FAQs (General Questions)

Plastic surgery, like any other surgical procedure, is an involved medical undertaking. An abdominoplasty is a serious and involved surgical procedure, but is normally completed under administered general anesthetic. Patients may experience discomfort during recovery, and with more serious procedures recovery can be a process in which much patience is required. However, this is to be expected with any form of complex surgery. Procedures that are completed on a smaller scale, such as lip treatments, may stay sore for a while depending on the concentration of sensitive nerves in that particular area. If you are deeply concerned about any form of pain that might be associated with your potential procedure, it is best to raise these concerns with your surgeon during the consultation period.

Recovery periods depend entirely on the complexity of your procedure.

Most of the swelling with breast related surgery disappears within two weeks, but it may take up to nine months before you’re completely back to normal. After liposuction, it will be necessary to spend three weeks wearing tight bandages over the areas treated. Sometimes this may be slightly uncomfortable and inconvenient as it may affect your ability to complete everyday activities (such as using the lavatory).

Plastic surgery, like most other surgical procedures, always carries some form of risk. Some of the risks that do exist are anaesthesia and procedure related complications, continued and excessive bleeding, infection and prolonged healing periods, to name a few.

A breast reduction mammoplasty procedure may carry the risk of nipple loss. During this procedure nipples must be removed and replaced so there is a slight chance the body may reject them.

If not completed correctly, an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) may lead to stomach or bowel infection.

The time that it takes for a patient to be able to resume their regular exercise regimes varies according to the operation performed. Most patients are encouraged to begin a relaxed walking routine on the second day post operation. Depending on your particular procedure, as well as the progress of your individual recovery, regular aerobic and more vigorous activities will generally not be recommended during the first two to three weeks post-surgery. This is a precaution taken to decrease the risks of bleeding, swelling, and bruising. Generally, weight lifting and contact sports are only recommended after 4 months of recovery time.

There may be charges for consultations, as well as surgical and operations costs.

Sometimes after cosmetic surgery, secondary or touch-up surgery is necessary. If this is done within one year of the original surgery, there is usually no additional surgeon’s fee. However, other fees such as anesthesia, operating room, medications or tests will be charged.

A plastic surgery procedure will not be completed overnight. There are many steps that need to be taken before an operation will be planned. The initial consultation is extremely important as it will help both yourself and the surgeon determine if you are a candidate for cosmetic surgery. The initial consultation will assess your suitability for surgery, exactly what procedure/s you may require, and if plastic surgery is indeed something that you should be interested in pursuing. More than one consultation may be necessary before both you and your surgeon feel comfortable with your potential surgery.

The recuperation period after plastic surgery varies. It depends on the procedure performed and the person being operated on.

The majority of patients will require assistance for the first two days after an operation. After two days, most patients are able to look after themselves. This recuperative period may need to be a little longer if a patient has dependents or children to care for, or if their surgery was more extensive.

The recuperation periods for some of the most common procedures are detailed below. These time frames are estimations, and do not factor in return to vigorous exercise.

  • Breast surgery: For the majority of people that have breast surgery (such as mastopexy or augmentation mammoplasty), patients can move around independently by the second day after the operation. If your work doesn’t require you to lift more than two kilograms at any one time, you can generally return to work after 7 days post-operation.
  • Liposuction/liposculpture: The majority of patients who have undergone a liposuction procedure can generally begin to move around independently by the second day after an operation. This time may even be reduced if only a small area was treated. In most cases, a patient who has undergone a liposuction can return to work, and normal activities, after 10 days.
  • Abdominoplasty (tummy tuck): After undergoing an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck), patients may take between two-to-four days before being able to move around entirely independently. The recovery is similar to a Caesarean section. One can return to a desk job at 10 days, other jobs in two to three weeks.

The results you receive from your plastic surgery depend a lot on the plastic surgeon who performs the procedure, as well as other individual factors. Depending on the skill of the plastic surgeon and your personal aesthetic preferences, your results can be very subtle or more extensive. As results will vary, it is always important to discuss your expectations with Dr Tavakoli before surgery.

Breast Questions

Breast implants are no longer made of liquid silicone in a liquid sac. If you were to cut one of them in half, they have a gel-like core. Therefore these implants cannot puncture, explode or leak liquid into the body.

Choosing an implant size is an important personal decision that you will make in consultation with your surgeon. Dr. Tavakoli will help to guide you through the process of deciding which size will be best to achieve the look you desire, as well as which size will work best with your body.

Picking the right size of the breast implant is one of the most important decisions in the breast augmentation mammoplasty process. This being the case, your surgeon will discuss several approaches to help the patient make the best decision based on their anatomy, personal preferences and the aesthetic appearance they wish to achieve. They may even get the patient to wear a bra with the augment inside to see how they look.

What is capsular hardening and how is it treated?

This is one of the most serious possible complications of a breast augmentation mammoplasty procedure. The latest implants are covered in material which has greatly reduced the incidence of capsular contraction formation. A “capsule” or capsule formation is a layer of scar tissue that normally forms around any artificial material placed in the body. It is important to realise that this is the natural response of the body to foreign material.

In the majority of cases, this capsule is so soft that it is virtually undetectable, not affecting the breast implant in any way. Capsular hardening occurs when this layer of scar tissue shrinks around the breast implant, squeezing it so that it starts to feel firm, or in some cases, quite hard. If this is going to occur, it is mainly in the first three years after implantation. It is not a health concern and implants are only removed if the shape has become distorted or the patient is experiencing pain.

There’s a chance. It’s very unusual to lose feeling in your entire breast, but about 5 percent of patients experience numbness in their nipples. This may occur if their nerves are cut or stretched during surgery.

The number of pregnancies an individual has had, as well as the decision to breast-feed may impact the results of breast augmentation mammoplasty. The timing of surgery as it relates to pregnancy and breast-feeding should be discussed with Dr Tavakoli. Many patients undergo the procedure before having children. Having breast implants will not affect your ability to become pregnant or deliver a baby, and many women with breast implants successfully breast-feed. However, surgery does come with the risk that the ability to breastfeed will be impacted.

Face Questions

A face lift is generally only a consideration for patients above the age of 45. At this age your skin is still elastic and malleable. Once a person reaches their mid-to-late 50’s, your skin may have lost much of the elasticity. It can be attempted, but it will be a much more involved process and may need to be combined with laser resurfacing, eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) and even an eyebrow lift (browplasty). Surgeons are wary of performing facial liposuction on patients past their mid-50’s as skin may sag once fat has been removed.

Surgical times may vary according to a number of factors. Primary rhinoplasty procedures tend to take between two and three hours to complete and revision rhinoplasty procedures typically take between three and four hours.

A rhinoplasty procedure requires incisions to be made in the skin which will result in minor scarring. In a “closed” rhinoplasty procedure, however, the incisions are confined to the inside of the nose, the result of which is no visible scarring. With an “open” rhinoplasty, a small incision is made on the columella, or the underside of the skin between the nostrils. This results in a small, fine-line scar that is well-concealed.

Body Questions

Liposuction is the process of removing fat cells from a specific area of the body. If you gain weight, fat cells in other parts of your body will expand. This means areas which are not normally susceptible to gaining fat, such as your wrists, may gain weight.

In most cases, yes. It depends on your genes and how elastic your skin is. If you have visible stretch marks from rapid weight gain, that’s a telling sign your skin has very little elasticity and isn’t likely to shrink back completely. The loose flesh will regain some of its old form, but not entirely.

Incisions made during liposuction are very small and carefully placed. Most scars visible after liposuction will heal well. After a short amount of time it will be difficult to see where they were originally made. However, they may never fully disappear.

An abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) does not affect your physical ability to conceive children. The pregnancy, however, may re-stretch the muscles and abdominal skin re-creating the laxity that was present before the procedure. Generally it is recommended to wait until you have finished having children before undergoing a abdominoplasty (tummy tuck). Every case is unique, and there may be situations where an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) is suitable for a person before planned conceptions, such as after a period of significant weight loss.