At evolv Plastic Surgery and Medical Aesthetics, we believe in comprehensive and individualized programs as the most effective way to reach natural and balanced outcomes. This is particularly true after child bearing because pregnancy has multiple and long-lasting effects in all areas of a women’s body due to the implications of rapid weight gain followed by rapid weight loss, hormonal effects and other significant changes that occur both before, during and after pregnancy. After childbirth, there are often residual deposits of excess fat around the abdomen, hips and trunk as well as other changes in the skin and supporting structures of body contour. Breasts are also significantly affected after increased volume and breast feeding, which often can lead to descent of the breast tissue and loss of support. In addition, changes in the skin may be seen such as stretch marks and areas of excessive and irregular pigmentation both on the face and in other visible areas. Fortunately, there have never been more exciting possibilities for addressing these issues after pregnancy, and the Mommy Makeover 360 at evolv Plastic Surgery and Medical Aesthetics will involve a comprehensive approach to reducing the effects of pregnancy and improving overall youthfulness and restoring contour to the skin and body.
Rejuvenation of the abdomen, buttocks and trunk.
Following pregnancy, significant changes may be seen in the abdominal area, hips, flanks and buttocks secondary to weight gain followed by weight loss and loss of support, as well as the hormonal changes on the body from pregnancy. Even with post-pregnancy weight loss and exercise, the tissues and skin may not return to their pre-existing youthful state. In addition, separation of the abdominal muscles, a condition called diastasis recti, can result in loss of support of the abdomen with resulting protrusion of the waist line and stress on the lower back. Stretch marks which are permanent tears in the deeper layers of the skin as well as laxity in the skin and soft tissues are often seen in many patients after pregnancy. Finally, residual fatty deposits secondary to the effects of pregnancy and loss of support of the buttocks and loss of contour are frequently experienced. At evolv, the comprehensive and individualized approach to each patient involves a complete history and exam and then addressing each of these areas and potential therapeutic options including surgical as well as nonsurgical treatment. Nonsurgical options may involve micro needling with topical biologicals, such as platelet rich plasma (PRP) and other growth factors, to improve skin quality, firmness and reduce the appearance of cellulite. This is also a focus of treatment with the Vanquish ME, Cellutone and Exilis Ultra which combine proprietary radio-frequency energy modalities as well as focus ultrasound to reduce excess fat non-surgically and firm the tissues and result in reduction in the appearance of cellulite. These results are also enhanced by ZO Skin Health body topicals that can improve support of lax tissue and restore collagen and elastin for skin support.
Corrective aesthetic surgical options include a variety of abdominoplasty procedures, commonly known as “tummy tucks” which can address the contour of the entire abdomen, hips, flanks and trunk circumferentially. The body lift procedure at evolv can involve removal of excess skin and soft tissue from the lower abdomen hips and flanks, elevation of the buttocks, ultrasonic removal of excess fatty deposits without surgical dissection, fat grafting to restore contour to the buttocks and repair of the abdominal wall changes from pregnancy to restore a flat and youthful abdomen.
Restoring youthful breast contour after pregnancy.
Pregnancy and breast feeding often result in long-term loss of support, dimension and skin changes. Deflation or loss of volume in the upper portion of the breast, descent and sag of the lower breast tissue and stretch marks and thinning of the skin may be experienced. Breast augmentation with state-of-the-art cohesive gel implants, as well as PRP enhanced fat grafting, can restore many of the youthful qualities of the breast. Lifting the lax breast tissues that have lost support or “mastopexy” is an excellent way to restore youthful breast contour. For some patients, a combination of adding volume with an implant or fat grafting combined with a breast lift or mastopexy will provide excellent and natural-appearing results. The FDA approved cohesive gel implant, often called the “gummy bear” implant, is extremely popular because of its long-lasting safety and ability to provide natural breast dimension, volume and contour. Dr. Barone has extensive clinical and research experience with natural fat grafting enhanced with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) which is an excellent option to restore not only volume to the breast but also improve the overlying skin.
Individualized medical skin care for the post pregnancy patient.
Improving the natural youthfulness and health of the skin is an ongoing passion at evolv for all of our patients at any age. This is particularly true for the post-pregnancy patient due to changes in the skin from weight gain and hormones of pregnancy which can involve loss of support with reduction in collagen and elastin as well as irregular pigmentation and changes in texture. At evolv Medical Aesthetics, the experienced professional staff will only recommend or utilize clinically and research-proven products and services that have been verified as safe and effective. Micro needling is one of the most exciting ways to restore younger skin qualities and improve overall skin texture. Micro needling is combined with active biological topicals to improve results. Micro needling utilizes the body’s own potential to repair, restore and rejuvenate tissue and is part of the exciting area of bio-rejuvenative medicine. ZO Skin Health also offers a number of clinically-proven products and services in skin health that are extremely effective for post pregnancy skin changes and loss of youthfulness. Micro needling with the addition of radio-frequency energy (Infini Genius RF) is another exciting option in treating skin changes after pregnancy. Excessive and irregular pigmentation can be treated with a ZO Skin Health program of topical products and office chemical peels to restore even color and texture to the skin. Some women experience deeper pigmentation, which is called melasma. This will require a long-term program but new treatments offer excellent and natural results. The state of the art Sciton laser system also provides industry leading technology for improving the skin with light energy and light therapy. Broad band light is extremely effective for reducing rosacea and blood vessels in the skin as well as treating excessive pigmentation. The Forever Young program with broad band light restores youthfulness at the genetic level and is one of the most exciting new developments in aesthetic medicine.
Mommy Makeover 360° Summary
The Mommy Makeover 360° at evolv Plastic Surgery and Medical Aesthetics combines the comprehensive services, products and both nonsurgical and surgical treatments for addressing patient issues and goals after the changes of pregnancy. The ability to offer a wide variety of individualized care with reduced recovery times and increased comfort are the essence of the Mommy Makeover 360° at evolv. The application of new science in regenerative medicine utilizing the patient’s own growth factors such as platelet rich plasma (PRP), stem cells and fat grafting are extremely exciting and will enhance surgical and nonsurgical outcomes for all patients.