I got ‘mommy makeover’ surgery — now I’m depressed and look like a box
This mama had some serious plastic surgery drama.
After welcoming two children and losing 75 pounds of her postpartum weight, a mother of two underwent a “mommy makeover” procedure to restore her hourglass frame.
However, instead of arising from her cosmetic surgeon’s table feeling fierce and looking fab, the woman found herself “severely depressed” and shaped “like a box.”
“Let’s talk about things I wish I knew before getting surgery,” said mom Erebi, 27, from the UK in a trending TikTok tell-all. Her mommy makeover was performed by Dr. Mark Solomos of London in mid-March.
In her clip, which has scared up over 104,300 views, she explains that her surgery included a breast lift with implants, a tummy tuck and liposuction.
All three procedures have become extremely common for women in recent years, despite the high risk for complications — such as a Washington mother suffered when her fingers were amputated after she had a mommy makeover in August 2022.
In fact, breast augmentation and liposuction were ranked as two of the top five most popular cosmetic enhancements among women by a 2020 statistics report released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
The research also noted that since 2000, tummy tucks, or abdominoplasties, have grown in demand by 56%.
However, the trendiness of the cuts notwithstanding, Erebi, a digital fitness influencer, was more than eager to expose the ugly truths behind the beauty-boosting ordeals.
“You are not going to wake up snatched,” she informs prospective plastic surgery patients, forewarning folks that they likely won’t have the svelte body of their dreams immediately after going under the knife.
“For me, it took four to five weeks before I could see my results,” she continues. “Before that, I looked like a box.”
And Erebi’s emotions, too, were left bent out of shape.
“Most likely, you will be depressed,” she advises. “I was actually severely depressed. Every day I cried multiple times a day. I was just miserable.”
The mom goes on to detail the excruciating agony she sustained while recovering.
“I was angry with myself for putting myself through all of that pain,” she says.
“It was the worst pain I’ve ever experienced, and I have had two children with just gas and air,” confessed Erebi, before adding, “I thought labor was the worst thing, but it’s not.”
She then alerts mommy makeover wannabes to the enduring “discomfort” that plagued her body once the surgical pain faded.
“I couldn’t do anything for myself,” Erebi groans, noting she’d wrongly assumed her weeks of post-op convalescing would be enjoyably relaxing.
“That’s the worst thing,” she says of the tarrying aches. “I couldn’t open the fridge. I couldn’t go to the bathroom by myself. I couldn’t shower. It was painful to brush my teeth.”
And the psychological pangs that came as unexpected side effects of the procedure were almost too much for Erebi to bear.
“Your body dysmorphia after surgery will be a lot worse,” she confirms.
“Currently, I don’t know what I look like,” the mother adds, admitting that her body image often vacillates between self-admiration and self-deprecation. “It’s mentally — it’s a roller coaster.”
Erebi closes her virtual word of caution, saying, “And you’ll probably get addicted to surgery … You’ll be like, ‘Oh, if I can fix this, what else can I fix?’”
She then urges, “You need to be a mentally strong person to not go down that slippery slope.”
Her eye-popping confessional sent shockwaves through social media.
“Now I’m scared,” commented one shook spectator.
“Yeah I’m never getting surgery. Thanks for the info,” wrote an equally freaked viewer.
“This is so true!!!” another chimed in. “I’m 5 weeks post op from breast uplift and tummy tuck and I’m still feeling regret.”
To that, Erebi responded with a message of encouragement, writing, “[It] will get better, I promise.”