Body Contouring Surgery: An Overview

When you look in a full-length mirror, are you pleased with the figure you see? Or do you notice things you'd like to change? Are there clothing styles you'd like to wear, but don't because you're not comfortable with the way your body looks? Do you wish you could do something to enhance the appearance of your physique? If so, you're not alone. Millions of Americans would like to improve their shape, and more and more of them are turning to cosmetic plastic surgery as a way to get results.

Body Contouring Procedures

What is body contouring? Body contouring refers to cosmetic surgical procedures designed to address specific abnormalities or irregularities of the chest, trunk, and extremities. Among the most common body contouring procedures for women are breast augmentation, liposuction, and abdominoplasty (also known as a tummy tuck).

What Is Breast Augmentation?

Breast augmentation is a surgical procedure that increases the size and proportions of your breasts by using breast implants. Breast-implant surgery can enhance a small bustline, correct breasts that differ in size or shape, and reshape breasts that have lost their firmness. In most cases, the procedure results in a better-proportioned figure that allows you to wear more clothing styles and, ultimately, feel more confident about yourself. According to research, women who undergo breast augmentation are happy with the results. In a 1995 study that followed breast-implant patients through the year 2000, 95 percent reported satisfaction with their breast implants five years after surgery.

What Is Liposuction?

Liposuction is a surgical procedure that can safely, effectively, and permanently remove fat from the body. The procedure is best suited to removing specific, localized fat deposits that are resistant to diet and exercise. Using this procedure, a surgeon can sculpt or reshape specific areas of the body, producing a smoother, more proportional figure.

Liposuction was first introduced to the United States in the 1980s. Since then, improvements in surgical techniques and instruments have allowed surgeons to perform the procedure more safely, to achieve better results, and to shorten the recovery period. Today, surgeons can choose from several advanced surgical techniques and instruments to help you achieve the best results.

Although liposuction can produce amazing results, there are limits to what it can achieve. Recommended guidelines limit the amount of fat that can safely be removed and the amount of body sculpting that can be accomplished. Because of this, it should not be considered a substitute for weight reduction or a treatment for obesity.

What Is a Tummy Tuck?

A tummy tuck, also called abdominoplasty, is a surgical procedure that redefines the contours of your abdomen. It can give you a flatter stomach and a more defined waistline. Like liposuction, it eliminates stubborn fat that doesn't respond to diet and exercise. But a tummy tuck goes beyond what liposuction can achieve. The procedure also creates a smoother tummy surface by removing loose skin and stretch marks. And the procedure can actually tighten stretched-out muscles of the abdominal wall (or more accurately, the connective tissues called fascia that cover the muscles), instantly creating a more defined waistline.

In addition to removing lumps and bulges, a tummy tuck may also help you shed feelings of self-consciousness about the shape of your body. Following the procedure, you may feel comfortable enough to wear a bathing suit, or you may find that you can slip into jeans you haven't worn in a decade.

Is Body Contouring Surgery for You?

If you want to regain a trimmer, more youthful-looking body or want to add a few curves to your shape, you may be a candidate for body contouring surgery. Provided you're in good overall health, remarkable improvements are possible whether you're in your twenties, your seventies, or even beyond. And regardless of whether you're tall or petite, broad-shouldered or narrow, you can emerge with a more flattering form. However, surgeons look at more than just your physical attributes when deciding if you're a good candidate for a body contouring procedure. Any qualified cosmetic plastic surgeon will also assess your expectations, your motivation, your mental health, and your willingness to take an active role in the process.

Attitude and Expectations

Having realistic expectations is one of the most important qualifications for anyone seeking a cosmetic procedure. Cosmetic surgeons stress that body contouring procedures generally result in improvements rather than perfection. If you understand and accept this fact, you're far more likely to be satisfied with your results.

Following body contouring surgery, it's common to feel a greater sense of self-confidence. And thanks to that renewed feeling, you may see some positive changes in your life. However, body contouring surgery does have its limits. A tighter tummy or bigger breasts may make your figure look more attractive, but it won't necessarily make you more likable or help you get a promotion at work. And if you're basically unhappy, cosmetic surgery won't change that.

Because of this, cosmetic surgeons are careful to weigh your motivation for seeking cosmetic surgery as well as your mental well-being. In general, a surgeon will want to make sure you're seeking body contouring surgery as a way to please yourself, not because your husband or boyfriend is pressuring you to have a procedure. Plus, surgeons will consider you a better candidate if cosmetic surgery is something you've been contemplating for some time as opposed to it being a recent whim. If you're depressed or going through a crisis, such as a divorce, a surgeon may suggest delaying any cosmetic procedures until you feel emotionally stable.

Another key element cosmetic surgeons will take into consideration when evaluating you as a prospective patient is your willingness to take an active role in the experience. Essentially, you should think of yourself as a partner in the entire process. Cosmetic surgeons consider it your responsibility as a patient to be informed, to ask questions, to communicate your goals, and to follow instructions. As a rule, the more effort you put into the process, the more likely you are to get the results you want.

When Body Contouring Surgery May Not Be for You

Cosmetic surgeons routinely turn down prospective patients for a number of reasons, including unrealistic expectations, a poor attitude, health issues, or detrimental lifestyle habits. If your expectations are unrealistic, you...