If you are looking to turn back the hands of time, get back your pre-pregnancy curves, or want to eliminate some excess skin and fat after significant weight loss, plastic surgery can be a great tool. But what if you have more than one area that needs attention? That can mean a lot of recovery time for each procedure. But what if you could reduce that recovery time and address all your concerns at once, with a combined recovery? A mommy makeover may provide the answer and, no, you don’t need to be a mom to qualify!
What is a Mommy Makeover?
A mommy makeover is a plastic surgery procedure combination designed to help restore the body contours affected by pregnancy and childbirth thus restoring a woman’s pre-pregnancy figure. While a traditional mommy makeover includes a tummy tuck, liposuction, and a breast lift, reduction, or augmentation, a mommy makeover can be a collection of other procedures instead, such as a tummy tuck, liposuction, and an arm lift. The idea behind this combination procedure was to minimize the time under anesthesia and the time necessary for recovery. And no, you don’t need to be a mom at all!
Average Recovery Time for Common Procedures
To better understand the benefits of a mommy makeover, especially when it comes to reduced recovery time, we take a closer look at traditional recovery times for common procedures.
- Tummy Tuck – The average recovery time is about two weeks, however, you may need to wear a compression garment for additional weeks after.
- Breast Augmentation – Full recovery takes four to six weeks, though most women can return to normal activities within one to two weeks.
- Liposuction – Recovery from liposuction depends on the area treated. Bruising and swelling can last up to two weeks, but most can return to normal activities within a few days.
- Lower Body Lift – Recovery from this procedure can be up to four to six weeks of limited activity.
- Buttock Lift -Recovery from a butt lift can take several weeks, requiring pillows and adjusting when sitting and sleeping.
Benefits of Combining Certain Procedures
As you can see, the above procedures require at least a week or two of recovery. If you were to do each procedure individually with separate recovery times, you could spend half a year recovering. In addition, when you do a single procedure, you have several hours under anesthesia and on an operating table. Now, when you combine procedures, such as with a mommy makeover, you reduce the overall time under anesthesia, reduce the overall operating room time, reduce the overall total cost (you are only charged operating room and anesthesia charges for one procedure), and shorten your recovery time.
How a Mommy Makeover Affects the Time of Recovery
So how does a combination procedure like a mommy makeover reduce your recovery time? Let’s assume you are having a tummy tuck, a buttock lift, and liposuction. If we add up the recovery time for each procedure, we would be looking at six or more weeks of recovery, with each procedure listed around two weeks of recovery. However, when combined, your body heals all at once, to some extent. While you can’t expect a full recovery in two weeks from everything, you would likely be looking at three to four weeks for a full recovery instead of six or more.
If you are interested in multiple procedures and want to see if you qualify for a mommy makeover, Dr. Eric Chang, Dr. Jessica Wang, and our team at Columbia Aesthetic are here to help answer all your questions and show you which procedures will help you achieve your goals. Call 410-740-9330 today to schedule a consultation and take the first step to a new you!
Author: Dr. Eric Chang
Few plastic surgeons offer Dr. Eric Chang’s rare blend of impressive credentials and genuine compassion. After becoming a board-certified plastic surgeon, he returned to his home state and established Columbia Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, one of the premier cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery practices between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore.
