| Dr. Richard Rand is a plastic surgeon certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Here the Doctor has answered some of the common questions bizymoms visitors have about Mommy Makeover.
Q. What is a Mommy Makeover?
A. A Mommy Makeover is a new term to describe a variety of surgeries that can be customized and combined to restore the specific needs of an individual after pregnancy and childbirth. These include breast augmentations, lifts, tummy tucks and liposuction.
Q. Who is a good candidate for Mommy Makeover
A. A good candidate is one who is done having children, is physically and psychologically healthy, is within 10-20 pounds of their ideal weight, doesn't smoke, isn't diabetic, has realistic expectations, and has a good support system to help them during the recovery.
Q. What are the important facts about the safety and risks of the Mommy Makeover?
A. Firstly, regarding safety it is imperative that the patient be a good candidate for the procedures. Secondly, they need to choose a qualified surgeon who has a vast experience in this kind of work and has an excellent safety record. Finally, patients should carefully review photos on which surgeons work, to determine if the results they are seeing would make them happy.
There are risks involved in the procedures but these are kept to a minimum by the proper surgical technique, attention to detail, and patient management.
Q. What happens during the Mommy Makeover surgery?
A. The patient is marked standing before surgery and photos of them are posted on the OR wall for reference. They then undergo the selected surgery. If it is breast only or abdominal only, then this is all that is done. If it is a combined procedure, first the breast procedure is performed followed by the abdominal procedure.
Q. What are the Options for the Mommy Makeover?
A. Options covered above.
Q. What is the recovery time for Mommy Makeover?
A. The recovery depends on what is done and on the patient's personality. For all, light exercise is possible at 2 weeks after surgery. For any breast surgery, return to work by 1 week is reasonable. A tummy tuck takes more like 10 days to 2 weeks to recover from, but the patient is never bed ridden in the recovery. Having assistance for 3-4 days is helpful. Full recovery to normal strength takes 2 months.
Q. How much will the Mommy Makeover cost?
A. The costs depend on what surgery is required and on the time needed in the OR for anesthesia. They can range from $5,000 to up to 20,000 again depending on how much is required. |
