Hey, guys. My name is Mavi, and I've spent the last 14 years in the plastic surgery and beauty industry working alongside top board certified plastic surgeons. Now I'm an independent patient coordinator who doesn't work for any surgeon. This means I have unbiased reviews for hundreds of doctors and I can help you achieve the look of your dreams, whether that's a supernatural or a video vixen. I use my professional and personal plastic surgery experience to help you look and feel your best.
Join in on the fun as I talk to plastic surgery experts, friends, and real life patients about all things plastic surgery. Should be fun. Hey, guys, do I have the episode for you this week? I told you all season three was going to be a banger, and I'm not playing. I brought some of the best of the best on the show this season and I am so excited. So today's guest I have Dr. Rick Mini Redmond. She is the confidence, doc she's a Houston plastic surgeon and she is part of the largest private
practice here in Houston. She specializes in body contouring following massive weight loss, mommy makeovers transgender top surgery and microsurgical breast reconstruction, but performs all types of facial, breast, and body surgery. But today we're talking about body contouring after massive weight loss. So this is a really, really popular topic because I guess we all kind of went up during the pandemic. I'm hearing a little bit more. But Dr. Redmond, I'm so happy to have you on
the show. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for having me. Maybe this is going to be awesome. So, uh, Dr. Redmond is going to walk us through a simulation consultation where we're going to go over what are the most common procedures after massive weight loss, what are some of the complications we see. And then we're going to go into last week before we sign off, we're going to talk a little bit
about body dysmorphia. So I'm really excited about this episode, you guys, because it's going to be a good one. So, Dr. Redman, after weight loss, what are the most common procedures that you do? So after weight loss, I, uh, generally see people for many things, but usually body contouring is the most common procedure. I have a lot of people who will come in and they'll say, okay, head to toe, tell me everything I need to be doing, and I try to focus more on what's bothering you the
most. For some people, that literally could be their neck. They look at everything else. They feel like they can hide it's just their neck. But the most common is that everyone wants to fix their belly. They just don't feel happy with how their abdomen looks. They're tummy. Right. And I know for your abdomen there's multiple procedures, but for massive weight loss, there's kind of two ways to go. You either do like the full abdominal plastic, or you also do something
called the Florida lead. Can you tell our listeners a little bit about the differences and how you choose which one for what patients? Sure. So when you're looking at the two, most people are fine with the traditional tummy tuck, so that's a low star sits hip to hip. I believe a tummy tuck always includes lifting up your pubic area. So people feel differently on that and consider it a separate surgery. But it's a low star hides well. You're doing liposuction to your
whole into your abdomen in your flank area. And that's treating all that extra skin largely below your belly button and then pulling everything down to give you a nice, smooth contour. But for some people, that laxity isn't just in the vertical direction, it's also in the horizontal direction. So it means when you're kind of pushing and pulling, you're not just pulling down, but you're
actually pulling in towards your belly button. So for ladies and gentlemen that have that extra laxity in that horizontal direction, we do the flirtilee. And it looks like a flirty lee by design, it's basically instead of just a low horizontal insertion, you also have a vertical line that would go directly through your belly button so that it's just providing a much tighter
pull. It's not something that you're going to do straight off the bat, but if you have all that extra laxity in that horizontal direction, for some people, that might be the only way to really get that really tighter, flatter abdomen. And so it's a trade off. You're trading that vertical scar, but for most people, it heals pretty well. It's just all about the shape you're trying to achieve. Right. And for breast procedures after weight loss, what are the most common procedures for breast?
For breast, most common is doing a breast lift or reduction. In some cases, to me, a lift and a reduction or the same surgery. It's just how much you're removing. So in a lift, you're removing a very small amount in a reduction, in moving a bigger amount. But both of them are lifting your breast, bringing your nipples up and, um, giving you more volume or weight loss. Patients in particular, it's rarely just that. Usually we're
going to do some sort of augmentation. So that's either an augmentation using implants or an augmentation using their own fat for transfer. That is such a juicy topic to touch on the fat grafting to breast. We've touched on it a few times on the show, but I always love to hear different doctors perspectives on fat grafting to the breast. How are you liking it? I, um, was going to tell you it's a 50 50. Sometimes I think in the right person it works
great. And when I say the right person is backgrounding, has to have very realistic expectations. If I put a 350 CC implant in, you and I both know that's going to be there. Ten years from now, that's going to be there. But if I put the same volume of fat, it's so variable on somebody, one person, 50% of it could survive. On
another person, 70% of it could survive. At this time, we really don't have any specific way that's backed by science to know exactly who that person is going to be that's going to retain more fat or not. There are some things that different surgeons do that we theorize does allow better fat retention. I personally don't use i, uh, use a closed system. I never let the fat become unfair at any point. And then I put everything directly back as quickly as I can. So I don't like it to
stay outside of the body very long. But we're backgrounding for realistic expectations is important is you're not going to get three, four cup sizes with backgrounding. I think at the max, I've seen one person get a full cup size, like, uh, maybe one and a half. But the average person might get about a half a cup size long term. So backgrounding to me is more of an adjunct. I really like to do implants with background in my
weight loss patients. That way it's almost like the Icing to get you a smoother look and using it, like I said, a painting tool than to use it for volume. Beautiful. I love that. I've been seeing that a lot online with other doctors and with you. I've seen it on your before and after pictures of this. This is structural fact. They were calling it like the blend or something like that, where they're using fat grafting to blend in the cleavage or to create more cleavage
on patients. Yeah. Now that we're talking about fat grafting here in my notes, you guys, I wanted to talk about this. So fat grafting for Bbls after massive weight loss and fat grafting after BBL's is a whole different ballpark. So, Dr. Random, why don't you go over, like, what to expect with fat grafting after massive weight loss, what complications or hiccups can come up? So it's a very challenging surgery, even more so than a standard BBL is almost everybody this is
men and women included. After having massive weight loss, for whatever reason, the bottom is one of the first place to go. So a lot of my weight loss patients have absolutely no bottom left other than the muscle. It's just skin hanging there and very little subcutaneous fat. So a BBL in that type of patient is literally just, can we get you something that looks like you have a bottom that looks like you have a normal body?
What becomes really hard is a lot of people come in and they show pictures of, uh, women who've had BBL that haven't experienced the weight loss factor. And it's just very difficult and I would say almost impossible to achieve because we're starting at negative. We're not even starting with something that is a normal baseline. So any ladies and gentlemen that I've done transfer their bottoms after massive weight loss, our whole goal, and we talk about this at length, is, can we just
get you something to start with? It may take multiple sessions, like three or four, to try to actually get something that looks more augmented. But the big challenge is, where is that fat going to come from? Because if you are a massive weight loss patient and you're ideally set up for surgery, you're going to have some fat, but you're not going to have anywhere near the amount of fat. Sometimes that we need to do that many sessions. So a lot of it is talking it through and being
like, okay, what can we realistically achieve? And I think realistically, for most of my massive weight loss patients, what we hope to achieve is something that gives you some padding there because it can be very uncomfortable sitting on your bone and something that hopefully provides you a little bit more balanced look for your bottom. But not necessarily being able to achieve that overly augmented look, it just may not be possible.
And what are some, um, other procedures that you can do in combination with fat grafting to the booty for that. Area, so you can actually do a body lift at the same time? So I always tell people a body lift is a simplest it's a tummy tuck that goes all the way around in the front. The purpose of a body lift is what a traditional tummy tuck is doing on the sides and the back. However, it's really to lift
up. So to deal with some of the sagging skin, if you're actually lifting that skin up, you can help improve the parents. I always see the fat grafting first in order of that surgery, and then I lift up to see what's left over afterwards. So that can help with some people if they just really need to get rid of a lot of the loose skin. And then you can fill up at the same time.
Beautiful. I think sometimes we just have to whenever you're talking to your doctor, girls, whenever you're talking to your doctor, always let them just kind of, what are my options? Don't go in there. Like, I want a BBL. And that's it. Uh, tell you your surgeon, this is what I'm trying to get to, and what can you do to help me get there? Because I feel sometimes we walk in and we're
like, this is what I want. And then if somebody suggests, like, a body lift or like, a circumferential body lift is how I've heard my girls tell me, they're like, no, I want a tummy tuck and a BBO. And what I want you guys to hear is different opinions. It's an art. They're plastic surgeons. Dr. Redmond. You are artists. We're painting a painting, and you have to give your artist kind of a little bit of freedom to
paint their painting. If you're going to them, it's because you trust them enough that you know they're going to do right for what you're looking for. And I think this is really, really good. I'm so happy I told you all. Okay, so what are some complications that can arise from a typical weight loss surgery, like a tummy tuck, Florida, or a circumferential body lift? So it's very common to have small areas of
breakdown the more tissue you're moving. So I'm talking about someone who I'm taking 15, £20 off lots and lots of skin. There's more likelihood because there's so much incision length, there's a lot of surgery happening. There's a, uh, very high likelihood, and I'm going to say, like, 85% plus of getting small areas of breakdown. I'm not talking about huge wounds, but it can be really demoralizing for a patient if that happens. They blame themselves. They're worried that things are
going wrong. I talk about this up front. It's my consultation with any of my weight loss patients because we know it's going to happen. The most important thing is that your doctor and their team is going to be there for you. It's not like, wait, you have this, you're done. Good luck with it. No, I'll get you through it. I'll get you through that healing. But if you know it and you expect it to happen before if it doesn't, that's fabulous. But if it does, you know, it's not something terrible
that's happened. It's just part of going through this healing. When you fall into this specific category of patient, it's not uncommon, too, to have areas where the scar doesn't look as good, because sometimes patients will lose even more weight after surgery because your metabolism kicks up by having surgery, and everybody tends to need more calories, but we often don't give ourselves
more calories. And so losing more weight, especially at damning massive weight loss, can leave you with some laxity in some areas, and that's fixable things that you go back and you can definitely fix. But these are all pretty common things that can occur that can really just scare people if they're not aware of it beforehand. Absolutely. I want to also mention that one of the other reasons why you, uh, are having trouble
eating after surgery is that muscle repair. I know whenever I had my abdominal plastic, the muscle repair gave me reflux for a little while until I got used to it. While I was in my faja, it gave me reflux for a little bit. And I can only imagine for our massive weight loss patients, the ones that have had bariatric surgery, they already struggle to get food down sometimes. And then the added muscle repair, I think that's what makes it even more difficult. But on that note, you guys, I
want to tell you something. Protein bars are not food. Protein bars are not food. Period. Exclamation point. Exclamation point. Exclamation point. You need to get some food in your system. Dr. Edmund, have you had any experiences with what I'm talking about? Yes. So I, um, might also add to your point that protein bars are high in sugar and carbs. I mean, it's really not providing you with anything that
you would need even before surgery. For most people, you have to remember that surgery is one part of the equation and that your fitness and your diet is the most important thing for you to get the best results long term. So many people are scared about gaining weight after surgery. And it's not about being on anything that is super restrictive. It's just about nourishing your body
while it's healing. So I tell people that if you really want protein, there are a lot of low carb protein shakes that work really well, that are much healthier for you. But small meals throughout the day are fine. You don't have to do big meals. Just like you said, sometimes things are very tight. It takes time for your body to readjust. But if you're not feeding your body proper
nutrition, you're not going to heal right. You expose yourself to having wound healing, you expose yourself to infection, and you're not setting yourself up for long term success. So it's really important to focus on your nutrition. You guys know on the show I'm always talking about making changes before surgery and how you set yourself up for success in the long run when you start making those lifestyle changes
before you even get on the table. That way, when it's after surgery, it's a piece of cake because you're used to it already. You've already made the changes and you're just continuing with what you already have done. Another thing is my girls. And tell me what you think about this. Doctor Redmond. I've noticed that my girls who work out recover faster.
Absolutely. So a, uh, physically fit body is going to do much better because your body has already learned how to deal with kind of having a little stress and having a little extra pain. So I see that 1000% if I had someone who's very physically fit and active, they're going to really do well in the long run and they're going to have less pain. They're going to recover quicker. I'm a big fan of active recovery, which means the day of surgery is your only day off. The next day you're up and
you're walking. It seems like cruel to push somebody like that, but you feel so much better and you recover so much quicker. And to go hand in hand with that. Having a healthy body is the same as having your mind in the right place before surgery. If you go into this thinking it's going to be a challenge, it's going to be worth it, but I'm going to push myself in the right way. You're going to do so much better. But like you said, all of that starts before you even come in for your
consultation. You got to be in the right place to have the best results and to do well with your recovery. Absolutely. And Dr. Edwin, I also want to get your input. So on the show, I get lots of different types of plastic surgeons, and what I love is how everybody does their own thing differently. What is your recommendation as far as garments and massages? So I really want to hear what you have to think about how long they should wear
compression. Do they need massages, when do they need massages, all of that jazz. Great. So you're right. There is so much variability amongst all of us with that. I think that compression is a benefit up to six months. I have had people who wear it longer than that, and then I have people that hit six weeks and they're like, I'm going to burn this thing. I'm done. But I think that really up until that time, your body is still actively healing and you still have
benefit from the compression aspect. Swelling overtime turns into starring and fibrosis. So I'm also a big fan of Lymphatic massage when it's done by someone who understands what they're doing, because I know there are some people out there that say that believe that they are doing the right thing. But I do think there is an actual
training for that that's important. But I think that the more that you're getting your swelling down, the less scarring you're going to get, less fibrosis you're going to get, which also means less pain and discomfort. And the less swelling you have, the better your skin is going to contract in and you're going to have better tightening. So I think that since surgery, like we said, is just one part of it, I think that compression up to six months is very valuable. And
granted, you're also reducing. You're not necessarily wearing the same level of compression at six months that you were at six weeks. So I think that one thing that I try to prepare my patients for is that we're going to be going through a lot of different garments, that it's not unusual. And some people get very surprised by that. They're like, oh, my gosh, I have to have this many. But it's like surgery is not overnight. It takes time to get those really amazing results.
And same with the Lymphatic massages. They really work well if you stick with them. I try to have patients do at least three to four in the first couple of weeks, and then afterwards I like them to be able to go get them regularly, though I know some people choose not to, but I think that that's the only way to get those really extra perfect looking results is to really get that swelling gone. Beautiful. I think it's definitely something that we all should be doing after surgery, even in
procedures. I've had massage therapists on the show who they're like, even after face lifts, even after any type of facial procedure, there is special types of massages that they do that help reduce the swelling. If you know the answer to this, please let us know. But if not, I'll, uh, find the answer for us. When you're talking about who should be doing the massages, who do you think should be doing the massages?
So I provide a list to any of my patients, and, um, some of that list is complied by people who other patients have recommended. But there's actual training that you can specifically in lymphatic massage, and so, off the top of my head, I would have to look it up, but there is actually, like, a certified course that you can take through multiple places. Uh. They'Re definitely amazing lymphatic massage therapists who don't necessarily have that training, but they've had a lot of on the job type
of training with this. But it's just understanding what the purpose of what that massage is doing. And that's where I've had some issues, where some places, it's like they hire someone to do it, but they have no real understanding of what they're doing. Yeah, I think that might happen across the board across the country. Another thing that we can touch on right here is the use of machinery after their procedures. And what machines should they be letting them use on? Because they do, like, radio
frequency, they do ultrasound. When can they how soon can they or, uh, should they let them do any machines on them? My personal preference is to wait about six weeks, and that's based upon, like, at six weeks, where, far wise, we're at 80% of our healing. And so at that point, I feel like now if you're pushing somebody with a little bit with ultrasound, radio
frequency, there's less chance of injury. My biggest concern with using any of those two modalities too early, vibration I think I'm okay with, but using those two modalities too early is that you could potentially cause someone to have a burn and not know it because you stress their body too early, and because there's so much variability in those particular devices. It depends on what
the company is and what the safety level is. I just advise no one to get any of those modalities until they've at least hit six weeks. I agree. I agree. You guys, I get messages in my DMs on instagram from plastic surgeons that are like, can you you please tell your girls to stop getting, um, treatments with machinery? Please? Can you put it out there that they need to stop doing this? Don't let people touch you with a machine when you just had surgery. Please put it
out there. So I wanted to start touching on it. What is the opinion? What is everybody like, what's the core is saying of plastic surgeons, should they let them use it? Should they not? So I'm really happy that we got to get an answer on that. Yeah, it's interesting, actually. I'm very open about it. I had a tummy tuck last year, lipo. And, uh, when I went for my massages, my massage therapist tried to use out of me, and I was like,
no, that's not a good idea. And when I was explaining it to her, she just like she's like, I had no idea. And that scared me. I'm like, you have no idea, but you were about to use it on somebody who just had surgery. Exactly. So there needs to be more education in that forum. For sure. Exactly. And actually, a, um, previous episode, one of my girls, she had her surgery. She was healing
great with regular just manual massages. And then they started using the machinery, and she started to have wound delay, and her incision opened up a little bit, and then she started to have problems. And when she stopped it, she, uh, started to heal back to normal. So we know something's happening, that it's making issues instead of making it better. So tell us about your tummy tuck experience. I'm so excited. M it's literally been a year. I had mine, like,
December 30 of last year. Um, it was very nerve wracking for me to allow somebody to do what I did, but it was great. And I went to a friend, and it was awesome. Honestly, I knew exactly what to expect. So, uh, I was back at work in ten days, so when I talked to patients down, like, listen, I understand. I literally had this, and I was surprised. I was like, it definitely hurt. But I felt like it was when I had my meds, I was able to do all the things that I require people to do
afterwards. And I felt like because of those massages, largely, I felt like that's why I was able to go back so quickly. Wow. That's amazing. Yeah, it was awesome. I can honestly tell you one of the best things I've ever done. I'm very happy that I did. I think it's only made me better at what I do.
Oh, my God. That's so amazing? Because as a plastic surgeon, you get to give people, women and men, the feeling that you got now that you got your own surgery, this feeling of, like, excitement and you found confidence, do you feel like even having been in the industry and having been a plastic surgeon, you yourself feel like a boost of confidence after your surgery?
Oh, my gosh. Absolutely. I feel like me, but I just feel like the really best version of me, and I really do love it, because I can literally talk to someone who's three weeks in and be like, I get it. I was there. I understand, and I really do. So I feel like it's helped me connect on a whole new level with my patients because I get what they've been through, because I've been through it now. And now, uh, you understand. You're like, I was there. This is what I did. This is what helped me.
Exactly. And it's been well worthwhile to me, and so it's only made me feel stronger about what I do, that you can be confident person and still want to change something, to feel even better. It's beautiful. And I really want to hear I'm sure you've been asked this a million times, but why did you choose to become a plastic surgeon? Yeah, um, I have a lot of doctors in my family, and I was always drawn towards medicine. I loved it.
And as I kind of went through and I would shadow people and things, I thought for sure I was going to be a general surgeon. I guess it's just what I was exposed to. And when we're in our third year medical school, you get exposed to specialties. And I got picked to do two weeks of plastic surgery, and I was just like, oh, my God, change of plans. I'm not going to be a general surgeon. I just loved it. I could not get enough of it. And I remember going to meet with the chairman, and I
was like, um, I need to do this. This is what I have to do. He's like, okay, well, let's get started. Let's figure it out, because that's actually pretty late to the game. Most people who want to be plastic surgeons actually know going into medical school, that they have a really strong interest in that. So I know I worked really hard, and, um, I got my spot, and I've just loved it ever since. My family is very artistic. Every one of us is involved in the arts. And so to me,
this was just like, such a natural fit. I had all the stuff I loved about medicine, but then I got to do all the creative things, too. Every surgery, uh, like you said, it's a piece of art. And I get to help design, and at the same time, I'm a very social person, so it fulfills the need for me to be able to make connections and chat and talk. And I've had patients I've had for years now, sometimes I'll just come in for social visits, and I love that. I love that. I love hearing how
people are doing. And I share a lot of myself with my patients. I've had some people see my kids grow up. It's just really awesome. It's a job that makes me really happy. How beautiful. And let me tell you guys, okay, so I live in Houston. Dr. Redmond is in Houston. And so I'm driving down the major highway here in the city, and I look up and there she is. She's on a billboard. So how did you feel? How was it driving. Down the freeway and seeing your face on a billboard, it was pretty cool.
You want to call your mom? Mom. I love my practice, and I love my group. And, um, so it was just really cool to be able to see everybody on a different spotlight. And the picture that you have on your billboard, the girls that are with you, that's your team, right? That is my team. I am very team centered, um, because I think a lot of ladies would know this from different places they've had surgery. Is that
it's not just your doctor, right. It's all the people there that are helping to take care of you. And, um, I believe in that strongly. And so my physician assistants, my nurses, my MAS, they're just as important as me because they help provide the whole patient care. And those ladies care just as much as I do. Um, so I'm very lucky to have them to work with, and I think they do a beautiful job, take care of our patients.
Beautiful. I love hearing that. I love hearing about the team, because you all know I was a patient coordinator, and being part of the team with the surgeon, you feel like this is a team effort. We're all in this together, girl. Uh, it's so true. It is so true. Everybody feels happy. When I love my coordinators come in afterwards, and they come to say hi to someone, like, six weeks afterwards, and they're so happy. It makes them feel happy, too.
Yeah, it's so exciting. What you just, uh, said is one of my favorite things and part of why, after I left being a coordinator and I tried something else, and it sucked, and I was like, this is not for me. And when I was trying to figure out what do I want to do? And, uh, what do I miss from what
I was doing, it wasn't being in the office. It was the connections that I was able to make with my patients, with the girls who would come through the office and go through surgery, and then I would see them in a year, and their life is completely different, and they're so happy. And it's just this fulfillment, uh, that I was missing, that I get through this show, through all of this, uh, this whole project is my happiness because I get to bring you guys real good
information. Not stuff you find on Facebook or on the board or whatever, but real information that can help you make the best decision for yourself in your surgery journey. So you're learning from different plastic surgeons. You're learning from patients. Dr. Redmond is a patient and a surgeon. So you get to hear so much, what you can experience, what you can expect. And I'm really happy I'm, um, up here. I get to do this with you
guys. The last thing I want to talk about before we sign off is one of those things that I got to give you all some tough love. Sometimes it can all be nice. So this next topic, I have to bring it up because sometimes that wish list, that surgery wish list can get ten items long, and I want us to be okay with having a surgery wish list that's ten items long, and we only get to do one. Um, that's okay. So the next topic we're going to talk about
is body dysmorphia. Dr. Redmond, I would love to hear what you have to think. So body dysmorphia, unfortunately, is higher in those of us who seek plastic surgery than in the general population, which kind of makes sense, right? But unfortunately, a lot of body dysmorphia has so little to do with our bodies and has to do
with how our brains think about our bodies. And I do, I see women, I see men who come in, and I can tell, um, there's something that's not quite right with the way that they're looking at themselves. There is a healthy way to approach, I want to improve how I look. And then there's a way that's really damaging to ourselves. Surgery will not fix any of those negative thoughts that come along with body dysmorphia. And sometimes it can make it
even worse. While I had the surgery, and I still feel like I'm, um, terrible looking or I'm too fat, the one thing I can say is don't take it wrong, because I have said this to patients. If I suggest that you need to seek out some mental health care, right? We take care of our bodies. We got to take care of our minds. It doesn't mean
that it's not something that's insurmountable. But you have to have your brain and your mind in a healthy place before you have surgery because you just won't find that happiness from surgery. Surgery doesn't bring the happiness. And, like, maybe saying if you have that one surgery, you're like, well, if I hit all ten, I'll be happy. It's not going to bring the happiness unless you have that happiness already starting in there. So it's a difficult topic and it's a sensitive topic, but
body dysmorphia does exist. And if someone is pointing out to you that maybe your thoughts are not healthy, it's from a place of care. It's from a place of care because nobody wants you to go too much the other way, right? We can look at ourselves in the mirror. And this is why I tell you guys, uh, for the first, like, eight weeks after surgery, step away from the mirror. You don't need to be making sure nothing everything's going to settle in. You're doing everything right.
Stay in your faja, huh? It's not a time to nitpick or decide that you don't like your result too early in the game, which sometimes is what's happening, at least in my case, with some of my girls. They're just deciding that it looks terrible. And it's only been like, three weeks. Yeah, it's hard. You have to trust, right. You're putting a ton of trust in somebody to take care of you, and you have to believe in that. Otherwise you're just torturing yourself.
Absolutely. And actually, Dr. Redmond, this would be a good opportunity to talk about post off depression. Is that something you see often in your practice? Yes, I actually discuss that with patients as well. It can happen. Uh, usually those first three to six weeks is when you see it most often. You went through all of this. You're not comfortable. You feel gross if you haven't had a shower. A lot of ladies will feel like everyone around them is angry at them because they're asking for help.
It's a very real thing. It will pass. It will pass. But you have to prepare yourself that having the blues afterwards is pretty common because there's a lot of, oh, my gosh, what did I do? This is crazy, I made a mistake. But just the one thing that I found has helped a lot of people is knowing that that's not abnormal. I think it's the fear that, oh, my gosh, I'm the only one that's ever felt this way. And it's not a lot of people experienced that because, uh, it's stress on your
body and it's a really big step. And you just have to be patient with yourself and know that it's part of the process. Absolutely. So, Dr. Redmond, how long did you take before you looked in the mirror? Oh, gosh, I guess for me, I looked immediately. But I also really like and that's why I really love your podcast, is that I feel like I have this insider thing. I've seen so many people recovery. I looked at myself and I'm like, wow, I'm really swollen. But I felt happy because I could see I
could see myself months in advance. And not everyone gets that chance. So the more that we're doing things like this and sharing and it's not just something written on a website, the better, because I think the more that we share, the more we realize that we all thinking the same thing and that we're all going through the same kind of
recovery. So my suggestion usually to patients is not to look at the mirror until we get closer to that six weeks time point, especially if there's somebody who's super anxious, because I think that all it's going to do is just make you feel down because there is so much swelling and well, I can look at it and be like, oh, totally normal, flowing. I understand that the average person has no comparison to know that that's normal flowing, right. To us, we're like, oh, actually, you're not that
bad. Um, you're swelling is not that bad. But to them, because they've never seen it on anybody else, they're like, oh, my God, this is a lot of swelling on me. You're so right. And I feel like the more we share, the easier it will get. And I feel the more we talk about how it's not, hey, I want to have surgery. And then you decide, in three months, I'm going to have surgery, and that's it. And I'm going to have surgery and go
back to my life, to my normal life. And you do go back to your normal life, but you come back as a different person. You come back to your normal life as a different person. And that's why it's so important you guys to start working on your mental health prior to surgery. One of the things that I feel we experience a lot as right here for my girls, is anxiety, right when it comes getting
closer to surgery during that whole process. And what I've learned through my membership with talking to my girls is the more that we talk, the better they feel. Like, the more that I'm like, you're going to be fine. You're going to feel anxious for the next two to three days before your surgery, like, the night before. It's going to be the worst. But they kind of get through it, and they're like, hey, you know what? It actually was not that bad, because I had a team who was helping
me through it. I had a girl just recently. She was like, I had a little bit of a wound delay, but we had a team. It was me, her massage therapist, and her surgeon. And between the three of us, she felt she was like, I felt great. She's like, I don't know what these girls are talking about having a hard time. She's like, I felt great. Everything was great. And it just, um, confirms in my mind even more that the more we talk about it, the better women's journey and recovery will be.
Because they won't be afraid. They'll already kind of know what to expect, and they won't feel so alone. Because I can tell you the first time I took off by Saha after my surgery, I had a lot of bruising all over my flanks, all over my back, my hips, my butt super bruised. And I thought to myself, I better not look again. You also touch on a really good point. It's like, don't do this alone. I know we all have different
situations, but it is so hard. And really, that post depression is very apparent on people who have no support. Sometimes that means that you have to pay to have somebody come and help you extra. It is so worth it because doing this alone is so difficult. And you it's just like you said, you feel so alone. So find some support network, whether that's friends or family or having, like,
you know, staying in a care house. It's just so much better, uh, for your health to recover that way than to try to do this all by yourself. And I feel like you'll probably recover faster, too, because you're not as, uh, stressed. Because we know stress will make you heal slower, right? Yes, absolutely, it does.
So we want to lower your stress levels. And this is why I told you guys during your prep season, during prep season, before surgery, I want you all to do the meal prepping and get all of this stuff to prepare yourself. For my girls who are recovering at home, I have, uh, some steps that I want them to take so that they can recover at home comfortably without being worried or anxious about what's going on. Because I almost like to compare those first few weeks after recovery. You know how
you don't leave your house? It feels like when you have a baby, uh, when you're a baby and you can't leave the house, but you're starting to feel back to normal, but you're like, well, I can't really go anywhere, though, because I'm still in recovery. And you have all those layers on, and you're, like, moving funny. It's kind of like that. You're like, what am I doing? So, you guys, I'm so happy to have Dr. Redmond on. And this show has been this episode
has been amazing. We covered so many great and exciting things. And the last thing I want to cover before we go is drains. How common are the drains after this procedure? Floor deli or abdominal plastic or circumferential lift? And how long do they usually stay, and when do you know that they're ready to come out? So drains are so many people's concern. I would say I'm a light drain user. If I don't have to use them, I won't. I almost never use drains in any
sort of breast procedures. For a tummy tuck, depending on the amount of liposuction I'm having to do, I will usually use one drain. If I'm doing, like, a circumferential body lift, I use two drains. Part of the reason is because of the volume of liposuction, when you're getting those massages, I want some place controlled where all that fluid can come out. The average person will keep a drain for about two weeks. A, um, body
lift, it's usually three weeks. One drain comes out of two weeks, and one drain comes out at three weeks. I do have the rare occasion that I have somebody who has it for four weeks, but majority of people will have their drains out by about two weeks. The major purpose for a drain is to close dead space. So you've made all this space that your body previously did not have, and until that seals down and heals, your body keeps lubricating those cells with fluid. And that's what all that
fluid is. And if it just sits there, to me, there's a high risk of infection when I'm doing somebody who has very minimal liposuction. And then I can kind of close all that down with futures, then I don't necessarily have to use a drain. So I tell people there are necessary very evil. The way the drains that I particularly use do not hurt at all coming out. They're pain to
have for a little bit, but it is temporary. So it is a good question when you're talking to your surgeon, is like, what kind of drains do you use? How long am I going to keep them? And those are all things to make you feel a little less anxious when you're going through the process. Yeah, because then you know, okay, well, I only have to deal with these two little suckers here for a couple of weeks and then they'll be out. And once they're gone, they're gone. You'll never have
to see them again. They'll be gone in the trash. But those first couple of weeks, they're so important to help you heal. So keep them safety pinned up into your you can safety pin the don't, safety pin the bulb, safety pin the tag, or, uh, like the little thing that's on it to help you hold them. When you shower, remember to wear something around your neck so you can hook your drains to them. You don't want them all loose. While you're trying to shower, make sure.
You put totally agree. It's the most common place that people accidentally pull a drain out, is in the shower. Good to know. See you guys. This is why I told you, put on a necklace, something, or you don't care. The faha doctor says she would use a thong put around her neck and clip her drains to them so that she could know where they were. They weren't in the way, they weren't falling and accidentally get pulled out. Okay, that was it. The drains.
That was my last question. I am so happy I had you on the show today, Dr. Rimmy. You've been amazing. Thank you so much. Uh, thank you so much. So where can our listeners find you if they want to come see you? So if you want to come find me, easiest way is probably to go to my website, www.doctorresm.com or you can find me on Instagram or TikTok. All those things will be back to me. Okay? All right, thank you so much for being on the show. I'll see you guys next week. Bye. Have a great day.
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