Tummy Tucks Reduce Back Strain

Tummy Tucks Reduce Back Strain

Could you imagine the person in the “Before” picture running or jogging? Before surgery, if you were to ask this patient to perform aerobic exercises, it would be like asking her to go out and hurt her back. The reason for this is that abdominal weight puts a lot of strain on the back.

A closer look at case 1 shows how abdominal weight affects posture. Before tummy tuck, notice how the patient’s spine has lost it’s normal S curvature, This is because abdominal weight makes the spine bend like a fishing pole.

After tummy tuck, the abdominal weight has been removed, which improves posture and reduces back strain. This occurs because tummy tuck returns the spine to its normal S shape. An S-shaped spine works like a big spring or shock absorber. The normal S-shaped spine oscilates like a spring while we walk or run. This spring-like function of the spine dampens pressure of the weight bearing joints of the hip, knee and ankle below.

Improvement of posture and spinal function occurs with all tummy tuck patients, even tummy tuck patients who are not obese, like case 2 below.

case:2 Even though this patient was not overweight before surgery (Body Mass Index was 23 before surgery) her abdominal girth exacerbatesher back pain, she has poor posture and she required chronic weight loss medication to maintain a size 4 figure.

With a tummy tuck, posture is clearly better; the person can now exercise and participate in sports; she’s maintaining a size 4 figure and is eating half the volume of food without any weight loss medication.