July 3, 2023

When you become a mom, many different aspects of your life are going to change forever, but your shape doesn’t have to be one of them. A mommy makeover is a fantastic way to help restore you pre-baby body, but while you only have to undergone one recovery period, the combination of procedures involved in the makeover means that you will be waiting for various areas of your body to heal. While the thought of the recovery process may be daunting and somewhat overwhelming, you can actually recover from a mommy makeover much quicker than you probably expect.

However, many of my mommy makeover patients are used to catering to the needs of others, often sacrificing themselves in the process. The post surgical period is not the time to do this, as premature exertion can have uncomfortable—or even dangerous—consequences. These include:

• Slowing Healing: If you do too much activity, you can stress your incisions or worse cause a healing problem. It’s best to follow our after surgery instructions and activity limitations to ensure good and expedited healing. In addition, our use of advanced pain control techniques, such as nerve blocks, will have patients feeling comfortable for 3-4 days following surgery. If a particular activity causes you undue discomfort, pull back and wait a few more days before trying again.
• Fluid accumulation: Swelling is a normal part of the healing process and can be mitigated by laying low and keeping your heart rate down. Too much swelling can be uncomfortable and may hamper the healing process. In addition, excessive activity can also increase your risk for a fluid collection.
• Altered results: Part of the reason patients should take it easy after surgery is that too much movement can alter your results. For example, breast implants must have the opportunity to “settle,” relatively undisturbed, into their new positions. Excessive movement can prevent this process, creating unnatural-looking results that don’t align with your or your surgeon’s goals.

Patients often start out with good intentions but within a few days of going home, their resolve to stick to the medication and wound maintenance quickly falters. However, the guidelines given to you by our surgeon are provided because they give you the best chance at making a faster and complication-free recovery. Therefore, you should wear any compression garments provided, take your pain medications and any other prescribed drugs at the allotted time and dosage regardless of whether you think you need them, and follow the instructions for keeping your wounds clean and when you can start moving around and getting back to normal.

Our surgeon will provide you with very specific pre and post-surgery instructions for your mommy makeover. If you want to enjoy a straightforward procedure, a fast recovery and outstanding results, you must take the time to follow them. Contact us to schedule an appointment.