Mommy Makeover

Getting Your Body Back

A Mommy Makeover is designed to address a wide range of issues. Pregnancy and child birth can have a drastic effect on the body, both physically and emotionally. Many areas of the body are stretched and stressed out of place, and those without great skin elasticity have trouble bouncing back.

Often, diet and exercise isn’t enough to achieve the youthful appearance you enjoyed before having children. A Mommy Makeover is actually a combination of different surgical and cosmetic procedures that can be tailored to individual patients. Most often, Mommy Makeovers involve a breast lift or augmentation, a tummy tuck, and liposuction, but other procedures can be tailored to your individual needs.

Many of our Houston Mommy Makeover clients are referred by family members looking to give someone a birthday gift or mothers day present. It’s important to note, however, that you shouldn’t elect to pursue a Mommy Makeover due to outside pressure. It has to be something you want for yourself.

If you’re curious about what a Mommy Makeover could do for you, and you’re in the Clear Lake Houston Area, you might want to consider scheduling a discussion with Dr. Polsen. All discussions are completely confidential. Contact us today, or call our Clear Lake offices at (281) 538-6600.

Overview:

A series of procedures, usually a tummy tuck, liposuction and a breast augmentation
Designed to give you the youthful appearance you enjoyed before pregnancy
Recovery: Variable, based on procedures performed
Great procedure for removal of Stretch Marks

Who is a Good Candidate?

Mommy Makeover candidates are most often women who have noticed significant changes in their bodies after pregnancy. This can include:

Reduced breast tissue
Increased breast tissue
Sagging breast tissue
Sagging skin
Unwanted body fat
Disproportionate body fat

Candidates should be in good general health and maintain a relatively stable weight. You should also have a realistic idea of what a Mommy Makeover can accomplish and what the end result will be. Mommy Makeover candidates should also be free from family pressure, instead opting to undergo any procedures because they want to.

The Procedures

A Mommy Makeover is actually more than one procedure. Feel free to examine the pages for liposuction, tummy tuck, and breast augmentation or breast lift to find more details on each individual procedure. These procedures can be performed individually or, if you and Dr. Polsen elect to, all at once. Scarring is usually kept to a minimum by strategically placing incisions in areas covered by swim suit lines. All procedures are performed under general anesthesia.

Why Get a Mommy Makeover?

Because a mommy makeover is comprised of several different procedures, it’s worth discussing the advantage of the “mommy makeover” approach. As mentioned above, a mommy makeover is comprised of three procedures, most often a breast lift, a tummy tuck, and liposuction. What, then, is the advantage of having these three procedures performed concurrently?

The combination of procedures featured in a mommy makeover are designed to treat the specific conditions that tend to arise in many women due to motherhood. During pregnancy, for example, the skin around the belly area can be significantly stretched out. Over time, this can lead to significant amounts of excess skin.

Likewise, breast feeding can place enormous stress on the breasts and, over time, this stress can manifest as a development of excess skin and a change in orientation. These things can, of course, occur through the normal aging process. However, there are two factors that make them particularly potent for mothers:

The process of being a mother often exacerbates or accelerates stressors that cause signs of aging. In other words, excess skin may develop around the belly area sooner and in higher quantity than it would without a pregnancy. There’s also something to be said for the stresses of parenting more broadly, which can manifest in premature signs of aging.
There’s a tendency for mothers to put their needs second, behind the needs of the family or children. This can mean sacrifices to the body in terms of general health and in terms of youthful appearances. A mommy makeover is designed to return the appearance of the patient to a pre-motherhood youthfulness. In other words, the procedure is designed to reward the patient by giving her back those youthful years which were sacrificed for the good of her family.

Most patients like to accomplish this with a combination of the following procedures:

Liposuction
Tummy Tuck
Breast Lift

It should be noted, however, that the effects of aging will vary with each and every individual. Therefore, it’s not uncommon to see a mommy makeover with a liposuction, tummy tuck, and breast augmentation.

Recovery From Mommy Makeover

Another reason that the procedures encompassed by a Mommy Makeover are often combined is to make the recovery as efficient and as effective as possible. Since many of the patients who are getting a mommy makeover also happen o be caretakers in some way or another, those patients often have an interest in knowing the time table for a return to normal activity.

In general, patients can expect recovery from a mommy makeover to take a while. In most cases, recovery for patients will take the following course:

2-3 Days: During this time period, most patients will be on medication for pain. Swelling and bruising will be common.
2-3 Weeks: During the first 2-3 weeks patients will wean themselves off of stronger painkillers while simultaneously increasing activity. Patients who have undergone breast procedures should usually refrain from heavy lifting for the first 3 weeks (patients who underwent a tummy tuck should refrain from twisting at the core for the first six weeks or so)
3 Months: After three months of recovery, patients should be able to return to most, though not all, vigorous activity. Swelling should be substantially reduced, although some residual swelling might remain.
6 Months: After six months of recovery, most patients start to feel like themselves again and are nearly totally recovered. Scar tissue, however, may continue to fade for a year or two.

The results from a mommy makeover, however, are effectively permanent. Though aging will still occur, Mommy Makeover can effectively “reset” the body several years. This means that patients get to enjoy a significantly more youthful-looking body. Patients who undergo a mommy makeover often report a significant rise in confidence and self-esteem, in addition to the physical benefits of the procedure.

Indeed, patients who undergo a Mommy Makeover in Houston, TX tend to see results that present a more slender, firmer, more fit looking abdomen as well as breasts that are perkier and more youthfully oriented. It’s a great way for patients to look and feel more youthful. If you want to know more about what a Mommy Makeover can do for you, contact Houston area board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Charles Polsen at South Shore Plastic Surgery.

Once you schedule a consultation, we can discuss the best way to achieve your desired results and get started on your transformation!