AESTHETICS

Your surgeon will recommend the type of incision for you based on:

• Breast size and shape.
• How elastic or stretched your skin is, and how much extra skin you have.
• How much your breasts sag.
• Areola size and placement.

Incision types include:

• Crescent: This incision is a half-circle along the top half of your areola. It’s usually only used for breast augmentation in women who have little sagging.
• Donut: This common incision circles your entire areola.
• Vertical or lollipop lift: This incision goes in a circle around the entire areola, then vertically down from your areola to your breast crease. This is another common incision type.
• Inverted T or anchor: This incision circles your areola, then goes vertically down to your breast crease, then horizontally along your breast crease. It’s often used in people with more sagging or who are also having breast reduction.

Most people who have mastopexy go home the same day. You should have someone drive you home and stay with you the first night.

You may have a thin tube near one or more incisions to drain fluid and prevent swelling.

Your surgical team will give you recovery instructions. They may include:

• Caring for the drains and changing the bandages.
• Moving carefully. They may ask that you not bring your arms above your head. Keeping your elbows by your sides will allow you to perform you activities of daily living with minimal discomfort.
• Reporting any complications.
• Sleeping on your back.
• Using medications (for example, ointments or pills) to control pain or prevent infection.
• Wearing a special bra to reduce swelling and support your breasts as they heal.

You must be at least 18 years old to get a Brazilian butt lift. However, your body is unique — you may not complete puberty until you’re older than 18. If you haven’t finished developing, the results of your Brazilian butt lift procedure may be affected. Discuss any questions or concerns you have with your healthcare provider.

Your healthcare provider will assess many factors, including your mental health and any social conditions. Your healthcare provider may ask you the following questions:

• Why do you want a Brazilian butt lift?
• What are your expectations?
• Do you think a lot about imagined or very small defects with your body?
• Is a spouse, partner or friend encouraging you to get a Brazilian butt lift?
• Are you aware of the risks involved in a Brazilian butt lift procedure, including fat embolisms?

Your healthcare provider will evaluate your general health, including any preexisting health conditions or risk factors. Talk to your healthcare provider about any allergies you have. Tell them about any prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) medications that you’re taking, including herbal supplements.

Your physical health and the shape of your body are also important. Your healthcare provider will examine the following regions to determine the best place(s) to perform the fat harvesting via liposuction:

• Lower back region.
• Hips.
• Inner thighs.
• Outer thighs.
• The space between your tailbone, sacrum and rectum (presacral triangle).

Some women get breast reconstruction surgery (to use that as an example of reconstructive surgery) following a surgery that was part of their cancer treatment (such as a mastectomy where one or both breasts are removed). This type of surgery rebuilds or creates a new breast mound, imitating the look and shape of your breast to make your chest look balanced, to help clothes fit better, to keep you from having to use an external prosthesis and restore a sense of self.

Before the procedure your surgeon will likely warn you of the risks of breast reconstruction surgery. The surgeries are imperfect. Your breasts might not turn out the way you imagined them. You will also have scars.

Rebuilt breasts have little feeling, or no feeling at all. However, new techniques are being developed to improve the sensation after mastectomy. Healing will take time.

Before buccal fat removal surgery, you’ll meet with your healthcare provider. They’ll discuss with you what you’d like to achieve from surgery, as well as what to expect during and after your procedure.

During your initial visit, your provider will examine you and likely take photographs of your face. They’ll also ask you general questions about your overall health, such as your family health history and any past surgeries you’ve had. They’ll take basic health information such as your blood pressure and discuss any current medications you take. It’s important for you to tell your provider about all of your medications, including herbs and supplements. For best outcomes, they may want you to stop smoking or using tobacco products prior to surgery.

During this time, your healthcare provider will address any questions you have and explain what to expect during the surgery. They can provide recommendations tailored to your specific goals and discuss any risks for the procedure.

Butt augmentation surgery can take two hours or longer. Each butt augmentation surgery involves a different technique:

• Butt implants: Your surgeon makes an incision at the top or bottom of your butt, then inserts the implants inside or below your muscle.
• BBL: Your plastic surgeon removes unwanted fat by liposuction from one or several parts of your body, such as your stomach, hips or back. Then, they inject that fat into areas of your butt, below your skin.
• Butt lift: To pull up excess skin, your plastic surgeon makes an incision in your lower back or hips or below your butt cheeks. Your surgeon then closes the incision with stitches or another technique.

After your procedure, bandages protect the incision while it heals. You may be asked to wear a snug-fitting garment to minimize swelling. Often, there will tiny tubes under your skin to drain excess fluid. To reduce pressure on the incision, you spend a lot of your recovery sitting in a comfortable chair instead of lying in bed.

During lower body lift recovery, you should:

• Change bandages as necessary.
• Manage your drains.
• Get plenty of rest and eat a healthy diet, which promotes healing.
• Avoid bending at your waist or excessive activity during the early stages of recovery.
• Not exercise or lift anything heavy for approximately six weeks.
• Avoid submersion of wounds in tubs, pools or oceans/seas.

Cosmetic surgery is done to make you look and feel better – even better than “normal” (supranormal). It is not needed for medical reasons, unlike reconstructive surgery. Reconstructive surgery aims to restore normal form and function of tissue after it has been compromised by infection, trauma, cancer surgery, or for congenital reasons.

Rhinoplasty (nose surgery) is an example of how it can get confusing to categorize a procedure as cosmetic surgery or reconstructive surgery. A rhinoplasty is performed to improve the nose’s appearance. With that in mind, it would seem like a cosmetic surgery. However, rhinoplasties are also performed to fix nasal the person’s breathing after their nose gets broken. That would be a reconstructive surgery.

This is important to note because your insurance company might cover reconstructive surgeries, but not cosmetic.

As we age, our breasts change. They may lose elasticity, causing your breasts to stretch, sag or droop. Causes include:

• Aging.
• Breastfeeding (chestfeeding).
• Genetics, or sagging breasts “run in the family.”
• Gravity.
• Pregnancy.
• Significant weight loss.

Mastopexy can make your breasts look firmer and more youthful. A breast lift can also correct perceived imperfections, such as:

• Areolas that face downward.
• Nipples that point in different directions.
• Uneven or asymmetrical breasts.