, This is Cathy. I thought I would let you know how I am progressing in case it could help others. My plastic Surgeon could not find a reason for my pain , and I was totally frustrated after 13 months post-op. It was recommended that I get a cat scan in January , but that didn’t show anything. My neighbor , who is a nurse practitioner thought it was adhesions .After spending a couple of thousand dollars for my part of the cat scan and also I was going to physical therapy and massage therapy twice a week .( my part was costing $160.00 ) I have insurance but it is 80/20. This wasn’t helping much, so I decided to try something else. I go to a chiropractor for my back and neck issues due to my work field ( dental ) 36 years, anyway he suggest having this laser thing done at his office for the pain. I don’t understand how it works , but they run a hand held devise with a red beam coming out of it. When it beeps , they hold it over the area until it beeps again . It cost 10 dollars and took 10 minutes. I went twice a week for a month and now I am going every week and a half. My stomach is loosening up ( under the skin ) and feeling amazingly better!!! I just thought I would share this with you in case anyone else ever has the problem. This could save a lot of time , money , and grief. Thank you for responding and trying to help me !!!!!!!!! Take Care , Cathy

Another Tummy Tuck Patient With Stomach Pain
Tummy Tuck Abdominal Pain 3 Years After Tummy Tuck

January 30, 2012
It has been three years since my tummy tuck and I am having the same issue, my doctor has done all the tests for everything and all was normal. He just did a procedure to freeze my muscles I got a lot of relief he has determined it is a nerve entwined in scar tissue I see my plastic surgeon in a few weeks to see what he can do.
Kathy