Mommy Makeover: Inpatient vs. Outpatient Surgery

The mommy makeover is an extensive procedure that combines cosmetic breast surgery, liposuction, and abdominoplasty. In the vast majority of cases, we’ve performed the procedure on an outpatient basis in an ambulatory surgery center. Patients typically return home after surgery and are seen in follow up the next morning.

When cosmetic surgery is performed on an outpatient basis, certain criteria must be met. Patients need to be in good health otherwise and they must have a support system in place. Many mommy makeover patients have small children at home. This potentially complicates after care because both the patient and her children need care givers.

Safety should always be a priority. When patients have co-existing medical problems, they should undergo a comprehensive medical evaluation before surgery. Depending upon the results of these studies, inpatient surgery may be indicated.

Pregnancy After a Tummy Tuck

The vast majority of women who undergo tummy tuck surgery are done having children. Rarely, women who have undergone abdominoplasty change their minds about additional pregnancies or accidentally become pregnant. Under these circumstances, tummy tuck has no negative impact upon the pregnancy. Unfortunately, pregnancy has a negative impact upon the patient’s previous abdominoplasty. Pregnancy recreates many of the patient’s original problems, including loose, saggy skin, weakened abdominal muscles, and stretch marks.

Plastic Surgery Financing

For many patients, cosmetic surgery would not be possible without some type of financing. For this reason, the vast majority of plastic surgeons offer some type of financing program.

In our practice, we almost exclusively utilize Care Credit. This is currently the most commonly used source of plastic surgery financing in the United States. Care Credit is run by GE Capital Financing. It’s reputable and you can apply for a loan online. It takes approximately thirty minutes to get a response. In some cases, you may be able to get a twelve-month interest free loan.

The Management of Breast Asymmetry

Breast asymmetry is an extremely common problem amongst women. In most cases, this is relatively minor and women aren’t bothered by it. Occasionally, it can be severe and treatment is necessary.

A multitude of options can be used to treat this problem. These may include breast reduction, breast lift, breast augmentation, or various combinations of these procedures.

It’s important to realize every patient is unique. They have specific aesthetic goals and unique anatomic findings. The specific treatment for any individual patient will depend entirely upon these issues.

Liposuction for Men

Liposuction is one of the most commonly performed cosmetic surgical procedures in men. The flanks, abdomen, chest, and neck appear to be the most commonly treated areas. This procedure is
associated with high satisfaction rates when patients are near their ideal body weight.

Liposuction in men has limitations because the fat tends to be more fibrous. In addition, a large amount of the abdominal fat is located within the abdominal cavity where it can’t be reached by a liposuction canula. These characteristics can limit the amount of fat that can be removed with this procedure. Men generally have thicker skin than women and as a result, skin sag is less likely to occur in this group.In some cases, ultrasonic liposuction has been found to be helpful when performing liposuction on men. In theory, this procedure results in skin tightening as well.

Facelift Surgery for Rejuvenation of the Neck

It’s not unusual to see women who have significant changes in their neck area as a result of facial aging. In many cases, this may be the primary manifestation of aging, with the face itself being relatively unaffected. These changes may include loss of definition of the jaw line, loss of the sharp angle between the neck and jaw, laxity of the underlying neck muscles with the formation of bands called turkey gobblers, fat accumulation, and of course excess skin. To obtain an excellent result, all of these issues need to be addressed. With this in mind it’s important to remember that all patients have unique facial anatomy and specific aesthetic goals. Therefore, treatment plans may vary from patient to patient depending upon their underlying anatomic deformity.

The procedure that is most likely to accomplish these goals is a facelift. This procedure corrects the abnormalities of the underlying muscles which ultimately defines the jaw line, removes the neck bands, and improves the angle between the jaw and neck. It also addresses fat accumulation and excess skin to further accentuate these improvements.

Capsular Contracture Following Breast Augmentation

It’s normal for your body to react to a foreign material such as a breast implant by forming a scar. This scar surrounds the breast implant and is known as a capsule. Capsule formation occurs in every patient to some degree following breast augmentation. In most cases, this represents a normal response to a foreign material being placed inside your body.

Without capsule formation, implants don’t stay in one place. When this happens, implants migrate and secondary pocket revision may be necessary. In some cases, capsule formation occurs in an aggressive form, which results in a capsular contracture. In severe cases of capsular contracture, the breast implants become hard, distorted, displaced, and painful. The majority of capsular contractures develop within six months of surgery, but they can develop at any time.

There’s no laboratory or radiology test that makes the diagnosis. The diagnosis is entirely based on physical examination.