Often, ladies will come into Dr. Jacobsen’s office to have a hernia repaired in their midline. Often called diastasis recti. This is a false hernia but looks and feels just like a hernia. These hernias do not cause a threat to you as a patient, but certainly can be uncomfortable and fixed to make you look and feel better. By tightening and nicely sewing the fascia, or the gristle around the muscle of your midline creating a nice flat look. Unfortunately, while your insurance company does cover the hernia repair- which is a very nice benefit, it does not cover the part of the abdominoplasty. That re-shapes and removes some of the additional skin of your abdominal wall. The fine recontouring of the abdominal wall and abdominoplasty is what most ladies wish for in addition to the hernia repair. In cases where hernia repair is covered by insurance, the patient will then pay just for the cosmetic portion of the abdominoplasty, not covered by insurance. Normally during an abdominoplasty, the fascia is tightened across the midline. Regardless of the presence of a hernia or not. While the presence of the hernia may make this a little more challenging, ultimately after seeing Dr. Jacobsen the results should be the same.

After a repair of the hernia or abdominoplasty, it is very important to minimize your activity with lifting and abdominal straining. This is to protect the sutures of your midline. Allowing the sutures to heal nicely and safely for you. You should bind 23 hours a day for the first two weeks, then after two weeks follow with a compressive garment. Which will help relieve any mild stressor strain due to normal lifting or coughing. Generally speaking, lifting more than 10 pounds for the first three or four weeks is the maximum.