Contouring procedures are advanced techniques designed to remove excess, sagging skin and improve your overall silhouette. Whether you’ve finished having babies (and childbirth has left behind unwanted changes), or you’ve undergone extreme fluctuations in body weight to meet your goals – skin and tissues only have so much elasticity, and can sometimes overstay their welcome. Building muscle and eating right will help to an extent, but flabby, stretched skin often lingers long after you’ve lost the pounds. We experience a decline in collagen and elasticity as we get older. According to one San Francisco dermatologist, age and genetics both play a role in the difficulty bouncing back.1
Breast and body contouring are a solution for people who have hit their goal weight, but feel that their aesthetics don’t reflect these milestones. A plastic surgeon can work with you to design a body contouring plan that fits your specific needs. Tummy tucks and breast lifts are tried-and-true procedures; however, full body contouring is presenting a novel option for those who want to tackle more than one problem area in a single surgery.2 A “lower body lift”, for example, targets the tummy, midsection, and outer thighs in one fell swoop. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons®, these procedures are on the rise as a post-weight loss surgery option – with a 10% increase being reported from 2015 to 2016 alone.3
Dr. Iorio of Iorio Plastic Surgery & Cosmedical Center specializes in what is known as the “Mommy Makeover” – a procedure for mothers looking to reclaim their pre-baby body. Recommended for those who are finished bearing children, it addresses a host of concerns from stretch marks to drooping breasts. Breast feeding in particular can take a toll on the body and breast shape4; but this all-encompassing technique transforms both their size and position.
The best candidate for breast and body contouring are people who are at or near their ideal weight, and have strategies in place to keep the pounds off in the long term.5 In many cases, body contouring surgeries lead to a healthier lifestyle post-op. This may be because people are even more motivated to maintain their sculpted silhouette and sparkling new body image.
If you’re considering undergoing this type of surgery, you’ll want to select a board-certified plastic surgeon specializing in reconstructive surgery. They will communicate with you to find out what it is that you’re hoping to achieve with your body contouring procedure. Breaking the barrier of one-size-fits-all, body contouring is a truly customizable procedure that may include any combination of breast augmentation, tummy tuck, buttock augmentation, liposuction, fat grafting, and thigh, arm, or breast lift.
Your surgeon will also provide you with information about the recuperation period. Are you looking to make large-scale changes to your appearance? You will be able to greatly reduce you recovery by combining several surgeries.6 The rate of healing is unique to each patient; however, most can expect a full recovery to take several months. Follow your doctor’s instructions about wound care and exercise to achieve the most desirable results.7
Double board-certified and fellowship trained, Dr. Louis Iorio stands by his commitment to offer superior plastic and cosmetic treatments to his clients. For more information, call 732-780-9191 for Colts Neck, NJ, or 732-458-7400 for the Brick, NJ office.
1Webmd.com/diet/obesity/features/you-lost-weight-what-about-extra-skin#1
2Webmd.com/beauty/features/the-facts-about-body-contouring-surgery#1
3Plasticsurgery.org/documents/News/Statistics/2016/body-contouring-gender-confirmation-surgery-2016.pdf
4Americanboardcosmeticsurgery.org/procedure-learning-center/breast/breast-lift-guide/
5Realself.com/article/the-importance-maintaining-stable-weight-breast-and-body-contouring
6Theplasticsurgerychannel.com/2017/05/23/body-contouring-body-plan/
7Hopkinsmedicine.org/health/articles-and-answers/ask-the-expert/body-contouring-after-weight-loss-what-you-need-to-know