What size to wear Post Op?

 I've heard over and over about "swell hell" and nothing fitting for months after PS....

I'm wondering how much bigger sizes will I need so that things fit comfortably for the post op recovery time...because I was going to get rid of some baggy clothes again, but then I thought maybe I'd need them...but I'd hate to keep them around if I don't need them...

I'm wearing smalls and a few mediums(size 4 or 6)....

I have some larges floating around that are super baggy on me, even some mediums are fairly baggy (like workout clothes, pajamas, dresses)...do I get rid of them or keep them for recovery?

What were your experiences? Did you go up 1 size, 2 sizes or stay the same size, but just loose style clothing?

And what was the most comfy for around the incisions...sweat pants? maxi dresses? Tshirts? I know some have said yoga pants, but I'd think all that spandex would be tight around the tummy incision...would love to hear all the tips about post op clothing....and how long you stayed in "swell hell".

I'm having a TT & BL/BA....maybe arms too...

Thanks!

I have been very fortunate that I didn't have much swelling until my drains came out. Once they came out my lower body looked like tree trunks. I have been living in sundresses that have the elastic across the top and nothing else. No straps, no sleeves or anything. I have a fleur-di-lis tuck, circumfrential body lift, breast lift and augmentation and brachioplasty. The dresses work really well as they don't hit any of the incision sites and they were loose enough across the middle that I could hide my drains and now that I'm swelling you can't really tell.

 Thanks for your response! Yes, I would think the maxi sundresses would work out well...I was looking at them at the mall and thinking I should buy some...but I wasn't sure if that elastic across the top would be too tight...glad to hear that it worked well for you....

and that's interesting that you didn't swell up till the drains were removed...hadn't heard that before...

How long ago was your surgery? How are you feeling overall now besides the swelling?

I am three weeks and 2 days out. Physically I felt alot better last week than I do this week. It's interesting because the doctor said I would feel worse before I felt truly better and he was right. Wednesday I spiked a fever and had chills and horrible pain. Nipped that in the bud and then yesterday one of my breast incisions opened and started leaking. Emotionally I am not doing well. I did speak with my doctor on Monday about the problems with my upper stomach and he basically said this is about as good as it is going to get.. My husband and I both said that this was not what he said and what we agreed to and he basically said tough. Having trouble getting over it because I feel deformed, I actually look worse than before surgery in my abdomen. I am happy with my arms and breasts but for the money I paid I'm sick to my stomach over the abdomen.

One thing that I was never warned about but happened to me was excessive drainage out of my drain holes. For about two weeks I was draining so much that the drains couldn't handle itso I had copious amounts of fluid coming out of the holes to the point where I was wearing towels taped on my legs. So don't be alarmed if that happens.

Also I got the regular length dresses. Not the maxi dresses. I found the maxi dresses didn't give me enough mobility.

I was about your size when I had my lbl/bl last summer. My waist went up 4 inches from swelling (from 27" to 31"). Holy moly!! I lived in yoga pants the first couple weeks (yoga pants usually do not have elastic waists, just a drawstring) and after that wore dresses without a waist. By about the end of month 2 I could fit in most of my clothes again.

 Thanks Laura, 
That is very helpful info...and glad to hear you were back in your size by 2 months...that gives me hope! I've heard a lot longer from others...not looking forward to swelling at all....

I would suggest keeping a few baggy things just for a bit since you have them anyway. I have been a fan of tank dresses both long and short. Easy to slip over your head and covers whatever kind of binder you have and they are easy with drains. I was a 4/6 before and was a 4/6 after. Not much swelling after surgery and my two drains came out after less than a week. good luck!

I am 10 days post op and tried on a pair of my size 8 slacks that I used to pull on and off w/o unzipping or un buttoning, Now I cannot zip them all the way or think about buttoning. I go back to work 15 days out, so I plan on wearing dresses and skirts mostly, and zip or button ups rather than pullovers since I struggle lifting over my head. I dont dare try to pull on my size 6 skinny jeans because I know they won't make it up the thighs!

My incisions are really low so , and I went to the doctor today and they pulled the tape off the TT incision because I was having a reaction to the adhesive. Since the cut line is so low  at home I am wearing sweats, and those drawstring capri PJ bottoms that are the light cotton material that you can buy super cheap at walmart, I am usually a small/med and I am a large right now. I also make sure that the binder is going far below the incision to help keep the area from being puffy. By adjusting the binder the pants actually are on top of my binder which is comfortable. Also, my incisions have no feeling, so I have to watch for color changes as indicators of potential issues.

Also, My doc has me putting petroleum jelly all over my stomach and back twice a day (lucky me hubby has to massage the lipo areas) (not on the open wounds) so I am not investing in anything that I will care about in a few weeks or will show potential oil stains.

Since I had TT, BL/Aug, and Arms all done as well as a lot of lipo, I am really swollen. I just had my right drain removed today, and will look at having the left one removed next week once I go 48 hours with less than 20cc of drainage each day. My husband swears the swelling on my hips and butt are going down, because I can pull the binders tighter and I am looking less like a football from the backside, Once I can wear compression type spanx I will use those for a long time to help pull things back together. The nurse at the doc ofice told me some people are a couple of weeks of sweeling while others are a few months. I most likely will be on the longer end because I am not removing sodium from my diet.

I also have increased my Bromelain from 1 pill to 2 pills a day also to help with the swelling.

Good luck!

 I bought some large sweat pants for immediately post tummy tuck

I work from home, so I advanced to pajama bottoms after that.

I was back in my regular clothes at about 4 weeks post op.  I was wearing spanx under my clothes during the day and my binder at night on days I had to leave the house.  On days when I was home, I wore the binder about 20 hours a day.

I never had swell hell. I did have some swelling. I lived in sweats, yoga pants and comfy stuff for a couple weeks. Then I was back in my regular clothes. By about a month out I had dropped weight and a size in shorts too. I was about the same size 6 or so. I'm about 11 wks out now and a size 2-4. but I also just had a butt lift 3 wks ago and actually had a bit more swelling with that than the tt. The swelling is gone now though. It's been harder healing because with the rear incision I'm always bending down or sitting on it!