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Mummy Makeover – Know All About Our Breasts
One of life’s most fulfilling experiences for woman is being a mother, and going through pregnancy & childbirth. To most women, they often feel that pregnancy & childbirth bring large impact on their bodies and they often feel that their youthful body is gone forever.
In recent years, the trend of “Mummy Makeover” is getting more popular in not only in the western countries, but also within Asia. But what exactly is Mummy Makeover and how much do you know?
“Mummy Makeover” is a surgical term that we use for mums who comes to the Plastic Surgeons seeking for help to restore and rebuild their bodies. It includes the breasts and the abdomen said Dr Marco.
Dr Marco commented that is not that these mum do not take care of themselves with exercise or diet. In true some work many hours in the gym but there are certain components that requires surgical treatment. Sometimes these problems of not feeling good and looking good in front of the mirror, or even unable to dress well can cause disturbances to their lifestyle and self-confidence.
The topic on breast is usually one of the main highlight for Mummy Makeover as most of the mums breast feed their child / children for a period of time and this causes the breast to shrink in shape and size.
According to Plastic Surgeon Dr Marco Faria Correa , the ladies will usually lose their breast volume after breastfeeding and it’s a concern for them as sometimes they find it very difficult to dress nicely sometimes even with a padded bra.
Dr Marco commented that the list of questions and concerns that the mums will ask him during consultation goes long.
The Common Questions Are :
Q 1. How Long After Breastfeeding Can I Go for Treatments or Surgery to Have My Breasts Back ?
Answer : There is no fix time as to how long one should breast feed. It is very personal and very individual. It will depend on the mum herself. The usual recommendation is around 6 months for breastfeeding by the Gynaecologist.
But should you decide to stop breastfeeding to go for any surgery to enhance the breast, it is best to stop breast feeding and wait for about 2 – 3 months before going for any treatment or surgical procedure.
Q 2. What Are The Options for Having My Breasts Back ? Is There Anything That is Non- Surgical ?
Answer : There are various options & it depends on how one presents when she comes in for a consultation. We have to see what is the situation/ condition of the breasts and what one wants to achieve.
Having a breast augmentation using a silicon implant is one of the commonest treatment. Besides this, the request for using their own body fat to refill their breast is also getting more popular and this can be done together when using silicon implants.
For those ladies who used to have big breasts and after breast feeding and the breasts are hanging, the skin tightening procedure which is known as Breast Lifting or Mastopexy can be done.
Using of commercial fillers is not recommended as they can comprise to the breast cancer screening. It can cause many white spots and shadow images that can disturb the findings in the initial stage of breast cancer.
Q 3. Tell Me More About Breast Augmentation
Answer : Breast Augmentation is a common plastic surgery procedure for those that are dissatisfied with the size of their breasts and wants to have fuller and shapelier breasts. This can be enhanced with either the use of Silicon Implants or with fat grafting
Breast Silicone Implants : There are a variety of brands in the market, and every brand come in different shapes, sizes, textures and profiles. Currently more Plastic Surgeons are using the Silicone Implants which is also known as the Gummy Bear implants or Silicone Cohesive implants. The other type of implant is Saline implants.
Silicon Shell : The silicon shell or envelope or bag comes in different textures. Smooth, textured or Polyurethane.
Shapes: The 2 common shapes of implants are mainly the round and anatomical. However in every shape, there are also varies types of profiles. Profiles of implants measures the distance an implant projects outwards from the chest wall. There are low, medium and high profiles.
Sizes / Volume: The sizes or volume for implants varies from 100cc right till above 500 cc.
Incisions : There are 3 common locations where we place the incision for breast augmentation, the axillary, the nipple areola or below the breasts. It depends one’s lifestyle and how the breast presents.
When it comes to determine which implants fits one well, Dr Marco commented that there are many things to discuss. Important is what the patients want to achieve with and how her breasts present at the moment.
The amount of breast tissue , the skin envelope and the skin texture and elasticity , the patient’s body physics such as her thorax or how big is her chest wall , if there is any body asymmetry , and scoliosis or even if her shoulders are unlevelled etc … are important features when it comes to choosing the right implant.
Every breast augmentation procedure is customized and tailored case by case because every physics are unique.
Q 4 . What is Fat Grafting ? Can You Explain More ?
Answer : Fat Grafting, also known as autologous fat transfer is a procedure where liposuction is done on those unwanted fats areas (example hips, inner and outer thighs). The fat is harvested and goes through centrifugation process to separate and remove unwanted components such as blood, water or oil, and the remaining fat is then grafted mainly at the subcutaneous tissue of the breast which increases the thickness of the fat layer that covers the breasts or in between the breast and chest muscles. We avoid putting the fat inside the fat tissue.
It is good for those whose breast has shrunk a bit and just want to refill the breast to make it look fuller.
For those who had breast augmentation done before and breast feed sometimes will complain that the breast looks a bit “too fake” or the edge of the implants are very obvious. Fat grafting can be done to the areas at the edge of the implant to give the breast a more natural look or create a more anatomical shape for the breasts.
Fat grafting can also be done together with breast augmentation at the same time or after breast augmentation should they find that their chest are quite bony or the edge of the implants are too obvious , fat grafting can be done to those areas to be more natural looking.
Sometimes for those with some asymmetry between both breasts, fat grafting can be helpful.
There are also cases where one decides to remove her implants due to whatever reasons; fat grafting can used to rebuild the breast.
For all fat grafting, the breast might look very much fuller after the procedure due to some slight swelling but it will reduce a little in size. Procedure time will varies from 1.5 hrs to 3 hrs depending on what is the complexity and recovery time usually takes around 5 to 7 days.
Q 5 . My Breasts Have Shrunk So Much After Breastfeeding. It Is Almost Empty. I want My Breasts Back!
Answer : Likely a Breast Augmentation with a good size implant will be able to help to regain the breast. We have to see how much the skin and breast envelope there is before we can decide for the size. There is a high chance that the implant can be placed on top of the muscle, behind the breast tissue to give a nice aesthetic look and feel. If one feels that the implant may look a bit too obvious especially at the cleavage area, a bit of fat grafting can help to solve the problem to give a nice natural look. .
Q 6. I Used to Have Full and Firm Breasts but Now It Has Shrunk a Bit. How Can I Have Back My Full Breast?
Answer : For most whose breast tissue is still quite full and if it has only shrunk a bit, it is possible to refill the breast tissue with some fat. This will give a very natural result.
Q 7. My Breasts Used to Big and Perky but Now It Have Drooped Down to My Waist Even with a Good Support Bra . I need Help to Have My Breasts Back.
Answer : If there is sufficient breast tissue, a Breast Lift or Mastopexy may be able to help . This surgery will be able to lift the breast by removing the excess skin and tightening the surrounding tissue to reshape to rebuild the breast.
If there is not sufficient breast tissue and has lots of skin to remove, and one wants a much fuller breasts then before . We sometimes have to combine the breast lifting / Mastopexy together with using a small breast implant to lift and tighten the skin to rebuild the breasts.
These surgeries will leave you with scars around the nipple areola and an inverted T scar. Sometimes when the nipple areola is too big , it can be reduced to make it nicer. This surgery takes times to perform and surgery time can take up to 3 to 4 hrs depending on complexity, and stitches can be removed within 10 days .
For more details on this surgery , click : https://www.drmarco.com/plastic-cosme…/breast-lift-mastopexy/ for more information
Q 8 . I Breastfeed More On One Side and Now Both Breast Sizes Are Different. It Is Difficult to Wear A Bra and I want to Look Good As Before my Pregnancy
Answer : It can be quite common for a mum to breast feed more on one breast. In reality no one breast is similar. We do have a small slight difference in our left and right breast in terms of the amount of breast tissue (the size), or one side higher than the other etc. These small differences can be more obvious after breast feeding.
Dr Marco commented that in order to balance both breasts, he has to place 2 different sizes of breast implants or using of 2 different types of breast implant shapes and projection is also needed to balance both sides. Sometimes if 1 side is more saggy and has a lot of over redundant fold of skin ( excess skin ) , Dr Marco may even have to cut and tighten the skin to accommodate and balance both breasts.
Q 9. After Breastfeeding I Realised That The Nipples Are Too Big and It Doesn’t Look Nice When I Wear A Tight T Shirt
Answer: It is fairly common for the nipples to be enlarged after breast feeding or multiple breast feeding as your child might have latched it. Nipple reduction can be done to reduce and restore to the pre pregnancy size.
The procedure is usually done under local anaesthesia in the Day Surgery and usually takes around 1 hour and the Plastic Surgeon will make a very small incision on the nipple where the excess tissue is removed via the incision. The nipple is reshaped and stitched. A light dressing is placed over the breasts, and stitches removal is usually between 5-7 days. Recovery period varies from individual but usually takes around 10 days.
To know more about nipple reduction, click: https://www.drmarco.com/plastic-co…/nipple-reduction-surgery/ for more information
Q 10. Can I Still Breastfeed After the Breast Augmentation ?
Answer: Yes you should be able to breastfeed after having a breast augmentation. This depends on where you incisional cut is for the breast augmentation. If your Plastic Surgeon did not cut through the milk ducts, you should be able to breastfeed again.