Tummy Tuck With Pubic Lift

Tummy Tuck With Pubic Lift

It’s not unusual for individuals considering a tummy tuck to have excess fat or sagging skin above the pubic bone (medically known as the mons pubis). Abdominoplasty is designed to remove fat and tighten loose skin in the abdominal area, which can have a positive impact on the appearance of the mons pubis. However, if the pubic area is more than minimally saggy, a tummy tuck won’t help enough.

Weight gain, aging, and pregnancy can all cause the pubic area to expand and sag significantly. In these situations, a pubic lift combined with a tummy tuck may be the best way to achieve the results you desire. This approach can slim your stomach while restoring a more flattering pubic contour.

It’s common to experience excess fat and sagging skin in both the abdominal and pubic areas. With normal aging, these regions of the body lose elasticity and start to droop. Pregnancy and weight gain can further contribute to sagging. Meanwhile, excess fatty tissue can be particularly hard to eliminate through exercise, especially in the pubic area.

Combining a pubic lift with abdominoplasty is a great option for many people, especially those who have excess skin after losing a significant amount of weight. You may consider this surgical combination if the following statements apply to your situation:

• It’s hard to find clothing that fits due to mons pubis enlargement
• You dress in a way that hides your pubic area bulge
• The appearance of your pubic area causes embarrassment or affects your intimate relationships
• Excess skin interferes with your urinary function or reduces sexual satisfaction
• You want to correct excess fat and sagging skin in your abdominal area
• Your abdominal muscles are weak, torn, or separated.

Pubic Lift Benefits

• Reduce bulging around the pubic bone.
• Remove excess skin and fat tissue below the abdomen.
• Allow individuals to wear swimwear or tight pants more confidently and comfortably.
• Provide a more youthful and tightened appearance.

Benefits of Pubic Lift Surgery

Individuals might undergo pubic lift surgery because of excess and/or sagging skin, possibly as a result of weight gain, aging, or pregnancy. For many individuals, dieting and exercise alone are not effective in tightening the area.

Pubic lifts have been determined to be safe and reliable and can help patients achieve the following results:

• Reduce bulging around the pubic bone
• Remove excess skin and fat tissue below the abdomen
• Allow individuals to wear swimwear or tight pants more confidently and comfortably
• Provide a more youthful and tightened appearance

Procedure

A pubic lift in Orange County at our offices is often combined with other procedures such as liposuction or a tummy tuck. Depending on the breadth of the desired procedure(s), varying levels of anesthesia may be used. For more extensive operations, general anesthesia will be required while less invasive procedures may be done under a combination of sedation and local anesthesia.

During monsplasty, an incision is made horizontally across the upper pubic region. Dr. Jazayeri will first tighten and raise the underlying muscles to create a firmer appearance. Then, after removing excess skin and tissues, he’ll pull the pubic skin toward the abdomen before closing the incision.

After a monsplasty is complete, your healthcare provider will cover your incisions with bandages. They may also wrap the area with an elastic bandage or compression garment to help minimize swelling and support your mons pubis as it heals.

Your anesthesiologist will stop putting anesthesia into your body to keep you asleep.

You’ll move to a recovery room, where healthcare providers will wait for you to wake up and monitor your overall health.

Most monsplasties are outpatient procedures, so you can go home the same day you have the surgery. You may have to stay at the healthcare facility overnight if you have a monsplasty at the same time as a tummy tuck or liposuction.

Once your healthcare providers determine you no longer need monitoring, they’ll let you go home (discharge you). You must have a family member or friend drive you home and take care of you for at least the first 24 hours after your monsplasty.

What are the advantages of a monsplasty?

There are many advantages to a monsplasty, including:

• Self-esteem boost. Most people like the results of their monsplasty. They’re happy with how their body looks and how clothes fit.
• Improved comfort. Peeing and having sex are easier.
• Improved hygiene. Washing your stomach (abdomen), mons pubis and genitals is easier.
• Permanence. Your body’s new shape (contour) will be permanent if your weight remains stable.
• Safety. A monsplasty is a relatively safe procedure with a low risk of complications or side effects.

What are the risks of a monsplasty?

All surgical procedures carry some risk. Some risks of a monsplasty include:

• Anesthesia risks.
• Healing problems.
• Infection.
• Mass of clotted blood (hematoma) or an accumulation of fluid (seroma).
• Numbness.
• Skin discoloration.
• Swelling (edema).
• Unfavorable scarring.
• Your mons pubis isn’t symmetrical.
• Your skin becomes loose again.

What is the recovery time after a monsplasty?

The first several days after a pubic lift are often the most painful. You may feel swollen, bruised and sore, and your incisions may bleed slightly.

After five to seven days, your pain and discomfort should decrease. Some people take either prescribed pain medication or over-the-counter (OTC) acetaminophen (Tylenol®) to manage pain. As always, discuss your allergies and complete medical history with your provider.

After one to two weeks, your swelling should reduce. You may still have some bruising and pain. You should be able to return to light daily activities, including desk work. However, you must avoid strenuous physical activity for at least four to six weeks.

It may take at least eight weeks for your incision to heal completely.

It’s important to remember that your body is unique, so recovery times may vary. Follow your healthcare provider’s instructions on managing your pain and discomfort throughout your recovery.

Monsplasty

For many women, excess skin in the mons area creates a bulge that leads them to feel embarrassed about wearing tight clothing or a bathing suit, or they may feel insecure during intimacy. This procedure offers a permanent solution to this concern, reducing the amount of skin that projects and creating a smoother appearance under bathing suits, tight jeans or yoga pants. Candidates should be physically healthy, maintain a stable weight, and should not smoke.​

What to expect if I get this done?

After the initial swelling subsides, you should expect to see the final results of your procedure within six months. The reduction in the amount of skin and/or tissue in the area will prevent the mons from protruding, creating a smoother appearance under clothing.

What should I expect before my procedure?

A consultation with one of our surgeons will be the best way to determine if you are a candidate for monsplasty and what steps you will need to take prior to surgery. Your surgeon will assess your needs and determine the best approach to achieve your desired results. Depending on the extent of tissue removal, you may undergo the procedure with local anesthesia with oral sedation, or general anesthesia, and you may be able to go home the same day.

What should I expect after my surgery?

You should expect your recovery process to take about one week, and you should plan to limit your physical activity for two to six weeks, depending on how extensive your procedure is. In the case that you have skin removal, a small tube or two may be placed to act as a drain for any excess fluid or blood, and typically is removed within a few days. Be sure to follow your surgeon’s instructions carefully.​

Will my results change if I get pregnant?

Typically, no. Although everyone’s body is unique, fullness and excess skin in the mons pubis are often genetic features, with surgery yielding long-lasting results. The area most affected by pregnancy is the upper abdominal area, not the mons pubis, so you are unlikely to see a change in your surgery results even if you become pregnant after the procedure.

Can this be combined with other procedures?

Yes! Some patients choose to undergo another cosmetic procedure – like a tummy tuck, body lift or Mommy Makeover – along with a monsplasty to achieve an overall smoother, better proportioned lower body contour. Also, many patients opt to have a monsplasty at the same time as a labiaplasty and/or vaginoplasty to rejuvenate their pubic area. These procedures can be done at the same time. Please consult with one our surgeons to determine the best approach for you.

Additionally, these procedures can be done at the same time as medically indicated procedures so that you only need to have one procedure with less recovery time than if performed separately. We can work with your UTMB surgeon to ensure a streamlined process and you receive the best care possible.

It’s important have realistic expectations. Remember that the goal is improvement, not perfection, and the look you want may not be achievable.

Monsplasty works best if you’re at a healthy weight and in good overall health. You may want to consider delaying the procedure if you have weight to lose or have an active health condition.

There are several steps you’ll need to take in preparation for your surgery.

Before surgery

• Arrange for someone to drive you to and from your surgery, and for someone to be with you for at least 24 hours after your surgery.
• Avoid drinking alcohol, starting 2 days before surgery.
• Stop taking medication that increases your risk of bleeding such as aspirin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drugs and all herbal remedies 10 days before surgery, or according to your doctor’s instructions.
• Avoid smoking 2 weeks before and after surgery.

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Usually, monsplasty is performed at an outpatient same-day surgery center using sedation and local anesthesia.

An overnight hospital stay might be required when monsplasty is done in combination with other more extensive procedures, like a tummy tuck.

During the surgery

• For this procedure, you’re first sedated with intravenous medication.
• Next a local anesthetic is injected into your skin, and the tissues in your lower abdomen and mons pubis, to make it numb.
• In an area of your lower abdomen that can be covered by a bikini, a horizontal incision is then made in your skin.
• Excess fatty tissue and skin are removed using a scalpel.
• The underlying tissue and muscle may be pulled up and tightened using sutures, and your mons pubis is “sculpted”.
• The incision is then closed with sutures and adhesive strips.

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What’s the recovery like

Once the sedation has worn off, you’ll be monitored for a short while to make sure you don’t have any complications, and then you’ll be released. You’ll need to have someone drive you home after the procedure.

After surgery, you’ll usually have some discomfort in your lower abdomen and mons pubis. You’ll notice mild bruising and swelling soon after surgery that’ll typically last 2 to 3 weeks.

Recovery usually happens fairly quickly, and the recovery timeline will likely look something like this:

Recovery timeline

• A day or two after surgery, you’ll be encouraged to take slow-paced walks.
• One week after surgery, you can usually return to work. If your job involves heavy lifting or exertion, you’ll need more time to heal before going back to work.
• After about 3 weeks, your incision may be healed enough for you to soak in a bathtub.
• You can typically begin participating in exercise and other physical activities after 4 to 6 weeks.

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You’ll notice the results of your monsplasty immediately after surgery. By 6 weeks you’ll see the final results. The changes are permanent but excess fat deposition can reoccur if you gain weight.

The benefits of monsplasty include:

• a firmer, smoother, and flatter mons pubis
• improved self-esteem
• easier, less-painful sexual intercourse, if these were problems before surgery

Possible complications from monsplasty

Monsplasty is a safe procedure with a low risk of complications. However, in some situations, the following complications are possible:

• infection of the incision
• excessive bleeding
• a scar that may be larger or more noticeable than expected

Are there other options besides monsplasty?

Monsplasty is the only surgical option for removing excess fat or saggy skin in your pubic area, but healthy eating, regular exercise, and other weight loss tips may also help reduce the amount of fat in your mons pubis.

Your mons pubis area is usually one of the last parts of your body to lose excess fat. Even so, eating a healthy, reduced-calorie diet that causes fat loss throughout your body can help reduce fat in this area.

It’s hard to specifically target your mons pubis with exercise, but some that do target the general area are:

• planks
• pelvic tilt
• bicycle crunch
• straight leg raise
• burpees
• the Hundred

Other nonsurgical therapies that may help get rid of excess fat or tighten your mons pubis include:

• laser skin tightening
• radiofrequency skin tightening
• CoolSculpting

Cost and insurance coverage for monsplasty

Like most cosmetic surgeries, monsplasty is almost always done for cosmetic and aesthetic reasons, rather than out of medical necessity.

Medicare and other insurances will only cover procedures that are medically necessary, so monsplasty is rarely covered by medical insurance.

The cost of the procedure ranges from $3,000 to $8,000, with the average cost being about $5,500. The reason there’s such a wide range of prices is because you’re paying for multiple services. Typically, the following fees are included in the price:

• surgical center
• surgeon
• anesthesiologist
• anesthesia
• cost of materials such as bandages and sutures

Monsplasty may not be cheap but most cosmetic surgeons offer financing that may make it more affordable.