Muscle Repair Just DEPENDS on Severity
With regards to needing your diastasis repaired, it all really depends. Some women definetely need it to get the best aesthetic result, while in others it adds almost nothing accept pain and discomfort after surgery.
It is the role of your surgeon to really identify what will work best for you. In some women, they have a small diastasis, and repairing it really adds nothing to the aesthetic outcome.
Every patient is different, so to say that someone always needs it or concersely never needs it is just a myth. It sounds like you should seek a second opinion to go overall your options. (Christopher V. Pelletiere, MD, Barrington Plastic Surgeon)
Muscle repair is a common step in tummy tuck
Tummy tuck involves removal of skin excess from the abdomen, and tightening the abdominal muscle for most candidates. Pregnancy especially can cause the abdominal wall to become lax, and the sit-up muscles to spread, referred to as a diastasis.
Repair and tightening of the muscles is a frequent and important step in tummy tuck to restore the abdominal contour. Surgery without muscle repair is not the ‘normal’ practice today. (Peter E. Johnson, MD, Chicago Plastic Surgeon)
Muscle repair with tummy tuck is very often necessary for a good result
There are 3 reasons to consider a tummy tuck: localized fat that is resistant to change with diet and exercise, skin laxity with stretch marks, and muscle separation usually from prior pregnancy. If localized fat is the only problem, then liposuction is the better choice. If the skin has been stretched from prior pregnancy, the muscles have almost certainly been pushed apart too.
This cannot be corrected with exercise, and if they are not put back into position when the tummy tuck is done then the results will be substandard. Since the vast majority of tummy tuck patients benefit from the muscle repair, a policy of never doing it just doesn’t make sense to me. (Richard Baxter, MD, Seattle Plastic Surgeon)
Muscle repair
I almost always tighten the muscles, I think that a second opinion is in order – also check the credentials of the first doctor. (William B. Rosenblatt, MD, New York Plastic Surgeon)
Tummy Tuck without Muscle Repair
I have encountered a few patients who benefited from a tummy tuck no muscle repair, but they were definately in the minority. Almost all tummy tucks include a muscle repair. You might want to consider obtaining a second opinion. (John Whitt, MD, Louisville Plastic Surgeon)
Muscle repair is an important part of a tummy tuck.
Certainly there are cases in which it is not necessary to tighten the muscles when performing a tummy tuck, however, on most occasions, the muscle should be tightened. The beauty of a tummy tuck procedure is not only the elimination of excess skin and fat, but also, a more firm muscle layer. To not perform muscle tightening on a patient with extremely lax muscles would create a very unhappy patient in my opinion. (David Rankin, MD, Jupiter Plastic Surgeon)