Restoring Your Breasts and Body After Pregnancy

Baby Fat
If you have had a baby you may notice that you gain weight slowly during the first trimester. During the second and third trimester, you will gain the majority of your pregnancy weight.

Many women fear the inevitable weight gain and physical changes of pregnancy, even though it's normal and healthy. The average weight gain with pregnancy can range from 25 lbs to 50 lbs. The best weight gain with pregnancy is a gradual weight gain over the nine month period. For some pregnant women this is not possible as women gain weight at different rates. The weight gain, distribution, and physical changes of pregnancy vary from woman to woman.

Your postpartum shape will mostly be affected by how much weight you gained during pregnancy. If you gained too much weight during pregnancy or developed poor eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle, you may have more difficulty losing the weight after the baby is born.

Weight loss solutions after giving birth:

• Breast-feeding
  
• Eating a healthy, well balanced diet that is low in fat, high in fiber, and rich in vitamins and nutrients
  
• Exercising four or more times a week for at least 30 minutes. Regular cardio and aerobic exercises that elevate the heart rate are best for burning calories needed for weight loss.
  
• Weight training is recommended for toning and tightening the muscles and body.

Physical changes to the breasts and abdomen
Pregnancy can produce physical changes in the most private parts of our bodies. Not only does the abdomen experience major changes so do the breasts and hips.

Due to hormone fluctuations with pregnancy and size changes, the breasts are affected before, during and after pregnancy. The breasts usually start increasing in size after the first 8 weeks. Some women's breasts may increase as much as one or two cup sizes.

After pregnancy or when breast feeding is completed the breasts size will likely decrease. This decrease can leave the breasts droopy without volume.

Breast size changes and breast feeding can cause changes to the size, shape and appearance of the breasts. After or during pregnancy the breasts, abdomen and hips may also develop stretch marks.

After giving birth some women see loose skin and stretched abdominal muscles which may cause the abdomen to stick out. No matter what areas of the body are affected by pregnancy the appearance can be improved with plastic surgery.

Plastic Surgery Solutions
Have no fear, Dr. Corbin is here. As a board certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon with over 20 years experience he has helped many women restore their bodies to pre baby form after child birth. Generally, Dr. Corbin recommends women wait to have plastic surgery after pregnancy once their hormones are back to normal and they have lost as much of the ,”baby fat” they can. “The patient will get the best results if they are at their ideal or close to their ideal weight”, according to Dr. Fred Corbin.

Surgery Selection
The patient's surgery selection will depend on what aesthetic improvements the patients want to make. Some patients chose to have breast surgery along with a tummy tuck to get their pre baby body back. Other women may only need to do one or the other, a breast surgery or a tummy tuck. In some cases of mild skin laxity some patients may be candidates for abdominal Thermage treatments to tighten the skin and stimulate collagen in the skin. Some women store extra fat on their hips with pregnancy and may benefit from liposuction to remove the extra fat.

Breast Surgery
Surgery options for women post pregnancy may be a breast lift with or without an augmentation. The goal of plastic surgery is to give the patient the optimum result. If a patient has droopy breasts, excess skin and droopy enlarged nipple areolars then they would most likely benefit from a mastopexy (breast lift) to tighten and remove the extra skin, restore perkier breasts and also to decrease the nipple areolar size.

Some women's breasts have Pseudoptosis following pregnancy and breast feeding. This is when the breast size has decreased and the breasts are left looking deflated. The nipples sit above the inframammary crease therefore the patient generally would not benefit from a breast lift. Usually a breast augmentation will restore the fullness to the breast and give the patient with Pseudoptosis a good surgical outcome.

In women whose breasts are droopy, the nipples are pointing down or are below the breast crease and the shape lacks volume these patients would be candidates for a breast lift with implants.

Tummy Surgery
In addition to the breasts, following pregnancy many changes can also be seen in the abdomen. If the abdominal walls are lax and there is extra skin and or stretch marks an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) is the surgical solution. With this cosmetic procedure Dr. Corbin tightens the abdominal muscles and removes the excess skin, stretch marks and or fat. In some cases, women who have only a small amount of excess skin would benefit from a mini tummy tuck. The incisions for this surgery are smaller and the recovery is quicker due the less invasive surgery technique. The scars for tummy tucks generally go from hip to hip depending on what improvements need to be done. Scars are a big concern for women so Dr. Corbin hides the scars in places that can be easily covered up with panties or a bathing suit. If a woman has previous C section scars they are removed during the tummy tuck and replace by a new usually less noticeable scar.

Thermage a non invasive choice
Thermage uses radiofrequency energy to tighten underlying tissues. This procedure is different from the traditional uses of Lasers, Chemical peels and dermabrasion because Thermage treats the deeper dermis and underlying tissues, while lasers, peels and dermabrasion targets the top layers of skin. This option may be good on women who only have mild skin laxity on the abdomen following childbirth.

Also with natural aging we age we lose collagen in our skin which causes wrinkles and skin laxity. In addition to tightening the dermis and tissues Thermage stimulates the collagen in the skin immediately and also over time.

In order to achieve optimum results, each patient may require a different amount of light energy applied and a different number of passes and number of sessions.
The higher the light energy the more discomfort a patient may feel. Each patients tolerance to pain is different so individual pain management options are needed. Some patients use a topical numbing cream that is applied over the area before it is treated with Thermage. If a patient is doing a large area of the body and having several passes other options such as light sedation may be suggested to help the patient feel comfortable with no pain.

Belly Button Surgery
Belly button changes may be seen after childbirth. Some patients complain their belly button sticks out too much. It may have been an “innie” before pregnancy and afterwards it has become an “outtie”. The appearance of the bellybutton can be improved with an umbilicoplasty surgery. This surgery can be done with or with out a tummy tuck.

Liposuction shape contouring
Liposuction or liposculpture is a procedure to remove localized deposits of fat from the body to improve body contour and shape. Using small hollow metal tubes called cannulas fat is removed from areas of excess via small incisions placed in inconspicuous locations that literally can heal without leaving a scar. With liposuction, fat that is resistant to diet and exercise can be easily removed permanently changing body contour.

Improving the appearance of your body after childbirth
The combination of cosmetic surgery procedures varies from patient to patient. It is very common for women after giving birth to want to improve the appearance of their bodies with breast surgery, tummy tucks, liposuction or thermage.

Body sculpting and shaping procedures can be done alone or together. For the best plastic surgery results, Dr. Corbin recommends that the patient not be breast feeding, be at their normal hormone levels and as close to their ideal weight as possible.

To see what cosmetic surgery would be right for you call Dr. Corbin's office at
(714) 671-3033. or Click here for a complimentary cosmetic consultation. Your personal evaluation and private consultation are just a phone call away.

  For more information on Breast Enhancement, visit Dr. Corbin's other web site www.thebreastexpert.com.