Florence Mussat, M.D.
680 N Lake Shore Dr. #1030 Chicago, IL 60611 (312) 751-9000

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Category: mommy makeover

How Soon After Having a Baby Can I Have a Mommy Makeover?

Many women are disappointed to discover that they cannot bounce back to their pre-baby figure immediately after giving birth to a child. Often, diet and exercise alone are not enough to reverse the changes caused by pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding. That’s where a procedure called a mommy makeover comes in.

What Can a Mommy Makeover Do for You?

A mommy makeover is a customized combination of cosmetic corrections designed to improve women’s body contours, specifically on the breasts and belly. For example, breast surgeries may include a lift or reduction, and tummy tuck surgery can reinforce your abdominal wall and remove excess abdominal tissue and skin. Meanwhile, liposuction can reduce stubborn pockets of unwanted fat, and a labiaplasty can improve the appearance of your most intimate area.

Many women dream of getting a mommy makeover to look and feel their best after having children. However, timing is a critical factor. Here are three variables you should consider before scheduling your Chicago mommy makeover.

1. Childbirth Recovery

After having a baby, your body needs time to heal from all the changes that occurred due to pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing. For the first few months after delivering your baby, your breasts and abdomen will contract back toward pre-pregnancy contours. However, breastfeeding will prolong this process.

You’ll want to allow your body enough time to complete this transformation. Then, Dr. Florence Mussat will devise a customized surgical plan to address your health needs and aesthetic goals.

2. Aftercare Restrictions and the Responsibilities of Motherhood

While you may want to schedule your mommy makeover as soon as possible, ensure you can accommodate the recovery period that’s necessary to let your body heal from surgery.

For example, while recuperating from a mommy makeover, you will need to avoid bending and lifting for some time. You may find these restrictions make it difficult to care for your baby. For this reason, you may want to wait until your child is older before undergoing surgery.

3. Family Plans

Finally, it’s essential to look toward the future when timing your mommy makeover. While getting plastic surgery does not inhibit your ability to get pregnant or breastfeed, another pregnancy can reverse many of the improvements made during the procedure. To achieve beautiful mommy makeover results that will last for years, wait to have surgery until you are no longer planning to add to your family.

Are You Ready to Learn More About Chicago Mommy Makeover Surgery?

Your tailored mommy makeover surgical plan will allow you to resolve multiple post-pregnancy concerns simultaneously.

There are several advantages to combining aesthetic procedures in a mommy makeover. For one, less time in the operating room means an affordable cost. Plus, you will only have one recovery, which will require no more additional downtime than a stand-alone procedure.

To schedule your private mommy makeover consultation with Dr. Mussat, contact us or call (312) 751-9000.

When Is the Best Time for a Mommy Makeover?

Pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding can be the most amazing experiences you will ever go through. You’ll feel empowered by all the adjustments your body can make as it grows and nurtures another human being. But along the way, you will also notice some significant changes that might leave you feeling self-conscious or dissatisfied about your appearance. Nursing can cause your breasts to sag and become shapeless, while the stress and strain of carrying a child to term can widen your hips and stretch your abdominal muscles and skin.

 

Though a healthy lifestyle can go a long way to help you recover from the stress of pregnancy, you may find your shape doesn’t bounce back as quickly as you want – especially after having more than one baby. A mommy makeover is a customized collection of cosmetic procedures designed to reshape your body to a younger, pre-pregnancy contours.

While the decision to get this operation is solely yours, once you become a mom, your family is your top priority. That’s why timing the procedure is at the top of most women’s list. Here are three questions to ask yourself.

1. Have You Attained Your Ideal Weight?

One of the most critical issues to consider before getting a mommy makeover is your ability to achieve and sustain your target weight. Board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Florence Mussat recommends waiting until you’ve maintained your weight goal for approximately six months. Weight stabilization is a practical guideline because it suggests your body has mostly recovered from the physical trauma of pregnancy and childbirth.

2. Are You Finished Nursing Your Baby?

Dr. Mussat also advises her patients considering a mommy makeover to wait until after they wean their babies – especially if your customized mommy makeover plan includes any surgeries like a breast lift or breast reduction.

We recommend waiting approximately six months after you stop nursing your baby to allow your breasts’ size and shape to stabilize.

3. Are You Planning to Add to Your Family?

The best time to have a mommy makeover is after you are certain you no longer want to have additional children in the future. While a mommy makeover will not affect your reproductive ability, undergoing another pregnancy can undo many of your outstanding results from breast surgery, liposuction, or a tummy tuck.

Why Choose Dr. Florence Mussat for Your Mommy Makeover in Chicago?

Dr. Florence Mussat practices cosmetic plastic surgery in Chicago with a passion for helping women achieve their cosmetic dreams. In addition, she strives to deliver exceptional aesthetic results to her patients who wish to look their best at all times.

She believes you need not choose between motherhood and a stunning figure. But, thanks to her expertise in body sculpting procedures and mommy makeover surgeries, you can have both!

To schedule a private consultation with Dr. Mussat and learn more about mommy makeover surgery, contact our office by calling (312) 751-9000.

Get Ready for Valentine’s Day – 10 Ways to Look and Feel Your Best

Valentine’s Day comes at the perfect time of year. The joy and excitement of the Christmas season are but a memory. As we eagerly begin to anticipate the arrival of spring, February brings us Valentine’s Day and, with it, a much-needed dose of fun, romance, and excitement.

With more and more people going the extra mile to look their best for Valentine’s Day, why not schedule a visit with Dr. Florence Mussat at her Chicago plastic surgery office?

Be on your way to a fresh, vibrant look with one of these 10 solutions from Dr. Mussat.

1.     Restore Youthful Fullness to Your Face

Perhaps it’s due to genetics, aging, or simply your facial structure, but parts of your face could be lacking in volume and making you appear gaunt. Well, it is possible to enhance your facial volume and improve the appearance of your face with a facial fat transfer expertly performed by Dr. Mussat.

2.     Fall in Love With Your Skin

Taking care of one’s skin is essential throughout the year, and there’s no better time than now to get back your radiant glow in time for Valentine’s Day with a nonsurgical facial rejuvenation treatment.

With medical-grade, topical retinoids, various conditions, including mild to moderate acne, signs of sun damage, freckles, fine lines, and wrinkles, can be treated.

3.     Refresh Your Eyelids

Your eyes may be the window to your soul, but drooping eyelid skin or undereye bags could be concealing and aging your eyes, making you look tired, sad, or angry. If so, you could be a good candidate for an eyelid lift, also known as blepharoplasty. It could take years off your appearance and give your self-esteem a big boost.

4.     Repair the Sun Damage

Even though summer is long gone, your skin could still be showing signs of too much sun with dryness, new lines, and wrinkles. Dr. Mussat offers a range of treatments to undo the harsh effects of summer, and just two of these are highlighted below.

Chemical Peel: Replaces thickened and damaged skin with fresh, youthful cells, eliminating uneven pigmentation and skin discoloration.

Microdermabrasion: By rubbing fine crystals across the skin with a medically-calibrated wand, the rough outer layer is removed, and new skin stimulated.

Laser Skin Rejuvenation: A concentrated beam of light is used to gently exfoliate the skin’s sun-damaged outer layer.

5.     Reclaim Your Youthful Shape

Becoming a mother can be one of the most rewarding experiences. However, pregnancy and breastfeeding can leave you with unwelcome reminders such as stomach flab and flattened breasts.

While diet and exercise can go a long way towards reclaiming your youthful appeal, a mommy makeover as a Valentine’s gift to yourself could be all you need to restore your youthful figure.

6.     Get Back Those Perky Breasts

Full, perky breasts may be a distant memory of the days before gravity, weight loss, pregnancy, or breastfeeding changed things. To regain confidence in your appearance this Valentine’s Day, a breast lift could be exactly what you need.

7.     Slim Your Jawline

Whether it’s the result of age or weight gain, a double chin can be one of the most frustrating facial flaws to have. Through a facelift, Dr. Mussat can tighten loose skin under your chin and neck area, lift those sagging jowls and restore a youthful appearance.

8.     Tone and Tighten

Are you plagued by problem areas of flab that won’t go away? Regardless of how much you exercise and eat healthily, do you find that lean, sexy stomach continues to elude you?

Well, you might consider a tummy tuck, also known as abdominoplasty, which surgically removes excess skin and flesh from the abdomen and even repairs abdominal muscles damaged during pregnancy or weight gain.

9.     Restore Those Smooth Contours

If you’ve lost a significant amount of weight either through diet, exercise, or bariatric surgery, you could now have excess skin in areas of the body where large amounts of fat used to be. Through one or more body contouring procedures, expertly performed by Dr. Mussat, you could be well on your way to having your body’s contours restored by Valentine’s Day.

10.            Put Your Best Face Forward

Despite taking good care of yourself and trying to age gracefully, age-related changes in your face are still inevitable.

With facelift surgery, Dr. Mussat can tighten and lift the soft tissues of your face, tighten lax, excess skin and surgically reposition sagging facial tissue giving you a more youthful, rejuvenated look.

Regain Your Sexy, Youthful Look in Time for Valentine’s Day!

What better to get a self-confidence boost and bring some excitement back into your love life before Valentine’s Day than a visit to board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Florence Mussat in Chicago, IL?

Too look your absolute best before Valentine’s day, schedule a personal consultation or call (312) 751-9000 today!

Why Are Mommy Makeovers So Popular?

As a mother, you’ll agree that motherhood is the most rewarding and challenging experience of your life. And yet, there’s nothing about it you would change! Except, perhaps, the part you didn’t see coming—the part about how your body will completely change with the arrival of your first child. 

Or that spending hours in the gym with that expensive personal trainer or running miles and miles would do never completely tighten stretched and sagging abs or get your breasts looking as good in a bikini as they did before breastfeeding reduced their volume.

A woman’s body changes in remarkable ways when she becomes pregnant and again after childbirth; unfortunately, these changes often have a drastic impact on her body that can affect her self-confidence and body image—some of which is physically debilitating. Loose, stretched out skin and muscles, pockets of fat on the hips and thighs, sagging breasts; the list seems endless. 

This is why so many women are turning to the “Mommy Makeover,” a series of procedures for body rejuvenation, after the birth of their last child. These procedures can either be combined into one single surgery for one recovery, or performed in separate stages.

What Exactly Is a Mommy Makeover?

But first of all, what exactly is a Mommy Makeover? Usually described as a combination of breast and body cosmetic surgery to which a woman treats herself after she’s finished having her children, a Mommy Makeover can take on a different form for every mother. 

Board-Certified Plastic and Reconstructive surgeon, Dr. Florence Mussat sees it as how you would describe your favorite pair of jeans where, with a set of plastic surgery procedures, she’ll help you “tighten up your abdomen, shape your waist, and redefine your breasts for the best body you’ve ever had, even before baby.”

  • Stretch Marks: A tummy tuck will remove excess skin and the stretch marks that come with it.
  • Breast Volume Loss: Breast augmentation and/or a breast lift to reshape, reposition, and fill the breasts.
  • Excess Abdominal Skin: A tummy tuck removes excess abdominal skin and fat, restoring a tighter, flatter abdomen.
  • Abdominal Muscle Separation: The abdominal muscles can separate during pregnancy, leaving a permanent pooch, and this can be corrected during a tummy tuck.
  • Areola Size: Some women experience an increase in areola size after pregnancy, and the position of areola/nipple can be adjusted.

What’s more, some of her Mommy Makeover patients also chose to have a labiaplasty to rejuvenate their ‘lower areas’ which might have become stretched due to childbirth, add in a little Botox to lessen those forehead lines and crows’ feet, or take care of those stretch marks through a tummy tuck! All of this can lead to a personalized makeover, increased self-confidence, and, may we say it, improved sex life!

Love Your Mommy Makeover Figure

You do not have to choose between loving your figure and loving motherhood. Thanks to your Mommy Makeover surgery, you can have both! To schedule a private consultation with Dr. Florence Mussat and learn more about mommy makeover surgery, contact her office by calling (312) 751-9000.

A Mommy Makeover by Valentine’s Day Means a Stunning Spring Reveal

Motherhood is a time for beautiful and life-changing experiences for a woman, but it is also body-altering. As any mom can tell you, the adventure of becoming a mother also has a way of changing the body. Many women find it difficult to regain the figure they had before becoming pregnant. You, too, may be feeling a little disappointed in your post-pregnancy curves.

Add to this the ongoing demands of modern life such as raising children, your career responsibilities, the challenge of domestic duties, and your tendency to put everything and everyone else first, and you’ll find yourself wishing for a practical solution to get back into shape.

Even adopting a healthy lifestyle, like eating a nutritious diet and exercising regularly, won’t always result in weight loss, especially in the areas affected by your pregnancy. There are aspects of your figure you’ll find difficult to change through exercise and diet alone. You would like to reverse the effects of childbirth, along with feelings of frustration about how your body looks and feels.

Pregnancy changes the body, and while you wouldn’t trade your baby for a flat stomach, you do wish you could have that taut tummy back again. Everywhere, mothers are turning to the mommy makeover to help them to regain the bodies they had before motherhood and nursing and to achieve the bodies they desire and deserve. 

Who says moms can’t have it all? With our mommy makeover, you can enjoy a body that makes you feel confident and beautiful while also enjoying the many joys of motherhood. Beautiful babies and sexy curves make an enviable combination. 

If you’re considering having a mommy makeover, take the next step and learn more by calling us to schedule your personal consultation with Dr. Mussat.

What Is a Mommy Makeover?

Having a baby changes the body, often in unexpected ways. Stretch marks, deflated-looking breasts, and a sagging belly are common conditions all moms face. An improved lifestyle isn’t going to restore your post-pregnancy body, but a mommy makeover will. A mommy makeover consists of a set of specifically customized plastic surgery procedures designed to target all your problem areas and, in the process, restore that pre-pregnancy appearance to your body.

  • Stretch marks: Many women develop stretch marks during pregnancy, and often these affect the lower abdomen. A tummy tuck removes excess skin, and together with this, also the stretch marks, especially those below the belly button.
  • Sagging breasts: A common complaint after pregnancy is breast sagging, which results from hormonal changes, as well as the breast size increase that takes place during pregnancy. A breast lift not only reshapes the breast but also moves its position to a more central location on the chest wall.
  • Loss of breast volume – To replace the loss of breast volume, augmentation, combined with a breast lift, could be an excellent procedure to add to your mommy makeover. Dr. Mussat will insert implants into the breasts to increase their size.
  • Excess abdominal skin: Rediscover a tight, flat abdomen with a tummy tuck, which removes unwanted skin and fat, thus restoring a tighter, flatter abdomen.
  • Abdominal muscle separation: The abdominal muscles can become stretched and separated during pregnancy, resulting in a permanent pooch. A tummy tuck could be all you need to correct this.
  • Oversized areolas: Pregnancy for some women results in an increase in areola size as well as location, and Dr. Mussat’s surgery options can adjust this.

Pregnancy may have changed your body, but you can change it back. With a mommy makeover after the birth of your baby, you’re in charge of your appearance.

The Benefits of a Mommy Makeover by Valentine’s Day

Taking care of your mommy makeover by Valentine’s Day gives your body plenty of recovery time before slipping on that new bathing suit and heading for the beach! 

Other benefits of your mommy makeover surgery include the following. 

  • One recovery, lots of benefits: By combining surgeries such a breast lift with a tummy tuck and stretch mark removal, you recover once and enjoy the benefits of multiple treatments. 
  • Cover up while you heal: The benefit of having a mommy makeover by Valentine’s Day is that heavier, bulkier winter clothes will easily cover up any post-surgery swelling while you recover. 
  • Ready for a summer reveal: While you’ll get to enjoy the results soon after your mommy makeover, parts of the treatment will require a little more time to heal. For example, after breast augmentation, your implants could take up to three months to soften and settle. The swelling following a tummy tuck could take several months to resolve. When you have some time to heal, you’ll be ready for your sexy summer reveal.  
  • Time is on your side: As summer approaches, and women race to create their summer bodies, our surgical calendars can quickly fill up. Schedule your appointment now, and you’ve got time for your treatment before the pre-summer rush.

Getting Started With Your Mommy Makeover by Valentine’s Day

As a mom, self-care can often feel like a luxury, but by putting yourself first, you’ll find you have more to give. Embrace the best form of post-pregnancy self-care with a mommy makeover. 

Do you have any additional questions and are still keen to find out how Dr. Mussat can help restore your pre-pregnancy body with a mommy makeover? Schedule a private consultation to learn more. Please contact our office by calling (312) 751-9000.