Breast Implants & Pregnancy

It’s not uncommon for women to become pregnant following breast augmentation surgery. In the vast majority of these patients, the presence of breast implants does not affect their breast tissue. This is even more so when the breast implants are placed beneath the pectoralis muscle.

It’s important to remember that pregnancy impacts the breast with or without breast implants. These changes vary from patient to patient following breast augmentation and pregnancy. Some patients are minimally impacted, while others note sag of their native breast tissue, loss of breast volume, and stretch marks. These changes are probably not related to the breast implants, but are instead related to the natural biological tendencies of the breast tissue. In other words, loss of breast volume, sag, and stretch marks would occur, even if breast implants weren’t present.

Is Loose Skin a Possibility After Liposuction?

Every patient has the potential to develop loose skin following liposuction surgery. It’s therefore important that this topic be part of the preoperative discussion and informed consent process.

The potential to develop loose skin varies from patient to patient. This determination is based on physical examination alone. Some patients have excellent skin tone with minimal laxity and aren’t likely to have difficulty with skin sag. These patients are often younger and are close to their ideal body weight. In this group, liposuction is an excellent treatment option with high satisfaction rates.

There are also patients who are clearly at risk for developing skin sag. This group is often older and their skin has more laxity. They have experienced greater fluctuations in their weight and frequently have had multiple pregnancies.

How Soon After Plastic Surgery Can I Fly?

Travel of any type following cosmetic surgery can potentially complicate the postoperative course. In most cases, patients have recovered sufficiently to travel in about two weeks following surgery.

Air travel often involves prolonged periods of immobilization and because of this, patients may be at risk for the development of blood clots in their extremities. These blood clots, known as DVTs, can potentially represent a life-threatening phenomenon when they occur.

How To Perk Sagging Breasts Up Following Pregnancy

Pregnancy and subsequent breast-feeding can have a dramatic impact on the size and shape of a woman’s breasts. During pregnancy, the breasts increase in size in response to a changing hormonal environment. This phenomena is further accentuated by breast-feeding, as the glanduler tissue enlarges during lactation. To accommodate this increased breast volume, the skin envelope has to stretch as well. Once the process of lactation is completed, the glanduler tissue shrinks, and the breast decreases in size. This loss of volume is often accompanied by the development of breast sag because of decreased breast volume in the presence of stretched skin.

The response of the breast to pregnancy varies from patient to patient, and depends on a variety of factors. These include the starting size of the breast, the length of time spent breast- feeding, and the biologic tendency for the breast skin to stretch during pregnancy.

Depending upon the degree of sag that is present, a multitude of surgical options exist to treat this problem. Every patient’s anatomic starting point and aesthetic goals may be different, and because of this, treatment plans need to be individualized.

Can Liposuction and Tummy Tuck be done at the Same Time?

Following pregnancy, it’s not uncommon to see women who have abdominal skin sag with stretch marks. Many of these patients also have fat collections of their hips and thighs. At Aesthetic Surgical Images, we frequently perform liposuction of the hips and thighs at the time of abdominoplasty; however, we avoid liposuction of the abdomen at the time of abdominoplasty because of the increased potential for wound-healing problems.

When performing abdominoplasty, the lower abdominal incision and the elevation of abdominal skin flaps interrupt several sources of blood supply to the abdominal skin. When liposuction of the abdomen is done during abdominoplasty, there is the potential to damage the remaining blood supply. This potentially could result in skin necrosis and wound-healing problems. If patients need liposuction of their abdomen, we prefer performing this procedure at a later date.

There are significant advantages in performing liposuction of the hips and thighs in combination with abdominoplasty. These include synergy, cost-savings, and one recovery period.  Attempts to perform liposuction of the abdomen in combination with abdominoplasty potentially can result in an increased complication rate.