The Mommy Makeover:
Plastic Surgery Options After Pregnancy
Article written by Dr. Ram Kalus for Beauty Today
The changes a woman's body undergoes as a result of pregnancy are familiar to many women, and most physicians agree that your body is never quite the same. With proper lifestyle interventions such as healthy eating, exercise, toning and strengthening activities such as Yoga and Pilates, many women can find that they can achieve a nearly pre-pregnancy status. But after all that hard work and proper eating, there are some goals you cannot achieve without a little help from your plastic surgeon. Breasts and tummy come to mind, and are indeed the areas most commonly of greatest concern to women after bearing one or more kids.
Breasts
Click the images below for a larger view.
The most common change in a woman's breasts after pregnancy is a loss of breast volume, along with some stretching of the breast skin envelope usually resulting is some sagging or drooping known in medical terms as ptosis. Sometimes, if there remains an adequate amount of breast tissue, this can be corrected with just a breast lift (mastopexy). In other cases, if the breasts were small to begin with, the skin envelope has loosened but there is not enough breast tissue for adequate breast volume and therefore a breast implant will need to be inserted. An implant can be inserted either below the pectoral muscle or above the muscle just below the breast, depending on the individual characteristics of the patient's breasts. Today, both saline and silicone implants are available for cosmetic indications. Sometimes, both a lift and an augmentation may be required, and if so, these can be done simultaneously, or in two separate stages, depending on the recommendation of your plastic surgeon. Recovery from most breast procedures is usually about 7-10 days. Regardless of the kind of surgery that is recommended, all women must always remember to be attentive to proper breast health with annual mammagrams from age 40, and physical examination every 6-12 months by their primary care physician (usually OB-GYN) or nurse practitioner.
Abdomen
Click the images below for a larger view.
The tummy is obviously directly affected by pregnancy with significant expansion and stretching. Stretchmarks are not necessarily seen in all women and this is determined by a woman s skin quality and genetic tendency. Interestingly, it is not necessarily related to the amount of pregnancy weight gain, or even to multiple births. The rectus abdominis (the paired midline abdominal muscles or six pack ) are often splayed apart resulting in a diastasis requiring repair. This is usually accompanied by some sort of skin tightening procedure and repositioning of the umbilicus (belly button) The scar can be designed to lie low across the hip to keep with modern fashion styles, or curve upward to hide behind a French cut type of bathing suit or panty. A mini-abdominoplasty is reserved for very mild cases of skin laxity where a shorter scar can be utilized. As plastic surgeons we are not only trying to make the best possible scar (one that is barely noticeable), but we also try to make sure it is hidden beneath your favorite bathing suit. Often, after a C-section, there can be some contour irregularities both above and below the scar and this is easily corrected, either as a stand-alone scar revision or as part of the tummy tuck. Recovery from most abdominoplasties is usually two to three weeks to feel about 85% healed.
Other cosmetic concerns in young moms may gradually present themselves such as early facial sagging or tired looking eyes. Both surgical and non-surgical options exist for addressing some of these concerns. Look for more information about these issues and other good tips about healthy living and looking your best in the next issue of Beauty Today. For more information please contact Dr. Ram Kalus at Plastic Surgery of the Carolinas at 803-733-5881.
