Dr. Nélida Grande clears up doubts about different aspects of plastic surgery that go beyond what is commonly reported in the media, but which are nevertheless useful to know about (just as it is done in medical consultations). Answers to questions that a person who is considering resorting to surgery to improve an area of his or her body -or who has already had it done- can provide essential information. Questions as different as what can I do if my nipple is turned inward, or when can I put make-up back on after a facelift, as well as questions that may be considered more private. Each one of them depends on the patient’s physical condition and, of course, on the specific intervention, but there are some basic rules that can serve as a guide when it comes to knowing practical details that would normally be asked directly to the surgeon.
In breast surgery, for example, patients usually have doubts about how their intimate life will be after leaving the operating room. Is it possible to take contraceptive pills after breast surgery? The answer is that the use of contraceptives (which involves the intake of hormones) is not contraindicated after breast surgery. Or there are also doubts such as: is it possible to have sexual relations? Normally, 15 days after the intervention it is possible to have sex, in comfortable positions and avoiding pressure and weight on the breasts. This is even more so in the case of labiaplasty -external vaginal surgery-. In this case sex can be resumed after four or five weeks postoperatively. Here more intimate doubts arise as the lack of orgasm can be solved with a labiaplasty? The answer is no, except in cases where this situation is due to the excessive amount of skin around the clitoris -which can be treated-, and not to other reasons that your doctor will have to rule out.
Returning to the female breast, an interesting question is, can the appearance of the breasts be significantly improved without introducing prostheses? According to Dr. Grande, “If the problem is that the breasts are sagging it is likely that an implant will be needed to complete an aesthetically acceptable lift operation, however some breasts are only somewhat sagging and maintain their volume, so implants are not usually necessary.” Also in these cases the technique of Lipostructure can be applied, that is, filling the breasts with fat extracted from the patient herself -previously purified- and thus allowing the surgeon to ‘sculpt’ the female breast without the need for prostheses. In this sense, why can our own body fat be better than synthetic implants? Because our fat tissue contains regenerative stem cells, which allows it to act as a graft and also helps to improve the quality of the skin. This technique does not produce allergies and, at the level of shapes and contours, allows to achieve harmonious and natural results. However, there are limitations, because this method does not provide as much volume as a prosthesis. At the same time, there are also patients who seek plastic and cosmetic surgery to correct small anomalies or deformities related to the shape of the nipple or the areola. If the latter is excessively large, it is possible to reduce it in a simple way in the hands of an experienced surgeon, by reducing its diameter. As for the nipple, there are -among other cases- the so-called hypertrophic nipples (which are longer than normal) or inverted nipples (oriented inwards). Both can also be modified with plastic surgery in a relatively simple way.
Solutions to particular cases, is one of them yours?
In addition to the aforementioned intimate areas of women, when it comes to correcting other areas of the body contour and face -also for men-, a multitude of questions arise due to the variety of areas that can be treated with surgery, the different possible methods and the particularities of the person. An interesting question that may arise is: if I have had a caesarean section and my abdomen has sagged, can I have liposuction? The answer to this case, according to Dr. Grande, would be a personalized assessment. “The surgeon has to study whether liposuction is feasible (which sometimes, due to the state of the muscles after cesarean section, is not the most recommended technique) or whether an abdominoplasty is better, which is mainly focused on removing excess skin and achieving a harder and firmer abdominal wall and a slimmer waist. In addition, it corrects the scar that remains as a result of the cesarean section”. Along the same lines, stretch marks are often left on the body after pregnancy. They also appear after sudden changes in weight, both in the female and male body. So far, the technique that has shown the most effective results is Carboxytherapy, which does not require surgery. It can be performed in an authorized medical-aesthetic center, since it is based on microinjections in the skin. The substance introduced is CO2, which increases collagen and elastic fibers and improves blood circulation: this last point causes the fibrous tissue of the stretch mark to be reabsorbed so that it can soon heal again under optimal conditions. This technology does not completely eliminate stretch marks, but it does help to reduce them considerably.
Regarding the facial area, there are seemingly banal but useful questions such as when will I be able to wear make-up again after a facelift? Patience plays an important role here for women who use cosmetics regularly, since it is necessary to wait for the small incisions to heal. Likewise, specific situations may arise in other areas of the face, such as: I had a rhinoplasty but the results were not satisfactory, can I have another operation? Dr. Grande maintains that “sometimes it is necessary to postpone the new surgery for at least a year after the previous intervention, although sometimes this time can be reduced”. Finally, another type of questions are those of psychological content, such as: I have had an operation on my face and now I look a little strange (or weird). Whether it is a facelift, a fat filler, a rhinoplasty or an eyelid correction, at first you may sometimes feel a little strange when you look in the mirror because your features have changed, and there is swelling. This ‘feeling’ of strangeness usually disappears after the first postoperative month.
Dr. Nélida Grande. Collegiate No. 25.161. Barcelona. www.doctoragrande.com