Cosmetic surgery after pregnancy
For many women, having a baby is one of the most joyful and exciting times of their life, but it can and usually does change your body, which no amount of diet and exercise can correct. Giving birth always results in body changes that may affect a woman's body image, so it's important for women to know what changes have occurred, which ones they can fix by themselves and their own efforts, and which ones will benefit from other options such as cosmetic surgery.
After pregnancy, many mothers look for a way to pamper themselves. While manicures and massages are great, some mums are finding a different way in cosmetic surgery. They want their old shapes back before pregnancy. The most asked for procedures include tummy tucks and liposuction as well as breast lifts, with or without implants to fill out sagging breasts.
During pregnancy fat usually occurs in the waist or hips in preparation for childbirth, Liposuction can be used to target these areas of fat and permanently remove them. While overall weight gain may be a problem, the abdomen and breasts are two areas which are especially susceptible to significant changes. Stomach muscles lose their tone after pregnancy because both muscles and skin have stretched to accommodate the baby. When they shrink there may be extra skin and the breasts may stretch out of shape.
The abdominal muscles become stretched and the abdominal skin becomes loose, no amount of sit-ups will reposition these muscles, and dieting will not shrink the skin. In many instances only an abdominoplasty can repair the changes. By repositioning the abdominal muscles, removing the excess skin, and improving the appearance of the belly button, a tummy tuck can help you improve and regain the shape you had before you became pregnant.
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.
To restore the abdomen, an abdominoplasty is performed to adjust the stomach wall. In this procedure skin is lifted off the abdomen starting just above the groin and going up to near the rib cage. The skin is then pulled down, the excess cut off, and the remaining skin sewn back into place. When the underlying abdominal muscles have stretched out so a major space results, the muscles can be tucked together to make a new resting state that yields a more natural appearance. Usually, this is performed after exercise that has failed to restore muscle tone. Scarring usually can be covered with underwear & swimwear.
Another common problem for women during and after pregnancy is sagging of their breasts. This is due to weight fluctuations and hormonal changes. Despite your best efforts sometimes the excess skin and the ligaments simply will not stretch back to how they were pre-pregnancy. Cosmetic surgery can help restore the breasts to more natural and youthful proportions.
Lots of women who had small breast before the pregnancy are really happy with the improved size during the pregnancy and want to keep this breast size after pregnancy. Breast augmentation will enlarge the size of the breast. Other women are happy with the size of their breasts, but as a result of pregnancy their breasts droop and sag. A breast lift or mastopexy will reposition the nipple and lift the breast, improving the shape without changing the size. Some women notice that their breasts droop and flatten out as a result of pregnancy and want an improvement in both the shape and size of their breasts. For these women a breast augmentation combined with a breast lift can give them the result they want.
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.
During delivery, tearing and stretching of the genitalia may occur resulting in an abnormal or unattractive appearance. Sometimes an episiotomy is performed which heals poorly, distorting the vaginal entrance.
The resultant scar and stretching may make an already difficult problem even worse. Many women complain of pain during sex or sexual intercourse, an unattractive appearance and considerable discomfort and inconvenience during activities like jogging or riding.
Surgical correction depends on accurate diagnosis of the problem. After evaluation the cosmetic surgeon can give you an assessment of the type of surgery needed. In many cases revision of a contracted scar is enough but each case is very different and correction is not easy. In many cases a labiaplasty or labial reduction corrects the problem by removing excess tissue, reshaping the female genital structures, larger or uneven inner vaginal lips are cut and shortened and therefore restoring a more normal and pre-pregnancy appearance, the scars are usually un-detectable following surgery.
It is always advisable to finish your family before having any of the above procedures, and it is best to wait at least 6-12 months after giving birth before having them, this can be discussed at your consultation with your surgeon.
