Mommy Make-over is such a cute term: thoughts by Sutton Graham, MD

I don't know came up with the term, but it is certainly cleaver, "mommy-make-over." For over 15 years, we have been addressing women's concerns about their post-pregnancy changes (post-partum) with a variety of solutions for the breast and body, plus measures for the facial pigmentation, etc.

We have solutions for the breast sagging, loss of breast firmness, decrease or unwanted increase in breast size, stretch marks, loose tummy skin, loose tummy muscles, indented c-section scars, new fat accumulations about the hips, thighs, abdomen and buttocks.

Mommy make-over isn't a particular operation, but rather a combination of procedures to address each woman's concerns. They are done as an out-patient and you recover at home with you family and friends. Special anesthesia techniques are used to minimize discomfort and speed recovery.

Dr. Graham address the tummy by non-surgical skin tightening, stretch mark removal, liposuction, short-scar abdominoplasty, standard tummy tuck, and often adds liposuction of the love handles. These can reshape the torso, define the waist, flatten the stomach, firm abdominal tone, and smooth the skin. http://www.expertplasticsurgeon.com/html/tummy-tuck.html

He addresses the breast by implant augmentation, breast lift alone, breast lift with implants (augmentation mastopexy). If pregnancies have left you with uncomfortably larger breasts, then we offer breast reduction (standard of shot-scar techniques). http://www.expertplasticsurgeon.com/html/augmentation.html

Patients love our independent, private office and nationally accredited office surgical facility located on Halton Road in Greenville, SC. They come to us from throughout Upstate South Carolina, Western North Carolina and Georgia. Take a photo tour of our office by this link: http://www.expertplasticsurgeon.com/html/about.html#office-tour

We welcome you and look forward to hearing from you.

"Water Bottle Lips" Instead of "Smokers Lines"

Friends tell me that the national news ran an amusing item. It seems someone has decided that sucking from the spout of sports water bottles on a regular basis may cause wrinkles in the skin around the lips. Hydration is good for the skin, so don't stop drinking plenty of water.

Smoking was a problem in two ways. It seemed to accelerate skin aging chemically and smokers pursed their lips while sucking in the smoke.

If excessive lines develop, we offer a variety of solutions:

• Obagi skin care
• Fillers such as Restylane or Juvaderm
• Skin Tightening, minimally invasive
• Laser Peels

Pick Your Recovery Time

One way to choose among the various options for facial rejuvenation procedures is tell your surgeon how long you have to recover. This will let him or her tailor your procedures to your desired "down-time." If you have no down-time: choose from Botox, Restylane of other fillers, Intense Pulsed Light photofacials, or non-ablative skin tightening. If you have one weekend: you may select the above and /or MicroLaser Peels or Periorbital resurfcing. When you have 1 week available: enhance you appearance with a endoscopic browlift or submental liposuction (under the chin). A 2 week recovery gives you plenty of options: you could have either eyelid blepharoplasty, short-scar facelift, or a combination of the above procedures. A three week recovery is best for: facelift, necklift, and combinations of procedures on several parts of the face. At our office we'll discuss these issues and the features you would like to improve, and make individual personal recommendations. Call if you're interested.