The following post from our forum is from a man who had a tummy tuck 16 days ago and now has trouble sleeping. He wakes up in the middle of the night and his midsection feels hot.

Date: 02/10/2012 Submitted by: MikeProblem Sleeping After A Tummy Tuck

Waking up in the middle of the night.

Hi all. I am 16 days PO from my tummy tuck and have a question. For the past week or so I have been waking up in the middle of the night (4am) or so with an uncomfortable sensation. My mid-section feels hot. Like really hot. I take off my compression binder but see no redness. After walking around for a while the hot sensation goes away & I can usually get back to sleep.

My question is is this normal? Any tips people could give me on avoiding this would be greatly appreciated. Kinda messing up my whole sleep cycle. Thanks

RESPONSE

Date: 02/10/2012 Submitted by: Tanner

Mike,

That it the first time that I have heard of someone describing that situation.

Assuming that it is not a medical condition (which it doesn’t sound like it is – but you may want to check with your surgeon), the only thing that I can think that is happening is that your compression garment is retaining too much heat around your midsection and making you hot (they do that).

Depending on where you live, your living conditions and your sleeping conditions you may want to try one or more of the following to reduce the heat buildup around your midsection.

Crank the air conditioning down (adjust the thermostat) at night to make it colder.
Sleep with a fan blowing towards your bed.
Find a more lightweight and breathable compression garment that doesn’t retain as much body heat.
Loosen your compression garment a little at bedtime. Check with your surgeon first. You don’t want to defeat the purpose of the compression garment. Since you are 16 days out of surgery you also may want to call your surgeon and ask it if it is OK to remove the compression garment at night just for sleeping.
If you sleep with blankets or sheets, position them so that your tummy tuck area has the least covering over it. Example – one sheet over the lower portion of your body and another for the top portion while leaving the midsection (with the compression garment) exposed to the air.

If you try any of these and they work, I would be interested to know so I can make the information available to others. Thanks.

Good luck,

Tanner