Full Body Lift

[ausmith 374]

I will be 20 months out in June and plan on getting full body lift. ( legs, bum, stomach, boobs and arms ) maybe neck not sure. I am only just starting my research now, has anyone had this much work done and if so what sort of time period. I don't like pain so I would love to have as much as possible done at the same time followed closely by anything that wasn't done the first time round because I'm scared if it hurts to much I won't get the rest done. Anyone had a similar experience?

[swimbikerun 1,041]

At some I will be getting the whole deal. If you don't like pain, don't get plastic surgery. They'll do what they can. However there is only so much you want at one time to recover.

[AvaFern 3,516]

I have had a breast lift/ augment, abdominoplasty, thigh lift, Lipo in a variety of areas, brachioplasty, and posterior body lift with auto augment of the butt. My first surgery was boobs, stomach and lipo on my hips, thighs, and back. I expected the pain to be excruciating and there was barely any. The most pain I experienced was during my last surgery which was the posterior part of the body lift, probably because unlike the other procedures you are laying on the part of your body that just had surgery done on it. Even then though, I was on Percocet for 3 days which is what I did for the prior two surgeries and I didn't even need Tylenol after that. I could have probably skipped the Percocet after the first day or two, but it helps you to recover better when you aren't tensing up every time you move because you think it's going to hurt. So, in terms of pain, plastic surgery isn't pleasant, but it's not actually painful as much as irritating. Sometimes you move a little bit in the wrong way and you get a bit of a stab of pain, or you go to reach for something and realize your stomach or back is too tight that you can't quite get where you wanted to go. The pain is easy, the first week where your mobility is limited is the annoying part. Also, the drains the first week are annoying, and for me I ended up with a seroma after the abdominoplasty and wound separation after the posterior body lift, so those two things just added to my annoyance. Not painful or scary, just irritating.

I had my procedures broken into three procedures because I had them done in the States with an awesome doctor who uses an outpatient policy for plastics. I was capped at 6 hours in surgery, so they did the boobs and tummy first, brachioplasty and groin incision thigh lift second, and then the posterior body lift, auto augment, and a re-do of my thighs in the third procedure. My doctor has a policy that you wait 3 months between procedures, so the first one I had done in August of 2014 and the last one I had done in March of 2015. Much as I would have preferred to have it all done at once, I live alone and while you can easily handle recovery for a few procedures, having all of this done at once would have not only put me at a greater risk for issues because I had to have some mobility, but recovery would have been hell. You can compensate for things when you have the surgeries broken up. For example, when I couldn't use my ab muscles, I relied heavily on my legs. When I couldn't use my arms very much I relied more on my abs (sitting up in bed as an example, you need either arms or abs). I'm sure you can get everything done at once, but my surgeon didn't allow it and I was ok with that.

[It's all new 453]

I had three separate surgeries: 1) brow lift/neck lift/lower eyelids 2) thigh lift/extended Tummy Tuck 3)breast lift and Lipo for remaining problem areas. The tummy tuck/thigh lift was by far the most painful and restrictive during recovery. The pain came from my stomach muscles having been stitched up to tighten them. The neck lift was uncomfortable for the same reason - they sew up the muscle to keep it tight. The breast lift wasn't bad at all!

My advice is to think about total surgery time - and don't go past your surgeon's recommendations of what you feel comfortable with. My surgeon put the limit at 12-14 hours. Consider grouping surgeries so that when you can't use your lower body/stomach, you can use your arms comfortably - and when you can't use your arms (breast or arm surgery) you are comfortable in your lower body.

Edited May 3, 2015 by It's all new

[swimbikerun 1,041]

@@AvaFern Thank you. Very descriptive and useful.

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

I experienced very little pain. Recovery was a bear because I was required to limit activity and I was tired alot.... but pain was not an issue at all. I spent 3 days in the clinic where i was IV medicated and needed very little after that- basically tylonol.

[jacileggs 402]

Appreciate everyone's input I am currently looking into plastics also and have a lot of questions.

[latido 178]

I just had abdominoplasty and Lipo on the back. At week 2, I am getting impatient with the back pain. I know how to relieve pain from poor posture, or pain from swelling. But here it seems like whenever I adjust to ease one pain, it makes the other pain worse. If I roll to a side to ease the pain off my back, my abdominal wall pulls and cramps.

I am desperate for advice on a sleeping position that will work for all the issues. I haven't slept in days, and spend the hours tossing and turning, and awaking with agony.

Help.

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

I didn't have liposuction but I hear that is very painful

[skinnyrita 188]

I've had neck to knees liposuction a few years back and the recovery was quite painful. I guess it depends on your pain tolerance and how quickly you heal. I wouldn't do that again, but the results were great. Just that the weight loss/ body sculpting didn't last because I returned to poor eating choices.

Be sure your surgeons reputation and history are squeaky clean before you go under the knife.