Procedure Options
Breast elasticity decreases for moms who have breast fed their children. A breast lift, breast augmentation, or breast reduction can help women improve the appearance of their breasts. Mothers also notice a “postpartum pouch”, which may be a combination of excess skin, fat, stretch marks and a distorted belly button. In those instances, a tummy tuck will flatten the abdomen. A tummy tuck may narrow the waist, but not the hips. Liposuction can improve the contour of flanks or hips, so many Mommy Makeovers included liposuction of the hips and thighs. Liposuction is also effective in the chest, thighs, neck, upper arms, and knees. Some patients may wish to add labiaplasty to a Mommy Makeover. Learn about these procedures by double clicking on the linked words.
In any of the Mommy Makeover surgeries, patient preference will be one of the deciding factors in incision placement. Every effort will be made to make the incisions as small and inconspicuous as possible. Performing multiple aesthetic procedures in combination entails some challenges and risks. While a number of different factors can affect the risk of complications, the board certified plastic surgeons at Fox Valley Plastic Surgery try to minimize risk by keeping the total surgical time under four hours.
Smokers are always at high risk for health troubles, but particularly so during and after surgery. Smokers face longer healing times, blood clots, wounds that break open, and greater risk of infection. For these reasons, FVPS requires that smoking cease one month before and one month after for breast reconstruction surgeries, which are adversely effected by the decrease in blood flow caused by nicotine. Read our comprehensive explanation of how smoking impacts healing.
FVPS will notify patients if they are affected by this policy. At the pre-operative appointment which normally occurs two days before surgery, patients must take a cotinine test, which detects the presence of nicotine. Test results are immediately available with this quick blood test. If the test is positive, then surgery will be cancelled and the patient will be charged a cancellation fee in accordance with our Financial Policy, which is included in patient paperwork. Smokers, who cannot quit smoking, should not schedule a surgery.
Recovery
Immediately after the Mommy Makeover surgery, patients can generally expect to be bandaged, wearing compression garments, and have some surgical drains. When the anesthesia wears off, patients will have some pain. The level varies by the types of surgery, the pain medication used, and individual patient tolerance. There will also be some swelling after the surgery. In some cases, this swelling may remain for months. Because procedures are performed together, patients benefit from having only one recovery time. The first week will be the worst. It slowly gets better in the 2nd and 3rd weeks. After that, patient feel much better, but they will not be able to do any heavy lifting (such as picking up children) for six weeks.
Having both procedures done at the same time does not lengthen the recovery. For example, breast augmentation recovery is approximately seven days, and tummy tuck recovery is ten to fourteen days. The recovery period for both procedures will be in ten to fourteen days. The tummy tuck component of the makeover is the most uncomfortable. Patients must follow the post operative instructions carefully. The first two days are the most uncomfortable. Discomfort typically drops down to a “nagging” level by five to seven days. Full recovery is about six weeks. By the end of the first week, patients should be moving about, but still unable to drive. Patients will probably be comfortable enough to drive a car in two weeks, when all the sutures and drains have been removed. Results are usually apparent within three months.
