Body Contouring Over the Summer
With warm weather quickly approaching, you might be thinking about body contouring over the summer. In many ways, summer is a great time to get plastic surgery because it might afford you a significant amount of time to get through your recovery. However, many patients think about body contouring as a way to feel comfortable and show off in time for the heat.
The Best Time to Get Body Contouring
That’s because when people think of summer, they think about water—the beach, the pool, short sleeves and t-shirts. In some ways, excess skin or stubborn areas of fat can diminish the confidence that patients might otherwise feel. Body contouring can help with that. In order to have results ready by the first week of June (and the beginning of meteorological summer), many patients will plan out the best time to have their procedure and account for recovery.
Getting the sculpted body you want in time for summer is possible with many body contouring procedures. The sooner you get started, the more summer days you’ll be able to enjoy with your results.
When To Get Liposuction For Summer
Liposuction is a minimally invasive plastic surgery procedure. It’s capable of eliminating unwanted areas of fat from many places across the body, from the arms to the back to the belly and legs. The incisions required for liposuction are usually only a couple of centimeters long—meaning those incisions do tend to heal quite rapidly.
However, there’s a lot going on beneath the surface. Liposuction relies on a small tube, called a cannula, to remove fat in a very precise way. That cannula runs back and forth in the target area. In terms of recovery, this means there can be swelling and bruising.
In general, patients can expect to see 90% of their optimal results one to three months after the initial procedure (much will depend on the specifics of your liposuction). So if you want to be ready to hit the beach or lounge by the pool by the beginning of June, you should schedule your procedure towards the end of winter or in early spring.
However, even if you get your liposuction performed now, there’s a good chance you could be ready to go by the end of summer!
When to Get a Tummy Tuck for Summer
Sometimes it’s not excess fat that’s the problem. Sometimes it’s excess skin. And when that’s the case, a different type of body contouring is called for. When that excess skin is around the belly area in particular, patients will often elect to undergo a procedure called abdominoplasty—commonly known as a tummy tuck.
During a tummy tuck, excess skin is removed from the abdomen. The rest of the skin is then tightened in order to create a sculpted, youthful look in the tummy area. The excess skin that a tummy tuck is designed to treat can develop for a wide variety of reasons, none of which are mutually exclusive.
Those reasons could include:
- Genetics
- Pregnancy
- Normal Aging
- Significant Weight Loss
- Loss of elasticity in the skin
As the human body ages, a loss in elasticity of the skin is pretty normal. So these issues tend to be a little more common as we age. Indeed, that’s one of the reasons why the results of a tummy tuck tend to make the patient look more youthful.
Tummy tuck has a recovery time tends to be longer than with a liposuction. Many patients can return to normal activity after roughly four weeks (but it might take more time before you feel “beach ready” in terms of your results). In order for you to get your ideal results by the time summer rolls around, you’ll want to give yourself plenty of time to recovery.
In most cases, you’ll want to get your tummy tuck performed at least three months before you want to “hit the beach,” though everyone’s body will heal at a slightly different rate.
Finding a Window that Works for Your Schedule
You can certainly discuss the timing of your body contouring procedure during your consultation with Dr. Bosbous. While being ready for summer might be part of your ideal timing equation, it’s also important to balance other priorities. For example, patients may want to consider the following when scheduling a window for their plastic surgery procedure:
- Time off of work: It’s likely that patients who undergo body contouring surgery will need to schedule time off work. You’ll want to schedule your procedure—as much as possible—when it’s convenient to take this time off.
- When you’ll have help: Again, during your recovery (and that length will depend greatly on the procedure in question) you’ll probably want some help around. Scheduling your procedure when that help is likely to be present is usually a good idea.
- When you have time for follow up: Any plastic surgery is going to involve some type of follow up care. You’ll want to make sure you schedule your procedure when you have the time to get to follow up appointments.
- Before any big events: You’ll definitely want to make sure you give yourself plenty of time before any big events when you schedule your procedure. You might not want to be going through your tummy tuck recovery in the middle of Thanksgiving for example (that said, Thanksgiving does usually give people a window during which it’s easier to take time off, so you’ll have to balance the two).
Dr. Bosbous will be able to provide you with more guidance and feedback concerning the scheduling of your procedures. Your first priority might not be being “beach ready” in time for summer. But whatever your priorities are, Dr. Bosbous can help you balance those and find the optimal time for your procedure.