The term “Mommy Makeover” can mean many things, and in this blog, we are going to break down the term and discuss several different procedures that can be customized to your individual needs. In the broadest sense, a Mommy Makeover has come to describe a combination of breast and body contouring procedures that are done at the same time. Over the years, procedures such as arm contouring, thigh lift, Brazilian Butt Lift, and vaginal rejuvenation have been introduced to the menu of procedures that can be combined to create a personalized solution.
Depending on your body, overall health, cosmetic goals, budget, and lifestyle, certain combinations of procedures can be safely performed together to help you achieve your desired results. Mommy Makeover is one of our most popular and frequently performed procedures at Plastic Surgery Specialists, so keep reading to learn more about how to reclaim your body!
About Mommy Makeover
Most women who have been pregnant and breastfed children notice several common body changes. The abdominal muscles are spread apart during pregnancy and don’t always come back together in the middle – a condition known as diastasis recti. The abdominal skin is also distended during pregnancy and many women experience characteristic “stretch marks”, especially in the lower abdomen.
During and after pregnancy, the breasts can change shape and consistency. After finishing breastfeeding, a number of women experience a loss of breast volume that is accompanied by sagging of the breasts and possibly stretch marks. The hormones of pregnancy may change your metabolism and make it harder to lose weight that used to just effortlessly melt away with a bit of dieting and exercise. Vaginal deliveries can also stretch the vaginal tissues and predispose some women to small bladder leaks (you know, peeing a little when you cough, laugh, or sneeze).
The effects of pregnancy can be seen at any age but tend to be a bit more pronounced with women in their 30’s and 40’s and with multiple pregnancies. Fortunately, the experts at Plastic Surgery Specialists have a number of surgical and non-surgical body contouring options to help you regain your pre-baby body, restore your self-confidence, and make intimate moments more enjoyable for both you and your partner.
Body Contouring
Let’s start with body contouring. The gold-standard for body contouring is a combination of a liposuction and tummy tuck. This combination is designed to do three things. First, the tummy tuck repairs separated abdominal muscles that can improve your core strength, flatten your abdomen, and help alleviate low back pain by balancing the tension of the abdominal and back muscles. Secondly, the tummy tuck allows removal of excess abdominal skin that has lost elasticity and is loose and floppy. As a side-benefit, some of our patients have even reported improvements in minor urinary incontinence with the changes that occur with a tummy tuck. No guarantees there ladies, but we hear it often enough to know it’s a thing. Lastly, the liposuction component is used to sculpt and refine those stubborn areas of fat that just won’t go away no matter how much you diet or exercise.
The lipo will re-define your waist and hips, get rid of those “muffin tops” and help you look your best in your favorite jeans or LBD. For women who have good skin quality and muscle tone but a few isolated areas of stubborn fat, liposuction alone may prove to be a good choice. On the other side of that coin, some women have excess fat and loose skin that extend all the way around the torso. In that case, a circumferential body lift with abdominal muscle tightening may be the best choice.
Non-surgical options include CoolSculpting and Emsculpt. CoolSculpting is particularly effective for patients who have isolated trouble spots and are already engaged in a good nutrition and fitness program. Emsculpt is great for augmenting abdominal muscle tone and can also be used to tone the arms, legs, and butt. For both CoolSculpting and Emsculpt, multiple treatment sessions are required, and it takes some time to see the results.
Breast
Now that your torso is looking fabulous, let’s move along to getting the breasts in order. There are three general scenarios that you will face after pregnancy and breastfeeding. Number one – your breasts are small, and you want more volume to be in proportion with the rest of your body. Number two, you are happy with your breast volume, but the skin has stretched, and your breasts are now sagging. Number three – your breasts are too large and are causing symptoms related to neck, back, and shoulder pain.
If your breasts are small and you want to have a larger bust, breast augmentation with smooth, round silicone gel implants is the ticket. If liposuction is a part of your procedure, we can often add fat suctioned from the body to help enhance your breast size and provide a very natural looking result. For sagging breasts, a breast lift is often a good solution. Many times, the best and most attractive result comes from doing a breast augmentation in addition to a lift. If larger breast size is impacting your ability to find clothes that fit or limit your ability to participate in athletic pursuits or even the activities of daily living, a breast reduction can be a life-changing procedure.
We use our Vectra 3D imaging system to simulate breast surgery results so you can see what different sizes and profiles of implants look like on your own body. Don’t guess at the results, see realistic and accurate simulations with our amazing cutting-edge technology.
Additional Procedures
OK – you breasts and body are looking amazing. What’s left? There are any number of additional procedures that can add to your individual Mommy Makeover results. The typical areas that we are asked about in consultations are the arms, thighs, and butt.
Shaping of the arms can be done with liposuction or a combination of liposuction and Renuvion. The Renuvion technology provides rapid heating of your body’s collagen that causes shrinking of the collagen and tightening of the skin. Same thing for the thighs. Liposuction of the inner and outer thighs can create a dramatic change in your appearance and the ways your clothes fit. If loose thigh skin is part of the problem, adding Renuvion can significantly improve the final outcome.
Occasionally, loose skin is so pronounced that an arm lift or thigh lift procedure may provide a better and more durable result than liposuction. If you are having liposuction as part of your Mommy Makeover, many times the fat can be collected, processed and subsequently injected into your backside to create an ideally shaped and proportioned booty. Want to look great in your favorite jeans or make your friends jealous at that upcoming class reunion, get a Brazilian Butt Lift using your own fat and hit the dance floor with confidence. If you don’t have quite enough fat to shape your butt, Sculptra injections have proven to be very effective in adding volume and shape to your backside, not to mention they help smooth cellulite and can be done very subtly over time. Doing some Emsculpt sessions can also help round your booty and have you ready to rock that sexy new bikini.
Vaginal Rejuvenation
So, what else can I do? The topic of vaginal rejuvenation has become very mainstream in the last few years. Our Viveve treatment uses radio frequency energy to stimulate tightening of the internal vaginal tissue. Viveve is great for tightening tissue laxity, improving or stopping minor bladder leaks, and improving vaginal lubrication. If changes to your body have put a damper on your intimate life, Viveve can turn that around and provide a great sense of satisfaction for both you and your partner. Many of our staff who are Moms have had the Viveve and simply rave about the results. You don’t have to live with these inconveniences, you can get Viveve and get more out of life.
Contact Us
Now that you are sold on Mommy Makeover, why should you come see us at Plastic Surgery Specialists. That’s easy – our three surgeons have been board-certified for many years and specialize in Mommy Makeover procedures. We have a fully accredited surgical center at our conveniently located office, and we offer concierge level service. We only employ board-certified anesthesiologists so that your procedure is performed in the safest manner possible.
Plastic Surgery Specialists is pleased to offer virtual consultations and several financing options to make connecting with us and starting your Mommy Makeover transformation easier than ever. We proudly serve all of Marin County as well as Napa, Sonoma, and the greater San Francisco Bay Area. We will partner with you to develop a plan that is customized to your individual features, cosmetic goals, budget, and lifestyle.
When you are ready for the best Mommy Makeover, look no further than Plastic Surgery Specialists. Call us at 415-925-2880 or email [email protected] to arrange your complimentary consultation.