Look Fit and Healthy with a Mommy Makeover
There is a close connection between fitness and fashion, and nowhere is this more evident than in the field of cosmetic plastic surgery. Hundreds of men and women come into our Atlanta Plastic Surgery offices every month looking for body contouring procedures that can help them look as young and as healthy as they feel. One option that has become particularly popular over the past few years is the mommy makeover, a combination of cosmetic body contouring procedures designed to help restore a woman’s body back to the condition it was in prior to pregnancy and breast-feeding. One of the advantages of a mommy makeover procedure is that it addresses multiple areas of the body in a single operative procedure, making it possible to achieve impressive results with reduced post-surgical down time.
Tightening and Toning the Abdomen
Obviously, the area most affected by pregnancy is the midsection. Even women who have been diligent in following diet and exercise recommendations after pregnancy can often be left with excess, sagging skin around the abdomen, even after they have regained their pre-pregnancy weight. Moreover, the expansion of the uterus can potentially cause the muscles in the abdomen to separate completely, a condition commonly known as diastasis recti. This can result in a sagging belly or “pooch” that can only be repaired by re-tightening those muscles and surgically removing excess skin in a full tummy tuck, or abdominoplasty, procedure.
Aesthetic Breast Surgery
During pregnancy, surges in the production of hormones produce dramatic changes to both the size and shape of the breasts. The growth and proliferation of milk producing glands, combined with an increase in both blood flow and the production of insulating fat, can cause the breasts to grow by as much as two pounds each. In most cases, the breasts eventually return to their original size, but not always and the rapid changes can leave them looking stretched and saggy. Mommy makeovers usually include some aesthetic modification of the breasts. A breast lift, or mastopexy, can remove excess skin and restore a more youthful and lifted look to sagging breasts, while breasts that have been left uncomfortably large can be reduced to a more manageable size with a breast reduction procedure. Some women even use the opportunity to increase the size of their breasts with breast implants, giving them the figure they may have always wanted without the need for additional post-surgical downtime when performed on its own.
Liposuction and Buttocks Augmentation
Although not originally considered a standard part of the procedure, the phenomenal growth in the popularity of Brazilian Butt Lifts over the past few years has made many women ask about how they might be able to incorporate them into a traditional mommy makeover. A Brazilian Butt Lift works by taking fat that has been removed from the body via liposuction and re-injecting it into the buttocks to give it enhanced lift, volume, and definition. Since liposuction procedures are frequently used to smooth out the contours of the midsection during a tummy tuck, this excess fat can definitely be put to use further enhancing the overall post-pregnancy physique.
Each body is unique and a mommy makeover is not necessarily right for everyone. Additionally, the timing of the procedure can often be significant. Further changes that a body will undergo during later pregnancies can potentially compromise your plastic surgery results, and so we advise patients to wait until they are finished having children and nursing before undergoing a mommy makeover procedure. If you are interested in talking to one of our board-certified plastic surgeons about a mommy makeover, or in learning about the variety of financing options, including Alphaeon® and CareCredit®, that we can provide in order to assist you, please contact Atlanta Plastic Surgery, P.C. at one of our Atlanta, Alpharetta, Cumming, or Newnan offices.
