“Menopause makeovers” are too. As estrogen dips, “many ladies are inclined to placed on slightly little bit of weight within the higher chest, in entrance of the armpits, and within the higher arms—there’s a thickening of the torso, even in girls who’re persevering with the identical weight loss program and train routines,” Steven Teitelbaum, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Los Angeles has advised Attract. These sufferers could get a breast raise or discount with liposuction across the decrease again, higher arms, and/or abdomen, until they’ve had kids, wherein case they’d most likely get a tummy tuck to handle extra pores and skin. Combining these procedures for a affected person who’s a decade or so older than the standard “mommy” is more and more widespread as Gen Xers expertise menopause. They’re proving much more more likely to do one thing about its bodily adjustments than previous generations, who went via menopause when each “the change” and cosmetic surgery have been extra hush-hush.
Whether or not you name them mommy makeovers or Ozempic makeovers or menopause makeovers, there’s a whole lot of curiosity round bundled cosmetic surgery for the time being. And the sufferers we’ve spoken to are right here to fulfill it, sharing all the issues that they want somebody had advised them earlier than they signed up for their very own explicit bundle of physique surgical procedures. Right here, 13 truths of a multi-prong physique makeover that may aid you determine if it’s best for you—and methods to navigate the expertise.
Reality #1: You could want to separate up your surgical procedures.
A raise right here, a tuck there—getting just a few completely different procedures completed on the similar time is a no brainer from a gross sales and advertising perspective. You’re already below anesthesia, and who wouldn’t need a one-stop-shop for restoring their pre-pregnancy physique? Financially, it is sensible, chopping down on anesthesia charges, facility charges, and time spent within the hospital or clinic. Plus, there’s all that adulting to deal with—the youngster care, the canine walker, the family chores. It is typically simpler to rearrange your life for a single restoration interval. Nonetheless, some folks select to go away time between the completely different surgical procedures that, when put collectively, make up a “mommy makeover.”
Kathleen G.,* age 46, had lipo—on her stomach, hips, flank, and again—just a few months earlier than getting the remainder of her mommy makeover (a breast raise and implants, and a tummy tuck). “It was an excessive amount of without delay. [Otherwise,] you’re not giving your physique time to heal,” she says. “The factor that sucks with lipo is the swelling—a really uncomfortable, tight feeling. I had some numbness, too, [for about] three months.” She was relieved to have time to get well between procedures. Dr. Redman has another excuse why he typically advises sufferers to separate up their surgical procedures: “An excessive amount of time [under general anesthesia] will increase the chance of blood clots, infections, and problems from anesthesia.”
Your surgeon can also select to not guide one mammoth surgical procedure as a result of they wish to ensure they’re acting at their greatest. “I am used to doing these massive, massive procedures, so I’ve constructed up a stamina for doing that,” says Dr. Rednam. “Different folks can solely [operate for] two or three hours earlier than they begin feeling drained. It will depend on the consolation degree of the surgeon.” And naturally, there’s scheduling: Having a number of procedures without delay requires an extended restoration time and typically that’s not within the playing cards. “ I took 10 days off work after my breast augmentation, and two and a half weeks off after the stomach tuck,” says Hailey H.,* age 50, of her expertise getting the 2 surgical procedures on completely different days. If she had completed each procedures on the identical day, she may need had a lengthier, extra painful restoration.
Reality #2: You’re going to get a brand new stomach button.
Properly, technically, it’s the identical stomach button—however will probably be in a brand new, flatter location. Throughout a tummy tuck, the surgeon cuts across the stomach button, leaving it related to the muscle beneath. After eradicating the surplus pores and skin within the space, they create a brand new gap, “pop the stomach button again via and stitch it into place, type of like should you undid a button in your shirt, moved it down one buttonhole, after which pushed it via the subsequent buttonhole down,” says David Shafer, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon in New York Metropolis.
