Doctor Q&A

Your photos show the two pockets meeting over the sternum with a skin bridge, which is early symmastia. The cause is straightforward, an implant that is wider than your breast base pushes the pocket past the midline, and 550 cc at 14.7 cm on a 14 cm base does exactly that. Repair means closing the inner pocket with capsulorrhaphy sutures, sometimes reinforced with a mesh or dermal matrix, and that repair only holds if the new implant does not push against it. You can keep most of the volume...

Thanks for your question
You can typically shower 2 days post op. Check with your surgeon for his/her restrictions and guidelines. Best wishes

A unilateral mastopexy may be appropriate in your case to address the asymmetry between the two breasts and achieve a more balanced result. However, whether you can avoid a lift altogether depends on the degree of breast ptosis and the position of the nipple-areola complex, which I would need to assess during a physical examination.
For implant placement, I would consider a subfascial approach rather than going directly over or under the muscle. This can provide good soft-tissue coverage...

A tummy tuck is designed to do 2 things: one is to excise excess skin and the other is to tighten the underlying support layer. The underlying support layer is actually the fascia not the muscle. From your photographs, it appears most of your excess skin is above the umbilicus, not below the umbilicus. You have not provided photographs of your breasts. There is a breast lift technique called the Bellesoma that lifts the breasts higher, which pulls up the upper abdominal skin. It may be...

From your photographs, it seems like a tummy tuck would help tighten some of the excess skin. A couple of your photographs show you bent over which is not a good approximation of the correction you need. We are half that loose skin to some point when in that position. Think about having the skin tighter when you are standing up in normal position. A plastic surgeon would be able to give you a good idea about what you could expect. And yes, you do not need much liposuction, but sometimes...

While it is possible to do these at the same time, it is not recommended. You would have to make sure both surgeons are available at the same time as well, which can be quite difficult. It is recommended that the tubal ligation be performed first. You may need to wait a few months before proceeding with the tummy tuck.

Hello, and thank you for your question. Based on your photos and the amount and location of your skin laxity, I would recommend a full tummy tuck.

An umbilical float is best suited for a very select group of patients with limited skin laxity and can lower the position of the belly button. Since you appear to have significant laxity extending into the upper abdomen, a full tummy tuck would allow for more complete tightening of the abdominal skin and better control of the position and...

Testosterone can make your skin oilier and increase acne, but I wouldn’t assume it directly caused this new indentation. If you had a spot or inflammation there, it could have left a small depressed scar. I can’t confirm that from your description alone.
Whether it improves on its own depends on the cause. An acne scar may soften over time, but it may not disappear completely. I’d start with a dermatologist examining the area, especially if it’s getting larger, bleeding, crusting or develop...

Return to your operating surgeon with this issue. Photos show a bony vault (upper third of nose) that exceeds in dimension the middle vault (middle third of nose). There are several techniques for improvement. Which path you select depends on whether you want the upper third shrunk to match the middle third or you prefer the middle third expanded to match the upper third. Also depends on your breathing and how nose appears in profile view.

It is concerning that your surgeon doesn’t know what’s going on either. Please find another board certified plastic surgeon for a second opinion.

After reviewing your photos and your weight and height it does appear that you do have enough of excess in the abdomen, flanks, upper hips, mid and lower back to harvest enough fat to recued these areas safely and begin to create a more hour glass shape to you body. Your waist will look slimmer just by liposuction. Next, this fat is prepared and then carefully injected into the buttock and hip dips. This will create more fullness of the buttocks and roundness of the outer hips. This will...

Dear siebie073,

based on your photos, you look like a good candidate for a BBL. Liposuction of your abdomen, back and flanks should give you more curves and hourglass shape and fat transfer to buttocks should give you more projection. I would suggest you to consult a board-certified plastic surgeon because only after a thorough examination you will get more information and recommendations.

Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic...

Your photos show two separate things. The first is a rounded lower abdomen that persists although you are fit, and in a patient one year after a mommy makeover the usual explanation is that the muscle repair has loosened or was placed only in the upper abdomen. Normal CT and ultrasound do not exclude that, they are poor at judging plication tension. The second is loose, striated skin gathered just above the scar, which simply means the skin was not pulled tight enough or has relaxed. Both...

Hello, thank you for your question. It is completely normal to feel confused when considering a procedure like this. In my practice, I always use drains after a mommy makeover, especially when an abdominoplasty is performed. I consider drains an important part of the procedure for two main reasons: first, they allow us to monitor and manage any early postoperative bleeding, and second, they help remove the fluid that naturally accumulates in the operated area.
For these reasons, I believe...

Implants alone can work for some patients, but it depends on your nipple position, the amount of loose skin and how well your tissues can support the implant. Being comfortable with some sagging helps clarify your goals, but a larger implant won’t replace a lift. The extra weight can stretch the skin and make sagging worse over time.
Having a lift later is an option, but choosing an implant that is too large for your tissues can make that correction more difficult. At a consultation, I’d foc...

Thank you for your question. Breast width is measured across each individual breast, from the medial to lateral borders of the breast footprint, rather than from nipple to nipple.

If your goal is a subtle increase from a 34AA to approximately a full 34A, a smaller, lower-profile Motiva implant may be an excellent option. You should not need to choose a larger implant simply because you have a wider chest. The implant should be selected based on your individual breast dimensions, tissue...

At 158 cm, 47 kg and starting from a 32A with minimal breast tissue, 300 cc will create a noticeable augmentation, although whether it looks “too big” cannot be determined from the cc number alone. Your 12.75 cm breast base width, tissue thickness, implant dimensions and desired projection are more important when selecting the implant. Since your priority is a proportional and natural result, I would personally consider a smaller-volume, moderate-profile implant rather than automatically cho...

Hello. From your photos, menopause and weight loss commonly leave skin and soft tissue laxity with volume loss in the lower face. A lower or deep plane facelift can lift the descended tissues and improve jowls for natural looking long lasting results. Volume can be addressed thoughtfully at the same time when needed. Morpheus8 or FaceTite may help milder laxity. For best results, candidacy depends on how much true laxity versus deflation is present on exam.

The wide variation in individual people’s anatomy of the eyelid area, including depths of the eye socket, amount of redundant skin, length of redundant skin extending past the orbital rim makes me believe that the Ziplyft device would only fit specific people and would be difficult to use as a universal tool. I have always believed that if there was a certain procedure or technique or instrument that was far better than what we are presently using everybody would adopt it immediately. I h...

Upper blepharoplasty can tighten the loose skin and smooth wrinkles on the upper eyelid. A sagging brow may also contribute to upper eyelid issues, therefore a brow lift may be performed at the same time if necessary.

Hi, thank you for sharing your question. A lateral scar located in the upper eyelid area can sometimes fall within, or close to, an upper eyelid blepharoplasty incision line, so there is a chance that part or all of the scar could be excised. An in-person exam that includes eyelid measurements (and even marking out the planned blepharoplasty incision lines) would be needed to determine whether the scar falls within the planned blepharoplasty skin flap and how much skin can safely be removed....

Thank you for your question.
While I cannot say definitively based on the photo, my guess would be that a brow lift could potentially get you a better result. Based on the photo it looks like your eyes are a bit more sunken into your orbit. In patients like that you have to be careful about excising too much skin as this will cause more retraction and potentially hollowing of the area. It looks like some of the residual fullness may actually be from fullness of the brow. I think your first...

Your photos already show loose skin with stretch marks around and below the navel, and skin that has been stretched and then lost weight does not snap back after liposuction. If you remove the fat alone you will most likely trade a rounded belly for a deflated, wrinkled one. Non surgical tightening devices give a modest improvement at best in skin like this, in my experience not enough to justify the cost, and they do not carry the fat necrosis risks you are worried about because they do not...

Congratulations on your weight loss! Significant weigh loss can result in skin elasticity issues. This may be the case for you. Liposuction doesn’t tighten the skin and can even make loose skin looser. For this reason, an arm lift may be more suitable for you. This procedure removes excess fat and tightens loose skin. However, please note that there tends to be more scarring than liposuction.

Liposuction removes only the subcutaneous fat located beneath the skin; it does not remove visceral fat surrounding the internal organs. If you gain weight afterward, you can still accumulate both visceral and subcutaneous fat, although liposuction does not automatically redirect fat into the visceral area.
If visceral fat or additional weight loss is a concern, you may consider medically supervised GLP-1 treatment before liposuction, provided you are an appropriate candidate. Once you reach...