The Time Is Right for the Body Procedure You’ve Been Considering

Posted on: October 27th, 2020 by Kristen Chang

You’ve probably heard: there’s a boom in plastic surgery happening right now. Physicians and other experts have been attributing the general trend to five factors:* 

• Elective procedures OK – Everyone who wanted cosmetic surgery during full pandemic lockdown had to wait for elective procedures to be permitted again.* 
• Zoom of doom – More people are spending time looking at themselves because of more time at home and frequent video meetings.* 
• Lockdown savings – Many who have not been affected by layoffs have saved money, for instance, due to canceled travel and less dining out.* 
• Something positive – In wildly uncertain times, plastic surgery can impart a sense of positive change, greater wellbeing and control.* 
• Quarantine 15 – Gym closures and more time at home eating comfort food have led to widespread weight gain.*

As far as facial procedures go, Botox and dermal fillers are seeing a huge popularity surge. They’re quick fixes requiring no recovery, and they can address some concerns above the mask. Of course, if you aren’t currently required to leave the house or have video meetings, it’s a good time to go for any procedure. This explains the greater interest in eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty), nose jobs (rhinoplasty), facelifts, laser resurfacing and neck lifts. If you still want to be able to go out into the world, focus on the neck, chin and lower face. Your mask, with a scarf or turtleneck, will hide recovery. Unfortunately, a mask would be hard to explain in a video meeting!*

Body Procedures: Safe for Video 

Familiar with the video-meeting game, “pants or no pants?” For cosmetic body procedures, it could just as easily be “surgery or no surgery?” That’s because, when you’re using video for socializing and work meetings, no one needs to know what’s going on below your shoulders.* 

Based on telemedicine consultations, patient interviews and bookings with hundreds of member physicians of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), body procedures are reaching record numbers in the second half of 2020. Following are the top five so far.*

 

 

1 – Breast Augmentation 

Now that many are staying home, so-called “boob jobs” are the top procedure after Botox. Before signing up for double D’s, however, you’ll need to work with your board-certified physician to answer some key questions. Just to name a few: silicone vs. saline? Round vs. anatomical? Over the muscle vs. under? You’ll also need to determine what size works best for your frame and goals, and where to place the incisions.*

Initial recovery time will depend on the choices you make about your new breasts. It generally ranges from several days to a couple weeks, and you should count on doing nothing but healing for the first 1 to 4 days of that. Sometime during the first week post-op, you’ll probably feel comfortable enough to attend video meetings.*

2 – Liposuction (Lipo)

Thanks to the “quarantine 15,” more Americans than ever are looking for a way to permanently remove troublesome pockets of fat — whether the hated love handles or a new second chin. Accordingly, ASPS member surgeons predict that liposuction will be the second most popular cosmetic body procedure for 2020.* 

One of the best methods is tumescent liposuction, which California Skin Institute practices. It starts with an injection of a tumescent solution that liquifies the fat, enabling your doctor to draw it out easily using tiny tubes through micro incisions. You may not even need general anesthesia.* 

Afterwards, you could be ready to go to video in as little as 2 or 3 days. Factors like quantity of fat removed, treatment areas and use of tumescent solution will determine exact timing.* 

3 – Tummy Tuck (Abdominoplasty)

When lipo alone won’t be enough to sufficiently whittle down your middle, the job may call for a tummy tuck. Abdominoplasty is a game-changing surgery that removes excess fat and skin, and optionally also tightens the muscular girdle around your midsection. Central to most mommy makeovers, it’s great for slimming down and contouring what you aren’t able to address through diet and exercise alone. Tummy tucks are commonly performed in combination with liposuction for the most dramatic results.*

After the procedure, you may not be ready to leave the house again for 2 weeks or so. However, many patents are able to sit for video conferencing within a week or two. Overall bounce-back timeline will hinge on incision sizes, amount of fat and skin removed, and whether you opted for muscle tightening and liposuction too.*

4 – Breast Lift (Mastopexy)

Extra time at home has given many of us the chance to take stock of body changes caused by time, motherhood and other factors. If you feel that your breasts are more downturned, stretched or misshapen than you can accept, a breast lift will remove extra skin, reshape breasts, and reduce and reposition the areolas (colored circles around your nipples). You can opt for mastopexy alone to give breasts a rounder, perkier appearance without a size change. Alternatively, like many women, you can combine your lift with breast augmentation to add more oomph.*

You could be fit to join video meetings in as little as 2 or 3 days if you choose a modest lift with small periareolar incision. If you get a significant lift, that could be closer to 5 days.* 

 

5 – Breast Reduction

Feeling that your breasts are too big in appearance, weight and clothing fit? You may want breast reduction surgery, both to downsize your breasts and lift them. The procedure removes extra skin, fat and glandular tissue, and it usually also involves reducing or repositioning the areolas. According to your body type, current breast size and desired outcome, your physician will discuss details like incision types with you.* 

Of course, the more extensive your surgery, the longer it will take to recover. You may need to go braless for a week, but video face-to-faces are likely to be fine somewhere around the 3-day mark.*

Plastic Surgery in Stealth Mode

The pandemic offers an excellent opportunity to secretly heal from the body procedure you’ve been wanting. COVID-19 fears provide a ready explanation for lying low at home, and recovery is especially easy if you’re off work or working from home. While plastic surgery on the body usually requires bandages or compression garments, you can keep these effortlessly out of view during phone or video meetings with colleagues, friends and family.*

Book your consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon to discuss your goals, expectations and options. Once you’ve decided what you want to do, your doctor will give you a clearer idea of how soon after your procedure you’ll be ready for video.*

 

*Individual results may vary and are not guaranteed.