The “mom bod” can be loved and embraced, such as this beautiful photo shared by Hilary Duff.
After three quarters of a year of housing a little human, all mothers inevitably show some degree of battle scars for it. For the body, these changes are most commonly seen around the tummy, breasts and skin. Some women are perfectly happy with their new bodies, some are not but only need a drastic new hairstyle to feel like they have reclaimed control. But for those who want more and would like to look into treatments to make their body rehab a little easier, here are some tips on how you can do it.
TUMMY POOCH AND LOOSE SKIN
Many mothers notice that their tummies post-partum are less tight, no matter how much abdominal crunches they do. During pregnancy, the abdominal muscles are stretched to accommodate the growing baby, separating in some women (a condition known as diastasis recti). In some severe cases, women can still look pregnant long after their child’s first birthday. This is compounded by the simultaneous stretching of skin. Weight gain around the abdomen area during pregnancy is also difficult to burn off.
A tummy tuck will pretty much bring it all in, but if that’s a little more invasive that you are prepared for, or if the issue is mostly due to a fatty pooch, it can be reduced with non-invasive treatments such as fat cryolipolysis (Coolshape), and heat treatments to tighten skin such as Onda Body Magic.
BREASTS
One of the lesser-known horrors to new moms but by no means insignificant on the list of postpartum body changes, the breasts may have performed a disappearing act. The postpartum boob deflation frequently changes beyond the reduced cup size though. Breasts may also droop, and areolas and nipples change in appearance. In this case, doctors recommend a simple breast augmention to restore the appearance, sometimes a breast lift or nipple-plasty if needed.
C-SECTION SCARS
A long scar lower in the abdomen, between the pelvic bones, c-section scars vary in appearance, with some appearing barely there, and others appearing jagged, red or hypertrophic. Obvious scars can linger for many years so some mothers may want to look into scar reduction treatments which range from keloid or hypertrophic scar injections or anti-pigment lasers.
STRETCH MARKS
Rapid weight gain during pregnancy and subsequent weight loss post-partum results in stretch marks, most often on the stomach, hips and sometimes, breasts. We hate to disappoint but the consensus among experts about creams is that they don’t work. Red and angry-looking stretch marks can be treated with a pulsed dye laser such as Vbeam Perfecta with good results, and fractional non-ablative lasers such as Fraxel remodel skin and improves the appearance.
And the sooner stretch marks are addressed (while they are still red or pink), the better the outcomes.