Trust. Experience. Results.
Trust. Experience. Results.
12/5/2017
Motherhood is a beautiful, life-changing experience.
It’s also body-changing experience: skin loosens, breasts sag, and extra fat and stretch marks are common. While normal, these changes can be frustrating and deeply affect self-esteem. An increasingly popular solution is the “Mommy Makeover.”
This combination of procedures, usually a tummy tuck and breast surgery, helps to restore your body back to its “pre-baby” state. Having multiples procedures performed during a single operation means one dose of anesthesia, one operation, one recovery period, and ultimately lower cost. Plus, you’ll have faster, more dramatic results!
You and your doctor will work together to choose which combination of procedures best fit your body and, together, you’ll create a customized treatment plan. At Austin-Weston, The Center for Cosmetic Surgery, we consider every aspect of your body and guide you through the decision-making process, so you can make the best decisions for your ideal look and lifestyle. What’s more, we figure out together how best to tailor it all into your busy life.
The most common complaints we hear from patients that suggest to us a Mommy Makeover might be useful Mommy Makeover include:
Body contouring can be achieved through a tummy tuck, liposuction, or a combination of the two. Most Mommy Makeover patients decide on a tummy tuck to remove loose skin, stretch marks and tighten the abdominal muscles. Additional shaping can be achieved with liposuction for various fat deposits throughout the body, including the abdomen. Abdominal contouring is often combined with breast augmentation—a procedure involving either a silicone or saline breast implant to enhance natural breast tissue. There are several options for patients to choose from when considering breast augmentation that affects the shape, size, and scarring. What’s best for you depends on how to lose your breast tissue is, how large an implant you desire, and the composition of your breast tissue. Also important is whether or not you plan on having (and breastfeeding) more children.
Breast implants will change the shape, fullness, and size of your breasts, but not where they sit on the body. Possibly the most dramatic change after pregnancy and breastfeeding is sagging breasts. Whether you are 21 or 41, this common problem can be improved by combining the augmentation with a lift, or mastopexy. The surgeon removes excess skin and tightens surrounding tissue to raise the breasts to their pre-baby placement. This procedure will also reduce an enlarged areola. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the number of breast lift procedures in the U.S. has increased by 70% since 2000. These procedures are usually performed concurrently with the augmentation. The exception is for extremely sagging breasts. In that case, the surgeon may recommend the Mommy Makeover entail body contouring and a breast lift. Once the tissue has healed from the lift, your surgeon will go back in to place the breast implant. But this is rare.
Some women are satisfied with the size of their breasts, but still, experience the sagging and/or enlarged areolas associated with pregnancy and breastfeeding. In these cases, the contouring procedure is combined with a breast lift only, and no implant is necessary.
And, finally, for the mom whose breasts have grown to a size with which they are uncomfortable, breast reduction can be combined with body contouring surgery. This is also an option for women who have always had larger breasts than they would ideally like, and the Mommy Makeover allows them to reshape their abdomen, remove any unwanted fat deposits and reduce their breasts to a comfortable size. A lift is nearly always performed along with breast reduction surgery.
The most common form of tummy tuck involves an incision from hip bone to hip bone and around the belly button. Through this, your surgeon can remove excess lower abdominal skin, tighten the Rectus or ‘six-pack’ muscles, and trim away extra abdominal fat either directly or with liposuction.
Modified or Mini Tummy Tuck For patients who do not have enough skin for a classic tummy tuck, a slightly shorter incision can be made, and often no incision is made around the belly button. Typically, there is still muscle tightening as part of the procedure as well as some fat removal.
Liposuction: Fat deposits are literally sucked out of the body during the procedure, creating the ideal body contour, improving proportions, and slimming the profile. Results are more dramatic than noninvasive body sculpting procedures and are part of the Mommy Makeover one-time operation. Liposuction can be applied to thighs, hips, butt, abdomen, and waist, upper arms, back, inner knee, chest area, cheeks, chin and neck, and ankles.
We asked one Austin-Weston Mommy Makeover patient about her experience two months after her surgery:
“I’m very glad it did it. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done for myself,” Kristen said. “I think most importantly, my mental health is much better. I’m happy to stand in front of the mirror and brush my hair without any clothes on. Physically, I love my new body.”
She said it also improved her outlook on life and made it possible for her to enjoy and appreciate the life she loved without constantly feeling bad about her appearance.
“After I had my second child, I felt like I had been plopped into someone else’s body. After the surgery, it feels like I’m home again,” she said, adding, “Make sure you’re doing it for yourself. Because it’s a hard road, but totally worth it.”
A Mommy Makeover might be the answer to returning your body to its pre-baby, tightened and lifted the look. Always remember that a major medical procedure should be a thoughtful life choice. At Austin-Weston, we’re always here to help you think your option through.
If you live in the Northern Virginia or Washington DC area and are ready to reclaim your confidence, contact us to schedule a complimentary consultation at (703) 893-6168 or submit a form online to request an appointment.
Our four, board-certified plastic surgeons have over 100 years of combined experience & work together in our dedicated, luxurious center providing combined knowledge on all procedures. Schedule your consultation today to learn how our surgeons can guide you on your journey to aesthetic harmony.
