The usual procedures for a Mommy Makeover are very safe.
If you have a skilled surgeon working in a modern operating room, complications during the surgery are very rare. From my experience, most moms are relatively young and healthy without serious medical problems. And that’s including the latest trend of current moms in their 30s and 40s. The thinking today is that 60 is the new 40. So 40 is really young—and so is 60! Those factors make the surgery and healing much easier on the body. A healthy mom can certainly go through several procedures at once safely and make a good recovery.
Risks Of Surgery
But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s discuss some of the major risks with surgery in general, including a Mommy Makeover. Certainly each specific procedure has its own inherent risks, but some general risks must be factored into our thinking when considering surgery.
1. Type of Surgery:
Heart bypass surgery is considerably more risky than a Tummy Tuck. Liver transplantation carries much higher possibilities for complications than a breast lift. While plastic surgery is still real surgery, it involves a much less significant physiologic impact on one’s body than a lot of other surgeries. Oftentimes, we are essentially “tailoring” an area of skin and fat and not involving manipulation of the internal organs. This lessens the overall risk of these types of surgeries.
2. Time Under Anesthesia
The physiologic impact of surgery involves manipulation of your sensorium and disengagement of your pain sensations…i.e. Anesthesia. The longer the surgery, the more medications needed to maintain an appropriate level of anesthesia.
3. Your Medical History
Medical problems or disease processes you suffer with (your medical history) effects your ability to undergo surgery of any kind. Examples include high blood pressure, diabetes, blood clotting disorders, etc. Some of these can be stabilized or treatment maximized in order to provide a safe setting for you to have surgery.
4. Your Social History
This includes factors that are controlled by you, like drinking, smoking, and drug (over-the-counter and illicit types) and herbal supplement usage. Often, we can help lower the impacts these impose on you, but never fully negate them. In order to minimize the risks to the fullest extent, it’s best to avoid the factors listed in this category. I ask my patients who smoke to quit at least three weeks before surgery and to agree not to smoke again until they’re completely healed.
Mommy Makeovers are Safe
The good news about Mommy Makeover safety is that most moms who are considering this surgery are relatively young and healthy, and so the factors above have minimal impact on them. This makes the surgery and healing much easier on the body. A healthy mom can certainly go through several procedures at once safely (a Mommy Makeover) and make a good recovery. This doesn’t add much to the length of the surgery or the time you’re under anesthesia. We jokingly ask our patients, “Why waste a good general anesthesia on only one surgery?” The additional pain and healing time isn’t much greater either—approximately two to three weeks separately and only slightly longer when combined in a Mommy Makeover. Most prefer to just have that downtime once. There’s also no long-term detriment to your system to undergoing the breast and belly procedures at the same time.
Many moms are surprised to learn this about a Mommy Makeover. Many come to the office with preconceived notions that only one problem can be fixed at a time due to the safety, pain, or recovery time. After we discuss it, however, most moms choose the combination Mommy Makeover. They understand that they’re going to have to make a lot of arrangements for the household, children, meals, and so on—they’d rather have to do that just once. Plus, doing the procedures separately just means going through the preparation and downtime more often. And why pay the hospital operating room and facility fees more than once?
Advantages of Combined Procedures
• Single anesthetic (may be safer)
• Single downtime
• Similar pain
• Arrangements (kids, house, etc.) only once
• Potential savings (anesthesia and facility fees)
The most common medical condition I see among my patients is actually a bit of depression. That’s not unexpected in women who are tired out by pregnancy and childrearing and are feeling unhappy about all the changes in their body. I’ve found that a Mommy Makeover does a huge amount to make depressed moms feel a lot better about themselves. It can really change their outlook not only about themselves but about their life in general.
While surgery itself can be viewed as risky and somewhat scary, in a young and healthy mom (our usual patient) a Mommy Makeover is a relatively safe endeavor. With patients who suffer from other medical issues, we create an individualized treatment plan that is right for them (which we do with all our patients). Sometimes, this plan involves minimizing the risks as much as possible and proceeding with surgery and sometimes this involves a non-surgical approach to their problem areas.
If you’d like to see what options exist for you for your own beauty transformation or to receive a copy of the Mom’s Choice Award winning and #1 Amazon Best Selling book by Dr. Burgdorf, The Mommy Makeover: Restoring Your Body After Childbirth, contact Music City Plastic Surgery or call 615-567-5716. You can also opt in at http://www.musiccityplasticsurgery.com/the-mommy-makeover to receive free downloads of the book.
