Mommy Makeover & Post Pregnancy Procedures in Orange County
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Mommy Makeover Natrelle™ focuses on providing prospective moms simultaneous rejuvenation of their post pregnancy abdominal and breast changes while not compromising a natural look. Dr. Mowlavi utilizes his artistry and experience to customize your surgical plan to reverse all of the undesired changes incurred by pregnancy. Dr. Mowlavi’s mommy makeover involves an individualized and detailed surgical plan combining tummy tuck, breast augmentation and/or breast lift, along with liposuction contouring of the flanks and thighs. Dr. Mowlavi has developed a patent pending surgical tool, “Mowlavi Umbilicator”, which allows for the optimum placement of your new belly button during tummy tuck surgery. Creation of a naturally appearing “innie” belly button allows our patients to show off their youthful tummies while wearing two piece swimming suits without being embarrassed by exposure of an operated looking belly button. In addition, Dr. Mowlavi is able to correct the most severe abdominal deformities, i.e. complex ventral hernias, using Tri-modality repair (see below). No matter how deformed or bulging you think your belly has become, Dr. Mowlavi can help you; he may even be able to obtain insurance coverage for your procedure. Finally, Dr. Mowlavi’s expertise in performing simultaneous breast lift and implant augmentation allows moms to have complete correction of their post-pregnancy breast changes irregardless of how deflated, sagging, or deformed you feel your breasts have become. We encourage you to view Dr. Mowlavi’s before and after Mommy Makeover results so you can appreciate your potential.
Dr. Arian Mowlavi is a Board Certified Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon who has dedicated his practice to providing prospective mommy makeover patients the results they desire yet avoid the operated look. Mommy makeover Natrelle™ is dedicated to restoring abdominal, breast, and leg contour changes following pregnancy in a single operation and in a natural appearing manner.
Dr. Mowlavi is Board Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, as well as Member American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and Orange County Society of Plastic Surgeons. Dr. Mowlavi has published over 50 nationally recognized scientific articles, received several nationally distinguished awards in the field of plastic surgery, and been featured in the Orange Coast Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, The Washington Post, and Self Magazine to name a few.
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Procedure: Lift and or enlargement of the female breasts as well as tummy reduction surgery performed to erase the undesired pregnancy and breast feeding changes. The routine mommy makeover surgery includes a combination of breast and tummy surgery performed to erase all of the unwanted changes observed following pregnancy and breast feeding. Breast procedures may include one of the following options including breast lift, breast augmentation, and/or breast lift with implant augmentation. Tummy procedure includes either a full or mini tummy tuck depending on the degree of skin redundancy and abdominal wall integrity.
Length: 4 to 6 hours of operative time.
Anesthesia: General anesthesia is routinely used for breast and tummy tuck surgery; epidural anesthesia may be used for patients undergoing a tummy tuck only.
Place of Treatment: Outpatient surgical suite or hospital operating room.
Recovery: The recovery period for mommy makeover ranges from two to six weeks. Expect to be up and walking the day after surgery, though not at your usual pace and with a semi-flexed posture. By the end of the first week, you will be walking upright and taking care of daily chores except for driving. It will take approximately two weeks before you are off of your pain medications and feel comfortable enough to drive a car. You may return to work after two to three weeks depending on the physical demands of your work and whether you require a mini or full tummy tuck. You should expect to resume your usual exercise routine at about four weeks.
Duration of Results: As long as patients watch their diet; keep an active lifestyle; and not get pregnant, they can enjoy a lifetime of an aesthetically pleasing breast shape, abdominal contour and youthful body silhouette.
- What is a Mommy Makeover?
- Am I a good candidate for a Mommy Makeover?
- What can I expect at my initial Mommy Makeover consultation?
- What are the risks and complications of Mommy Makeover procedures?
- How is a Mommy Makeover procedure performed?
- What can I expect after Mommy Makeover surgery?
- Where are the incisions like following Mommy Makeover procedure?
- Will I have Scars following a Mommy Makeover procedure?
- When will I be able to return home after a Mommy Makeover procedure?
Mommy makeover Natrelle™ was developed by Dr. Mowlavi to customize a surgical plan to reverse all of the changes incurred following pregnancy in a single session. Mommy Make over combines correction of the breast, abdominal, and leg changes using a combination of breast surgery (augmentation and/or lift), tummy tuck (mini, full, or Tri-Modality repair), and liposuction contouring of the legs and thighs.
Moms will typically notice loss of volume and/or drooping of their breasts following pregnancy and breast feeding.
For moms who have noticed only loss of volume, Dr. Mowlavi will individualize your breast augmentation consultation. At your initial consultation with Dr. Mowlavi , you will have the opportunity to convey to him exactly what your concerns are and for you and Dr. Mowlavi to set your personal goals. Dr. Mowlavi will complete a thorough history and physical which will ensure your optimum results. Dr. Mowlavi will examine your breasts and take detailed notes and measurement to ensure optimum breast augmentation results. Dr. Mowlavi’s examination will take into account:
- Breast mound size and any asymmetry
- Nipple areola complex positioning and any asymmetry
- Medial cleavage fullness or lack of
- Lateral breast mound concavity
- Inframammary crease positioning and any asymmetry
- Breast mound diameter and chest wall width
- Nipple areola complex to inframammary crease distance and any asymmetry
- Breast skin and soft tissue thickness
- Pectoralis muscle tone and asymmetry
You will then enjoy trying on a full array of breast implant sizers so that you can actually see and feel the look that you are going for. Although you will have your patient coordinator helping you sift through the various implant size and shape options, Dr. Mowlavi encourages you to bring your significant other, family, and/or friends to help you choose the implant size that will achieve the look you are striving for.
For Moms who have noticed loss of volume and drooping of their breasts, Dr. Mowlavi has modified the conventional vertical breast lift technique in order to make it conducive and safe to undergo a breast implant augmentation and lift at the same time. Dr. Mowlavi’s modifications include:
- Differential nipple areola transposition
- Symmetric submuscular breast implant pocket positioning
- Differential medial and lateral breast mound tailoring
- Secondary in-setting of the nipple areola complex
- Surgical incision line maintenance and scar prevention
Differential nipple areola transposition
Traditional vertical breast lift techniques describe transposing the nipple areola to a higher, more attractive position. However, the optimal nipple areola position has not been standardized; instead, Dr. Mowlavi utilizes several parameters to individualize the ideal nipple position for you. Previous descriptions have advocated positioning of your nipple areola at or just above your inframammary crease line. Dr. Mowlavi has modified this criterion based on your chest to torso height ratio. If you possess a generous chest height then you will be more apt to tolerate a higher nipple areola position; in contrast, if you have a short chest height, the nipple is placed closer to the inframammary crease line. In addition, Dr. Mowlavi has modified conventional breast lift techniques to allow for centralization of the nipple areola when it points out (lateralized on your breast). This modification allows for the nipple areola complex to be brought to the middle of your breast mound thus providing you cosmetically superior breast appearance.
Symmetric submuscular breast implant pocket positioning
Following simultaneous breast lift and augmentation, providing symmetrical breast mound positions remains the mainstay of patient satisfaction. As such, Dr. Mowlavi has developed anatomic landmarks that he utilizes to accurately release the pectoralis muscle when creating your breast implant pocket. In order to fit the breast implant into its appropriate pocket, the pectoralis muscle must be released from its attachments to the sternum. When performing this portion of the surgery, Dr. Mowlavi utilizes specific landmarks in order to ensure accurate and symmetric release of the muscle, thus ensuring symmetrically positioned breast implants, and subsequently aesthetically pleasing breast mounds.
Differential medial and lateral breast mound tailoring
Following transposition of your nipple areola complex to the center of your breast mound and following placement of your breast implant, the surgeon has to tailor the excess, undesired, and drooping breast skin and soft tissues. Dr. Mowlavi has developed a technique of differentially removing this unwanted tissues from the medial and lateral breast tissues. Dr. Mowlavi independently redrapes, trims, and secures each half(medial and lateral breast mound) in order to more effectively tailor your final breast appearance. Differential medial and lateral breast skin mound tailoring allows Dr. Mowlavi to not only obtain cosmetically superior breast mound appearance but also allows him to obtain better symmetry between the two breast mounds.
Secondary in-setting of the nipple areola complex
Since the nipple and areola complex is positioned in the center of your breast, Dr. Mowlavi feels that its appearance is just as critical as the shape of and symmetry of your breast mounds. As such, Dr. Mowlavi has modified traditional in-setting of the nipple areola complex. Traditionally, the nipple areola complex creation is the final step of a breast lift procedure. Creation of the nipple areola complex involves delivering the nipple and areola complex at the center of the mound and sewing it to the adjacent breast mound skin. Dr. Mowlavi has observed that the shape of the nipple areola complex is affected by the differential pull of the breast mound skin. For example, it is common to have looser upper lateral breast skin when compared to the medial breast skin even following a breast lift. Having looser skin over this region will result in the breast skin giving out and thus the upper lateral areola pulling medially thus distorting the areola shape from an ideal circular shape. As such, Dr. Mowlavi performs his initial nipple areola in-setting towards the middle of surgery, so that the variable pull of the breast skin on the areola can settle; towards the end of surgery, Dr. Mowlavi performs a secondary in-setting of the nipple areola complex to ensure a circular shaped areola.
Surgical incision line maintenance and scar prevention
Dr. Mowalvi and his staff are committed to providing you optimum healing of all surgical incision lines so that you can enjoy not only aesthetically shaped breast mounds but also aesthetically appearing breasts when not covered by undergarment wear. Dr. Mowlavi has developed a scar prevention program that spans from the preoperative to perioperative and postoperative periods. Surgical incision line management starts with placement of patients on preoperative/perioperative antibiotics to minimize risk of infection. In addition, Dr. Mowlavi advocates washing of the breasts with a specialized antimicrobial soap for four days prior to surgery. Also, Dr. Mowlavi advocates a high protein diet to ensure optimum healing of surgical incision lines following surgery. During your operation, Dr. Mowlavi repairs all incision lines in two to three layers in order to remove unwanted tension off of the surgical incision lines. Furthermore, all suture layers are performed internally in order to avoid all external stitches that can result in “hash” marks, i.e. railroad tracking when left in place for more than 10 days. In fact, Dr. Mowlavi utilizes sutures which remain in place for three months prior to being self absorbed. Instead of external sutures, Dr. Mowlavi utilizes a specializes a medical grade adhesive and medical tape, called Steri-Strips, to further reinforce the surgical incision line. Finally, Dr. Mowlavi encourages an aggressive postoperative scar prevention program which includes: maintenance of surgical tapes for one month, followed by Biocroneum silicone gell application to incision lines daily. The staff at Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Institute are devoted to ensuring well healed surgical incision lines and will provide you further armamentarium when required.
Tummy Tuck Options
Dr. Mowlavi offers three tummy tuck procedures to provide prospective moms the ability to customize their surgical procedure to match their needs. Dr. Mowlavi offers a mini-tuck, full tummy tuck, or a full tummy tuck with a Tri-modality complex ventral hernia repair.
The mini tummy tuck provides the following benefits:
Removal of undesirable abdominal skin localized to the lower belly region just above the pubic region. The best way to determine if this degree of skin removal is adequate for you is to observe the extent of the stretch marks and degree of belly skin redundancy. If your stretch marks are limited to the lower belly and well below the belly button and you have a small “pudge” of extra skin, then this is the best surgical tummy tuck option for you.
Return to work and your daily routine within one to two weeks following surgery. If you have a busy work schedule or if you have only a limited time to recover from surgery then this is your best tummy tuck option.
*Please see Mini Tummy Tuck for details regarding this procedure.
The full tummy tuck provides the following benefits:
Removal of undesirable abdominal skin extending from the pubic region up to and over the belly button. The best way to determine if this degree of skin removal is warranted is to observe the extent of stretch marks located on your belly. If the stretch marks extend to and or above the belly button, then you will require a full tummy tuck. In addition, if you have a large amount of redundant skin, termed pannus, which falls to and covers your pubic region, then this is the best option for you.
Tightening of the muscles underlying the belly skin. The best way to determine whether you will need to tighten your abdominal muscles is to stand up and let your belly hang out. If your belly bulges out when you are not holding it in, then you should consider the full tummy tuck which will allow your surgeon to permanently tighten the abdominal muscles which will prevent bulging out of your belly even when you are not thinking about it.
*Please see Tummy Tuck for details regarding this procedure.
The full tummy tuck with a Tri-modality complex ventral hernia repair provides the following benefits:
The full tummy tuck with a Tri-modality complex ventral hernia repair provides the prospective mom with definitive correction of a severe abdominal deformity caused by a complex ventral hernia. Moms who suffer from this deformity will describe their belly as a battle ground or feel that an extra-terrestial organism is pushing out of their belly. Moms who have such severe abdominal deformities may feel hopeless and are embarrassed from wearing swimming wear. For you moms there is now a Tri-modality surgical repair that can definitively erase all of these seemingly devastating changes. This surgical treatment involves not only direct tightening of the central muscles(1st modality) to close off the hernia as done in a full tummy tuck, but also release of the muscles from the lateral aspect of the abdomen (termed component separation-2nd modality) in order to ensure that the direct tightening as described above is not under tension and not likely to fail, and finally use of a biologic allograft on-lay(3rd modality) which ensures that both of the prior repairs are further reinforced. What’s even more exciting for moms who may be holding back from having a mommy makeover procedure due to financial strains, the Tri-modality complex ventral hernia repair is covered by most insurance companies. To see if you are an appropriate candidate for this surgery and to have Dr. Mowlavi obtain insurance coverage for this procedure, please contact our office for a complimentary consultation.
