At Southwest Plastic Surgery, the mommy makeover consult often starts with Dr. Frank Agullo subtracting from the patient’s list rather than adding to it. “Mommy makeover” is a marketing name, he explains, not a single operation. His first job is to figure out which procedures actually serve a patient’s goals, and which ones they can skip. Sometimes the most useful thing he does is talk someone out of part of it.

Here is how Dr. Agullo walks patients through the decision.

What the Mommy Makeover Bundles

It is a list of procedures combined into one plan, not a fixed package. It can include a breast augmentation or whatever the breasts need, liposuction 360, a BBL (fat injections to the buttocks), and a tummy tuck. The team picks from that menu based on the individual. No one has to do all of it. The full overview lives on the practice’s mommy makeover page.

Being Unsure Is Normal

Dr. Agullo tells patients that walking in certain about one part and nervous about another is completely normal. Many are sure about the tummy tuck and anxious about implants, or the reverse. Being scared is not a reason to rush or to skip. It is a reason to slow down and go through each piece, one at a time, and patients are allowed to leave undecided.

Implant, Lift, or Both?

It depends on what dropped. If it is mostly lost volume, an implant can be enough. If the nipple and tissue have descended, an implant alone can make it look worse, and a lift enters the conversation. A donut lift, a small circle of skin around the areola, raises the nipple about an inch and re-centers it, and Dr. Agullo can place a modest implant through that same incision for upper fullness. The result is perkier and natural, with the scar hidden at the edge of the areola.

Liposuction or Tummy Tuck?

This is the conversation Dr. Agullo never lets a patient skip. Liposuction removes the fat that can be pinched. But if the abdominal muscles separated during pregnancy, a bulge remains when the muscles relax, and the only thing that repairs it is a tummy tuck. A tummy tuck flattens and tightens the abdomen and repairs the muscle, like a built-in corset. It is a bigger improvement than lipo alone, and it comes with a scar, a trade-off he lays out clearly.

Should a Patient Lose Weight First?

Stable matters more than low. If weight is still swinging, settling it first usually gives a better, longer-lasting contour. But a tummy tuck removes loose skin and repairs separated muscle, and dieting fixes neither, so the answer depends on what is actually bothering the patient. The team sorts that out at the exam.

One Surgery or Several?

Often it can be done in one, and that is usually the smarter choice: one anesthesia, one recovery, one block of time off. When planning combined surgery, Dr. Agullo weighs overall health and total operative time rather than stacking a wish list. If a list runs past the safe ceiling on operative time, he stages it into two calmer surgeries rather than one marathon, and he tells patients plainly when that is the safer route.

What Recovery Looks Like

At Southwest Plastic Surgery, patients are coached to expect the tummy tuck to drive the recovery in most mommy makeovers. It asks the most, with a real adjustment in the first week or two as the repaired muscle settles. The breast and liposuction portions ride alongside it without adding much.

The practice builds recovery support into the plan. In-house post-surgical massage keeps fibrosis from setting in, two Marena compression garments are provided and sized down as swelling drops, and a nurse helps with the first shower the next day. Most patients return to normal daily life sooner than they feared, with full exercise later. The advantage of combining procedures is doing this recovery once.

When Is the Right Time?

There is no universal answer, but there are good signals. A patient is done having children, or confident they are. Weight is stable. Help is lined up at home for the first week. And the reasons are the patient’s own, not a deadline someone else set. Dr. Agullo never wants a patient rushing a permanent decision to make an event, and he will say so if the timing is not right.

Recovery and Med Spa Support

Beyond the operating room, the practice’s Med Spa rounds out the mommy makeover journey, from skin care that complements the body work to maintenance treatments once healing is complete. The goal is a result that lasts, supported well after surgery day.

Talking Patients Out of What They Do Not Need

One thing that distinguishes Dr. Agullo’s approach is his willingness to remove items from a patient’s list. If liposuction alone will address a concern, he does not add a tummy tuck. If an implant will restore volume without a lift, he does not recommend longer scars. The practice measures a successful consult not by how many procedures get booked, but by how well the plan fits the patient. For many, the most reassuring part of the visit is hearing what they can safely skip.

About Dr. Frank Agullo

Dr. Frank Agullo is the founder of Southwest Plastic Surgery in El Paso, Texas. He is double board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and completed his plastic surgery fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. He is a Clinical Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine and has been named a Castle Connolly Top Doctor for thirteen consecutive years.

Ready to Talk?

Let the team build the plan that fits you, not a template. For the surgeon’s editorial take, see Dr. Agullo’s essay on drworldwide.com. For the patient-facing walkthrough, see the companion post on agulloplasticsurgery.com.

Call (915) 590-7900, text 1-866-814-0038, or book online at swplasticsurgery.com. #StayBeautiful.

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