Tummy tucks are a great procedure for people who want to lose
fat and saggy skin on their abdomen region. They also tighten the abdominal wall
at the same time. There are different
types of tummy tucks performed depending on your body and needs: mini, standard
and extended tummy tucks.
Dr. Mulholland makes many media appearances throughout the
year to talk about the latest trends and news on cosmetic plastic surgery. He recently
was live on air with Newstalk 1010 with Barb DiGiulio to answer callers’ questions
regarding plastic surgery.
The segment was nearly an hour long and was jammed with interesting
information—they talked about if a person can be too young for plastic surgery,
advice on how to pick the right surgeon, and provided answers to questions
about different surgical and non-surgical procedures. Dr. Mulholland also
shared that when he first opened SpaMedica in 1996, he only saw two men for
treatments that whole year. Now men make up 20% of the clientele. “Men are
extremely vein and we just don’t about it,” he says.
Below are just a few tidbits of what Dr. Mulholland, the host
and callers discussed that night. You can also listen to the full show here.
Kelly, the first caller of the night, mentioned she had been
researching on how to reduce the bags under her eyes. She says she’s aged
prematurely because of many difficult life events that have happened over the
years. Her main concern was how long recovery time would be after blepharoplasty.
Dr. Mulholland of SpaMedica in Toronto
Dr. Mulholland: Non-surgical options like soft tissue
fillers and some laser treatments can help reduce the appearance of eye bags.
Get these treatments done on a Friday afternoon and you can return back to work
on Monday looking much more rested.
For more permanent results, consider having a lower lid
blepharoplasty. It removes the fat pads under the eyes and tightens the skin
around it. Bruising will occur, so having 7 days off from work to
recover would be suggested.
Would I be okay to do
bending or lifting at work after surgery?
Dr. Mulholland: In the first 3-4 days, there are
some delicate blood vessels that are sealed. If you bend over and strain, it
raises the blood pressure around your eyes which could cause some bleeding.
Generally, as long as you’re not a world-class bodybuilding who deadlifts 180
pounds, you can carry office space boxes within a few days.
Source: SpaMedica. This patient had lower lid blepharoplasty to remove the fat pads under her eyes.
How much would lower
lid blepharoplasty cost?
Dr. Mulholland: There’s a range in the city and in
the country. In general, two lids—whether it’s two upper lids or two lower lids—is
going to start at about $2,500.00 and might go as high as $6,000.00 depending
on how aged that lower lid is and the practice in the city.
Let’s say you do the upper and lower lid combination, it’s
called a quad bleph or four lid blepharoplasty. That’s usually in the $4,000.00
to $8,000.00 range depending on the practice in the city.
Another caller asked about scarring after surgery as a person
of colour.
Are there usually any
scars that are seen after any kind of plastic surgery for people of colour?
Dr. Mulholland: Dark skin individuals are prone to
pigmentation disorder like brown discolouration and scars that are usually much
darker than their surrounding skin. Whether it’s breast augmentation, a
facelift, liposuction or a tummy tuck, things need to be hidden extremely well
when you have darker skin that you know is not going to heal favourably.
Caucasian skin is often prone to scars that are red and
raised. Attention to placement is one of the tricks of plastic surgery school. One
of the first steps to plastic surgery is deciding with your plastic surgeon what
procedure, approach and incision is going to work best for you.
Thinking
about surgery seriously? Dr. Mulholland shared advice on how to start research.
What is the process somebody goes
through if they want to do a consultation with you?
Dr. Mulholland: The first step is to start your research online.
Make some searches on Google on who you should see and then
pick three practices. Look on websites like RealSelf or Yelp and see what
people are saying about these physicians and practices.
Go on websites like The College of Physicians and Surgeons of
Ontario and make sure there’s no complaints and the physician’s in good
standing.
Interview the doctors as much as you can since you’re going
to have a history and physical. You want to ask certain questions:
How long you been in practice?
How many of these procedures have you
done?
What complications have
happened?
If a complication happens to
me, how is it managed?
Make sure there are good before and after photos. Make sure you can talk to patients. At the
end of the day, you just got to feel right.
You should have a good sense that this is the right physician and team
for you.
Kylie Jenner
has made headlines for months because of her notably larger lips. She’s
recently admitted that she had lip injections to plump them up (after repeatedly
denying it). The host asked Dr. Mulholland what he thought about teenagers and
plastic surgery.
We’re seeing a lot of stuff happening
with teenagers, how young is too young?
Dr. Mulholland: Every plastic surgeon would have a
different answer to that, but as a father of six children, it’s tough enough to
be a teenager and come to terms with your sense of self without complicating it
with cosmetic surgery and without succumbing to peer pressure and paradigms of
beauty.
It can be quite unhealthy so I’m a big believer that you
should be a voting adult and that you should be at least 19 before considering
plastic surgery. You should have carefully thought these things out and it
shouldn't be a spontaneous decision.
Now, having said that, there are always exceptions to the rule. If you’re a young woman and you have a
pathological condition like Poland Syndrome (where you don’t form a breast on one
side and you do on the other) It’s really a hereditary congenital abnormality,
so that might be a situation of circumstance where you might consider it.
Or maybe you’ve had trauma and you broke your nose or you
were born with an extremely large bump and it is way outside the spectrum of
what would be considered normal variant, you might consider those extreme
circumstances. But I think as a rule, it’s a bad idea to mix teenagers and
cosmetic surgery.
The waistlines of Canadians have
been expanding over the last few decades. Dr. L.K Twells, who published her studies
in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, projected that about 21% of
Canadian adults will be obese by 2019. That’s
a big number.
With that in mind, losing weight—especially
large amounts of it—is impressive. It takes a lot of dedication and willpower
to stick to these goals, whether it’s through diet and exercise or weight loss
surgery. While a person might have shed fat and weight, they might be left with
some extra baggage. I’m talking about loose, excessive skin.
This is often the case for those
who have had bariatric surgery. This hanging skin is like an annoying reminder of
your former self. Even though someone’s lost an incredible amount of weight,
they might still be unhappy with themselves because of all the skin that’s
leftover. A lot of people try to avoid it,
but plastic surgery is the way to address this issue.
It’s not the answer
immediately after weight loss though. A person should wait until their weight
has stabilized after bariatric surgery or dieting—this could be 18 months or
more. Once that happens, there are quite a few procedures they can look into to
banish that skin for good.
Tummy tuck
After dramatic weight loss, some people
are left with loose skin that hangs over the pubic region and hip bones. An
extensive tummy tuck can address this issue. An incision (you and your plastic
surgeon will discuss where and how it looks like) will be made, and then the
skin is removed. Loose tummy muscles are sutured and a new belly button is also
created. Here’s an example of an actual SpaMedica patient who lost over 100
pounds. Although she was happy with her weight loss, she was bothered by the
loose skin she was left with.
Source: SpaMedica. This patient had a tummy tuck to remove excess skin.
Dr. Mulholland, a Toronto plastic surgeon, performed a tummy tuck and energy-assisted liposuction techniques to
give her a smooth, flat abdomen. The patient was extremely pleased with her final
results.
Arm lift
Arm lifts (also known as brachioplasty)
remove the hanging skin on arms. Sometimes this loose skin is referred to as
“bat wings”. Your plastic surgeon may make incisions on the back of the arms
which extends from the underarm to the elbow. After surgery, you’ll wear a
compression garment to reduce swelling and to help shrink and tighten the skin.
Body lift
This is an extensive surgical
procedure that involves targeting several areas of the body. Instead of doing
individual procedures at different times, some patients opt to have a full body
lift. Body lifts are ideal for patients who’ve lost a large amount of weight
and have excess skin. Full body lifts tighten several areas such as the
breasts, abdomen, legs, and butt. A full month of recovery is usually needed
for most patients.
Breast lift
Source: SpaMedica. This patient had a breast lift performed by Dr. Krajden of SpaMedica.
For women who’ve lost weight, they
may see a loss of fat in their breasts. When this happens, they’re left with saggy
or droopy looking breasts--that’s usually not a desired outcome. That’s why breast lifts are popular for women who’ve lost a lot of weight. Your plastic surgeon will
reposition and reshape the breast tissue and remove any excess skin.
It’s not ideal, but scars may be
present after the procedures. If possible, your plastic surgeon will try to
conceal or minimize the scarring. If you want more information, feel free to
get in touch with us by booking your appointment online or leave a comment
below.
Source: SpaMedica. This mommy makeover received breast augmentation and energy-assisted liposuction.
Even after having children, plenty of women are healthier
than they’ve ever been. They have healthy eating habits and work out a few
times a week. Just take a look at celebrities—they’re known to give birth and
hop right back into their evening gowns and bikinis almost immediately.
Exercise and a good diet don’t bring back certain things
though and a lot of women can attest to that. After giving birth and
breastfeeding, a woman’s breasts tend lose volume and shape. Dr. Mulholland, a
Toronto plastic surgeon, says breast augmentation is a very popular procedure
for women. Many of his breast augmentation patients are women in their 30s who
have children. Breast augmentation is the second most performed procedure after
liposuction.
Amanda, a woman in her 20s, feels self-conscious of her body
after giving birth to her daughter three years ago. She says she was so used to
always having a fit body without ever having to workout often. After giving
birth, she started feeling insecure about her body. “I didn’t feel as sexy or
desirable anymore,” she says.
Amanda exercised regularly for a few years. Even though she’s
in good shape, she still feels bothered by some problem areas—her abdomen and
love handles. She also says her breasts have lost some volume. To address these
concerns, Dr. Mulholland recommends liposuction and breast augmentation. This
combination of surgeries performed at once is also known as a mommy makeover.
Source: SpaMedica. This mommy makeover received liposuction to her tummy and hips.
Dr. Mulholland performs two types of mommy makeovers; a
mommy mini and mommy major. Amanda had the mommy mini, which was an operation
that took an hour and 15 minutes to complete. Mommy majors are ideal for women
who had or plan to have two to three kids. Usually, mommy majors include breast
surgery, tummy tucks and liposuction.
Mommy makeovers without tummy tucks performed require about
1-2 weeks of recovery time. If a tummy tuck is needed, then women should expect
to have 2-3 weeks of recovery.
Now that a few months have passed after her procedure,
Amanda says she’s ecstatic with her appearance. She says those around her have
noticed a major change in her personality and sense of humour. Though her looks
changed, she says the biggest difference was in her personality and how she
presented herself.
We’ve all got our vices. Maybe you like to unwind after work
with a glass of wine or a pint of cold, crisp beer. Or you sneak in a cigarette
here and there (there’s no judgment here at all!) But if you’re fresh out of a plastic
surgery procedure like a rhinoplasty or tummy tuck, you’re going to have to cut
out these habits for at least a few weeks. That’s because these habits can
prolong your recovery and increase your chances of complications which is
something you and your plastic surgeon don’t want.
It might be tempting to cave in and enjoy a drink after surgery, but you'll have to wait a few weeks.
Drinking
After a successful procedure, perhaps you want to celebrate
with a glass of bubbly but unfortunately, you really shouldn’t. Drinking
alcohol is known to cause problems when you’re recovering after a procedure.
First off, you’ll be dehydrated after surgery. Alcohol is known to cause
dehydration, and if you drink, you’ll just lose more fluid from organs that
need it.
Drinking alcohol also increases your risks of swelling because
your blood vessels widen. If your cheeks or nose tend to get red and flushed
after drinking—and you just had rhinoplasty—you could be susceptible to swelling
if you drink after your operation. You might be seeking a buzz or craving to
let loose, but drinking after rhinoplasty will only cause pain and prolong your
recovery time.
So when can you drink again? That all depends on what
procedure you had, your medical history and what your plastic surgeon recommends.
Plastic surgeons often tell their patients to stop smoking several weeks before and after surgery.
Smoking
Many plastic surgeons will tell their patients to quit
smoking at least a month before and after certain procedures. These common but
complex procedures where surgeons would tell you to stop smoking beforehand
include: breast lifts, breast reductions, tummy tucks and facelifts. This is
because skin and tissue is moved around, thus changing the blood supply of the
tissues. When performing these procedures, surgeons have to ensure there’s enough
blood flow through blood vessels—cigarette smoke negatively affects blood flow.
The nicotine in cigarettes causes blood vessels to
constrict, which affects your blood flow. Nicotine can also cause blood clots
which all factors into a decrease of blood supply to tissues, poorly healed
wounds and serious complications.
Smoking before your surgery has many known side effects like
dealing with a longer recovery time and worsened scars.
Avoid vigorous exercising like running and heavy weight lifting after surgery.
Exercising
You probably didn’t expect to see this habit after reading
the first two. Even a “good” habit could be a hindrance to your procedure results
and recovery period. You might be anxious to start hitting the gym, but that
will have to wait for a few weeks. Intense exercise soon after surgery can
cause serious complications like swelling, inflammation, infection or
post-operative scarring.
Depending on the procedure you had, most plastic surgeons
will recommend that patients wait at least six weeks before getting back into
their regular exercise routines. You don’t have to quit exercising altogether
though; light exercise such as short walks during the day is fine. Over the
weeks, you can ease into your regular routine and increase the intensity of
your workouts once you’ve hit the sixth week after surgery.
It might be hard to resist that drink or cigarette when
there are different parties and occasions happening, but it’s just not worth
risking your health or results.
