Numbness of the abdomen after a tummy tuck is a common effect once the said procedure is performed. If you will ask the patients who have undergone the tummy tuck, they have also felt the numbness after the procedure. If you are planning to try out the surgical procedure, expect that you will feel the same way too. You have to wait for months for you to recover.
Why does numbness happen after a tummy tuck? This is simply because, in the procedure, the surgeon cuts a certain area in the lower abdomen and the skin is lifted from the abdomen. The nerves separate caused by the skin lifting. As a result, numbness occurs since the nerves are the ones responsible for supplying the sensation to the abdomen. This comes from the top and then rises towards the skin. The nerves are damaged when the surgeon makes the incision. Even if the patient makes a request to avoid this to happen, it is still inevitable because the nerves are too small to be seen.
You do not have to worry too much about the numbness because you will feel normal again since the nerves will still regenerate. The patients should follow the surgeon’s advise for them to have a fast recovery because there will be small areas in the abdomen that will have a permanent loss of sensation. It takes months for the numbness to subside because nerves grow about an inch per month. For example, if the incision is 6 inches long, then it will take 6 months for that particular area to regain the lost sensation.
Experiencing loss of sensation in the abdomen after surgery is normal and it is something that you need to expect. You just have to be patient but be aware that there will be small areas that will have a permanent loss of sensation.
