At Centre for Surgery, patients often come to us interested in more than one body contouring procedure and it’s often the case that they would like to have them as one combined procedure. This certainly makes sense in a number of ways including having only one anaesthetic, one recovery period, and more affordable treatment costs. In many cases you will already have made the decision to transform your body with a cosmetic body contouring procedure so why not have a dramatic transformation with a combined procedure?.
Our plastic surgeons very commonly get asked the question by our patients as to whether a tummy tuck and Brazilian butt lift can be combined. A lot of patients have as their treatment goal, a flat contoured abdomen and a shapelier buttock region.
In theory, it is entirely possible to combine a tummy tuck with a Brazilian butt lift procedure. In practice, none of our surgeons would recommend the combination of a BBL with a tummy tuck and we will explain why below.
Many surgical procedures can be successfully combined for optimal results
We commonly perform combination procedures for women who have developed abdominal laxity and changes to their breasts after pregnancy and breastfeeding. Common treatment combinations include liposuction or tummy tuck with some form of breast surgery including breast augmentation and a breast lift. This is known as a mummy makeover procedure and leads to fantastic results with a much shorter recovery time than if you were to have had the tummy tuck and breast surgery separately. Having said that, a mummy makeover is still a major surgical procedure with a longer recovery period than most individual surgical procedures involving the breast or body.
The reason why mommy makeover surgery works so well is that when performing a tummy tuck, liposuction will often already be included to contour the flanks and waist area and the breasts can easily be dealt with whilst the patient is lying on their back whilst still being able to maintain operating times below five hours. Patients for mummy makeovers need to be in excellent health with a normal weight and body mass index to ensure that they are as safe as possible under anaesthetic which can last for up to 5 to 6 hours. The recovery after mummy makeover is fairly straightforward as all the Surgery is on the same side of the body.
Keeping procedure times as short as possible
Procedures like tummy tuck and BBL can take a significant amount of time to carry out as there are a number of individual steps to each procedure that have to be carried out as thoroughly as possible to get the best possible results. If patients were to combine a BBL and tummy tuck, they would need to be in pristine health with no medical problems, all their blood test results would need to be normal, and they would need to have a BMI below 25 in order to be as safe as possible under the longer anaesthetic times which can be associated with such surgery.
Longer anaesthetic and surgical times can be associated with an increase in post-operative risks and complications. This is why at Centre for Surgery, we always advise simpler treatment combinations to stay absolutely safe and not to increase your risk profile unnecessarily. Also as we are a day surgery facility, every surgical procedure must be assessed to ensure it meets our stringent admission criteria. It is always important to bear in mind that patient safety comes first every time.
Recovery after Brazilian butt lift and tummy tuck
The most important reason why we do not recommend combining a BBL with a tummy tuck is that the recovery period would be very difficult to endure. It is always important to bear in mind that both a BBL and a tummy tuck individually are quite major procedures that can each take 3 to 4 hours to carry out. Longer surgical procedures generally result in much longer recovery periods.
We would always advise anyone considering a BBL to take one week off work and to avoid any strenuous exercise or gym activities for at least four weeks. The major issue here is that for at least two weeks he will not be able to sit on your buttocks or lie flat on your back when you sleep and your surgeon will probably recommend you avoid any pressure on your buttocks for longer periods of time for the first 4 to 6 weeks.
Patients having tummy tuck surgery should generally expect a recovery period last in between 4 to 6 weeks before they can consider resuming strenuous exercise. Many patients will find that they are unable to stand fully upright in the first week following their tummy tuck procedure. All patients are advised to avoid lying on the front to prevent any pressure from being exerted on the abdominal area.
So the major problem with combining a BBL with a tummy tuck procedure is that you will need to stay away from putting any pressure on either your back or your buttocks. This, therefore, makes it virtually impossible for you to lie down comfortably and so the rest and recovery period are significantly more difficult. The overall recovery period therefore may end up being much longer than if you had had the two surgical procedures carried out as individual surgeries.
It is very important after all cosmetic surgery that patients take the proper time out for rest and recovery. Surgery can lead to a number of changes in the body and it’s important that you comply with all the post-operative instructions to achieve the desired results. The inherent disadvantages of a combined BBL and a tummy tuck procedure often prevent patients from fully following all of the surgeon’s post-operative instructions. The final results could therefore be significantly impaired.
So in theory, it is entirely possible to combine BBL with a tummy tuck into one combined surgery. Getting ideal results it’s probably most possible in the hands of the most specialist and experienced body contouring surgeon. However, the same Surgeon will look to put patient safety and your well-being above all else and will tailor his or her advice to make sure that you will be able to tolerate the recovery period.
Cosmetic surgery is something that should not be taken lightly and certainly should never be rushed in any way. In many cases, it is always better to commit to a slightly longer but ultimately more sensible treatment plan to ensure you get the very best results matched with the most favourable and lowest risk profile.
