A aving a baby is one of the most satisfying and
rewarding event for a woman. There are many changes which occur in
the body as a result of the pregnancy. Many mothers are not very
happy with these changes and would like to get back to their
youthful shape. Many women gain too much weight in their body. Most
of this fat tend to accumulate in the abdomen, back, thighs or under
arm region. The abdominal skin gets loose and often becomes ugly due
to the stretch marks which tend to be worse in the lower abdomen.
Many women get laxity of their breasts after breast feeding. Many of
them like to obtain a breast lift. If the laxity of the breast is
mild to moderate the best way to plump up the breasts would be with
a fat graft. The fat can be obtained from the abdomen or the love
handle region where fat collects freely due to the pregnancy. Both
procedures are usually done on the same day and for best results you
should correct the volume loss in the breasts as soon as possible.
The reason is to avoid the loss of circulation which occur as the
breast becomes lax. A mild case is easily corrected with one or two
fat grafts and a moderate or a severe case will need several fat
grafts done sequentially every three months.
It is usual to get a collection of fat in the hips and loin region
in preparation for childbirth. This is called the love handle fat
and causes you to lose the hour glass shape from the back. It is
also called "the muffin top" in USA. This is easily corrected with
liposuction with tumescent technique. The fat removed from this area
is a very good source for rejuvenation of other parts of the body
such as face, breasts, buttocks or back of the hands.
It is also common to get muscle weakness due to the stretching of
the muscles which occur as abdomen enlarges with the growing fetus.
We recommend a course of exercises to strengthen the muscles which
are weakened. Our bodies are 40% muscles and without strong healthy
muscles we cannot have a beautiful body shape. Exercises should be a
part of everybody's daily routine.
If there is a lot of hanging and lose skin of the abdomen simply
removing the fat may not be enough. For a patient with that kind of
lose skin there can be two options. The options depend on several
factors. If the person had only one baby and expecting to be
pregnant again it is best to do only a liposuction. Liposuction will
correct about 10-20 percent of the lose skin. After having all the
children you need then you can obtain a flat stomach my removing the
excess skin of the lower abdomen. This is best done with liposuction
abdominoplasty. Unlike the traditional tummituck there is no risk of
death (1 in 3000 for the traditional tummy tuck in best hospitals in
USA) and there is no need to stay in a hospital for seven to ten
days experiencing a large amount of pain. New techniques allows the
patient to return to work in two days and go home right after the
surgery without any drains.
Due to the correction of excessive fat and modern skin suturing techniques
the ultimate scar looks much better with the new technique. Before a
tummituck it is best for the patient to follow a healthy diet and
exercise programs and be at the Ideal weight. Otherwise further skin
resections may have to be done as the patient loses more weight. For
patient with slightly lose skin a mini tummytuck is performed where
only the lose skin is removed from the lower abdomen and the scar is
placed below the bikini line. If the skin is very lose patient
requires a complete tummy-tuck where all the lose skin below the
belly button is removed and naval is repositioned at its natural
position after suturing the skin. The naval should never be removed.
( I have seen horrible results in Sri Lankan Tummy tucks where naval
has been removed completely). And naval should not be replaced with
an artificial scar which can never look natural. Sometimes an
umbilical hernia or midline hernias at other positions can occur due
to the pregnancy. A general surgeon can easily correct these.
Patient should come for cosmetic surgery about four months after the
correction of the hernia. If a C-section has been done it is best to
wait four months before coming for an abdominal liposuction or a
tummy-tuck.
As the body grows to accommodate the baby, stretch marks may occur
and are usually pink to start, as they mature; they turn white.
While creams etc are available for this, the only consistently
reliable way to remove them is to include them with the skin removed
during tummy tuck surgery. Also prominent abdominal contour scars
like those sometimes seen after Caesarean delivery and other surgery
can be removed or improved during this tummy tuck procedure.
Ideally, women planning future pregnancies should consider waiting
for tummy tuck surgery.
One of the least talked about areas of cosmetic plastic surgery is
reconstruction of the external genitalia after childbirth. Otherwise
know as labial surgery, labioplasty, labial reduction, vaginal
tightening, and vaginoplasty. It’s not uncommon for women who have
given birth to suffer from slackness in the pelvic floor and vaginal
muscles. Some may even develop incontinence, which can be
embarrassing and damage self-confidence. Taking the surgical route
has not only boosted sexual pleasure, it has prevented further
genital discomfort and embarrassment. Laxity of the vagina is the
main cause of sexual dissatisfaction. Restoration of the anterior
vaginal wall with fat grafting is an easy procedure which restores
the tightness as well as the ability obtain orgasms.