What to Expect After a Mommy Makeover

    PHOENIX, AZ, December 07, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- If you are unhappy with the appearance of your body after pregnancy and childbirth, you may be considering a mommy makeover to restore your appearance to what it was like before you had children. When making decisions about a surgical procedure such as a mommy makeover, it's important to understand the likely aftermath the procedure. Here are a few basic explanations of the likely outcome of a mommy makeover.

Recovery

Recovery from a mommy makeover can be an involved process. You will likely have to take at least a week off work, and if your makeover includes a tummy tuck, you should count on taking two weeks off.

During the recovery period, you will likely experience significant discomfort, especially if your procedure included a tummy tuck. You will be given medications to control your postsurgical discomfort, which typically works well. Some plastic surgeons prefer to use a pump to automatically deliver pain medication to the treatment area.

Recovery impacts your personal life as much as your work, if not more. After your mommy makeover, you will need to dramatically scale back physical activity, including exercise and sex, until cleared by your surgeon. In many cases, this is at least four weeks without strenuous activities.

Risks

Plastic surgery is accompanied by significant risk. In most cases, complications of a mommy makeover are relatively minor. They may delay your recovery and diminish the quality of your results, but they are not too serious. In other cases, however, the complications can be serious, even life-threatening. Here are some of the signs of serious complications to watch out for during your recovery:

- Fever
- Localized warm spots
- Chest pain
- Racing heart
- Quick breathing or inability to catch breath
- Pain not controlled by medication

Some studies suggest that the risk associated with combined plastic surgeries is greater than the risk of undergoing either procedure separately.

Results

Once your recovery is complete and you see your final results--which may take up to six months in procedures like breast augmentation and liposuction--you will likely be happy with the results. In fact, on independent rating site RealSelf, mommy makeover is one of the highest-rated procedures, with a 98% "Worth It" rating, the second highest of any procedure on the site.

So, although there are risks and the recovery is intensive, the results usually justify it for most people.

If you live in the Phoenix, Arizona area and would like to learn more about mommy makeovers, please visit the website of board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Bryan Gawley at http://www.gawleyplasticsurgery.com/.

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