Thanks to social media, plastic surgery has become a well-known and widely accepted way of improving our physical appearance. The technology and skill for every procedure have significantly advanced over the past several years, and new trends appear all the time. One of the latest of these trends, more common than people realize, is combination plastic surgery, where patients opt for having multiple procedures done simultaneously.

One popular example is the “mommy makeover,” which combines two or more procedures for an overall improved look with both aesthetic and functional benefits.

Given the trend, it’s clearly possible to have multiple surgeries in a single doctor’s visit. But you may be wondering: is it really safe, and which combinations are typically performed? Choosing the best combination is a careful process and just as important as selecting the best plastic surgeon. In Baltimore, MD, the award-winning plastic surgeons at The Maryland Institute of Plastic Surgery will carefully review your goals and overall health and develop the perfect plan for you.

How Are Surgeries Combined?

When looking at your body, there’ll be times that you realize there is something about it you’d like to improve. And more often than not, you’ll be looking at a whole area of your body, not just one specific feature. For example, when looking at your face, you might feel disheartened that you appear older because your skin is looser with more wrinkles around your eyes and mouth. Or, when looking in the mirror, you might find yourself wishing you could lose the pooch around your tummy and, at the same time, slim down your thighs.

Combination plastic surgery allows you to improve an area of your body at once instead of addressing one part at a time. You could get a facelift and eyelid surgery or a breast reduction with a tummy tuck in one session. Your surgeon can perform multiple procedures in the same session so that you can be happy with how the whole area looks after a single visit.

What Are the Benefits of Having Combination Surgery?

For the best overall results, most patients need to have multiple procedures. Typically, this means spending more time in surgery, more time in recovery, and more time between surgeries. After all, your body needs time to completely heal before another procedure can be done. And this means you’re spending a lot of time waiting to see your desired results.

By combining your procedures, apart from saving time, you’ll also be saving money. Each individual procedure has its own cost, since every time you schedule one of these, you also incur fees for the anesthesia and the operating facilities. Over time, these fees can add up. With combination surgery, on the other hand, you save money by paying these fees once only instead of several times, and you save a significant amount of time in surgery and recovery.

What Are the Downsides of Having Combination Surgery?

Yes, there are downsides to having combination plastic surgery. Depending on the procedures you’re having done, you could increase the amount of time spent under anesthesia and deal with more recovery issues. The more time you spend under anesthesia, the larger your risks become. Also, because your body has to recover from a more significant amount of surgery, the recovery period required could cause you more pain and discomfort, and it could take you a lot longer to heal.

While these downsides may seem a bit worrisome, rest assured that your surgeon is prepared for these circumstances and will create a detailed recovery plan to help you deal with any problems you encounter during the recovery period.

What Procedures Are Commonly Combined?

While safety is always the primary concern, many cosmetic surgeons are confident to combine at least two surgeries as long as the patient is in good health. The most common plastic surgery procedures that are combined include:

• Breast Augmentation and Breast Lift
• Liposuction and Tummy Tuck
• Nose Reshaping (rhinoplasty)

Another popular option offered at The Maryland Institute of Plastic Surgery is the highly customizable mommy makeover, a combination of  liposuction, breast surgery, and tummy tuck procedures designed to rejuvenate a woman’s body after she is finished having children.

Procedures must sometimes be combined. For example, when a woman chooses to have breast augmentation using fat transfer, she must first undergo liposuction to harvest donor fat and then have the breast surgery.

Other Popular Combinations

• Facelift/Eyelid Lift
• Forehead Lift/Facelift
• Eyelid Lift/Dermal Fillers (BOTOX^®, Juvéderm^®, etc.)
• Facelift/Neck Lift
• Breast Reduction/Breast Lift
• Tummy Tuck/Liposuction

These combination surgeries are among the most common. However, the combinations are practically unlimited as long as the patient is a good candidate and can realistically benefit from the procedures.

When Are Surgeries Not Combined?

If you have an existing health condition such as high blood pressure, and your surgeon believes multiple surgeries could be unsafe, then you’ll have to be content with having one procedure at a time.

Ready to Take the Next Step

The best way to establish which combination surgeries you need is by scheduling a patient consultation with one of our board-certified plastic surgeons at The Maryland Institute of Plastic Surgery. During your consultation, your surgeon will assess the area you want to improve, collect some basic health information about you, discuss your desired results, and then develop a comprehensive surgical plan unique to you and your body.

Schedule a patient consultation at our Baltimore, MD office by calling us at 410-744-0900 or contacting us online today.