Is There a Weight Limit for a Mommy Makeover?
We see many images of celebrities who look great just a few months after pregnancy. This has spurred an increase in demand for mommy makeovers. A mommy makeover surgery is a flexible set of cosmetic procedures to improve a woman’s figure after childbirth or weight loss.
Patients can customize their mommy makeover according to their body’s needs and budget. Most mommy makeovers, however, usually focus on the breasts and abdomen.
Procedures often included in a mommy makeover surgery are:
Find out more about mommy makeovers below, including whether there is a weight limit for this procedure.
What Is a Mommy Makeover?
Not every woman needs all of the procedures mentioned above. The only way to find out the best procedures for you is to talk to your plastic surgeon.
Let’s take a look at some of the more common mommy makeover procedures:
Breast Lift
The physical changes that come with pregnancy are significant. Many women in their 30s and 40s need a breast lift after having their baby. This is because the breasts expand with milk during pregnancy and then go back down in size afterward. It’s common for some women to go up and down two or three breast sizes during and after pregnancy. Breast augmentation is right for other women.
The breast skin must stretch to accommodate the milk, so the woman may be left with flat, sagging breasts that affect her self-confidence and appearance. Some women also may be left with smaller breasts after they finish breastfeeding, so breast augmentation may be helpful.
If the patient’s nipples point south, that indicates they need a breast lift. But if the nipples are in a normal position, you may only need breast augmentation. Talk to your surgeon about saline or silicone implants. Breast reduction surgery, while possible, isn’t as common in a mommy makeover.
Liposuction
Even with a healthy diet and exercise for months, it can be challenging to get rid of extra fat accumulated during pregnancy. Liposuction is popular for mommy makeovers because it removes stubborn pockets of fat from the abdomen, sides, legs, arms, and more.
Your surgeon can use liposuction combined with a tummy tuck to give you a flatter, trimmer belly, too. These will help to remove fat and remove excess skin and give you a more flattering figure. Stretch marks are a common concern after pregnancy. Many women are curious if liposuction can help with stretch marks, unfortunately stretch marks are not something that is addressed by lipo.
Tummy Tuck
During pregnancy, the abdomen expands to make room for the growing baby. After childbirth, the stretched skin in the abdomen may not completely retract. Many women are left with sagging, flabby excess skin that they cannot eliminate with diet and exercise.
A tummy tuck trims away the extra fat excess skin and tightens the remaining sagging skin to make the belly flat again.
The incision is usually made from hip to hip below the naval. The surgeon may also tighten the abdominal muscles with internal sutures while trimming and suturing the remaining skin.
They may do liposuction during the tummy tuck to eliminate additional fat pockets. After your tummy tuck make sure to follow your surgeon’s instructions careful to ensure the wound healing process goes smooth.
Weight Limit For Mommy Makeover
Many plastic surgeons have weight limits for their procedures for safety reasons. Many say that a patient’s BMI indicates how ready they are to have plastic surgery. Surgeons often require a BMI of less than 32 to have a major cosmetic procedure, such as a mommy makeover.
However, other surgeons may look at other factors than your weight to decide whether you’re ready for a mommy makeover.
It can be too simplistic to only look at a patient’s BMI to determine their suitability for plastic surgery. For example, some patients may have more muscle mass which makes them heavier. But, on the other hand, they could be relatively fit and healthy enough for a mommy makeover.
Also, many mommy makeovers include liposuction. For years, most plastic surgeons considered about 11 pounds of fat and fluid as the most that could be safely removed in one session.
However, a study in 2015 indicated that the maximum amount of fat taken out doesn’t need to be constant for safety’s sake. The higher your BMI, the more fat can be safely taken out.
For instance, if the surgeon removes 11 pounds of fat from someone who weighs 140 pounds versus 250, it’s a very different situation. That’s why many surgeons now advocate for a sliding BMI scale for cosmetic procedures.
Plastic surgeons also consider how the patient’s fat is distributed and how much muscle mass they have.
Studies also show that while a patient with a higher BMI can have a mommy makeover and liposuction, it doesn’t mean the risks are less. For example, a person with a BMI of 30 still has a higher risk for complications, such as infection and tissue necrosis.
Mommy makeover results also may be better for patients close to their ideal weight. For example, an overweight patient who has a mommy makeover may find it more challenging to have a proportional appearance if they have fat in other areas of the body.
Your plastic surgeon will consult with you to determine if you are at a healthy weight for a mommy makeover.
Best Time To Have A Mommy Makeover
Many surgeons say you should wait at least six months after pregnancy to have a mommy makeover of a concern for patient safety.. This gives the body a chance to recover from a mommy makeover and return to a normal weight. However, if you still need to lose more than 10 or 15 pounds after pregnancy, the surgeon may recommend you wait to have the surgical procedure. It is also important to stop smoking before your surgery. Whenever you choose to have your cosmetic surgery, your surgeon will advise you to avoid heavy lifting after your mommy makeover procedure
Having a mommy makeover when you are slightly overweight is probably safe; you simply may have more impressive results if you have the surgical procedure close to your goal weight.
As noted earlier, some surgeons may perform a mommy makeover when you are heavier. Talk to your surgeon to learn their guidelines and recommendations. Many patients are curious if their insurance company will cover the cost of mommy makeovers. Unfortunately this is not often the case.
A mommy makeover is a proven way to revitalize a woman’s body after pregnancy or weight loss. Speak to your surgeon today to learn more.
Request A Mommy Makeover Consultation
Considering a mommy makeover in New Jersey? Dr. Smita. R. Ramanadham can help you obtain the results you want. Dr. Ramanadham will go over your options, goals and the cost of a mommy makeover to determine if this surgical procedure is a good fit.
References
Liposuction Weight Limits. (2015). Accessed at https://www.webmd.com/beauty/news/20150925/with-liposuction-weight-should-guide-fat-removal-limits-study#1
Everything You Need To Know About A Mommy Makeover. (2020). Accessed at https://www.plasticsurgery.org/news/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-a-mommy-makeover
Mommy Makeover Overview. (n.d.). Accessed at https://www.plasticsurgery.org/cosmetic-procedures/mommy-makeover