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One of the keys to ensuring a speedy recovery following breast augmentation surgery is to get a bra that properly suits your new body, because support is essential during the time post-surgery in which the breast size will still be fluid. Underwire bras are out of the question, so consider compression bras, front-closure bras, and sports bras. If you’re unsure which of these options may be right for you, speak to your primary care physician before buying any.
The first few weeks of the recovery period are going to be especially uncomfortable, and day to day life may be difficult to manage on your own. It would be wise for a recent patient of breast augmentation surgery to receive assistance from friends and family, to accomplish more intensive tasks. Additionally, immediately following the surgery, it’s a necessity to have someone on hand to handle your transport and safety.
After the treatment, a patient of breast augmentation surgery is still going to be under the influence of the heavy anesthetics that are necessary to keep the patient still and calm during the surgery. As a result, it’s absolutely unethical and unsafe to operate any kind of vehicle, so you’ll need to rely on the kindness of a helping hand to get yourself home following the surgery. A family or friend is ideal for this task, as public transportation is also inadvisable in that state.
On top of needing somebody to give you a ride home, you’ll also need someone- likely the same person who drove you home- to stay with you and monitor you for the first 48 hours or so following the procedure. It’s important to have someone on hand in the case of a medical emergency, like an implant rupturing, which could possibly occur in the first few days after the surgery.
Unsurprisingly, one of the finest remedies for the discomfort that typically comes with this kind of intensive surgery is the cure-all that doctors have been recommending for centuries- rest, sleep, relaxation- in short, taking it easy, so that your body can focus all of its energy on recovering and rehabilitation instead of whatever else you may be doing. Be sure, after your procedure, to get plenty of rest and relaxation so that you can heal as quickly as possible.
Some of the measures that one should take in order to aid the healing process aren’t reactionary- there are pre-emptive precautions that should be taken in order to keep the discomfort to a manageable level. Preparing a pain management plan ahead of time is a great way to head off the unfortunate windfalls of the breast augmentation surgery. Start to formulate a method of pain management before the surgery- medicines, heating pads, or other techniques- before you go through with the procedure.
With that being said, there are certain rules which any patient needs to abide by during any recovery process, and that includes carefully monitoring the intake and conditions under which you imbibe medication. One of the most important strictures for taking pain medication as per your aforementioned pain management plan is to never take pain medication on an empty stomach. Popular brands of pain meds are often damaging to the stomach lining, so taking them without eating or drinking something first is inadvisable.
Another preemptive measure that may be necessary for you to take before your breast augmentation surgery is to prepare healthy food and water to have on hand for after your surgery. It’s going to be difficult to properly prepare such sustenance for yourself (another reason it’s useful to have a helper nearby as well), and so getting these things ready ahead of time can be vital.
While the recommended food intake for the average person is a healthy three square meals a day, surgery often has a pronounced effect on appetite and diet. You may find yourself craving large amounts of food, or completely lose appetite for days at a time. Because of this, a regular schedule of small meals spaced regularly and often throughout the day is the ideal meal plan for a recovering patient of surgery.
As mentioned previously in the article, one of the most vital elements of the recovery process is a proper adherence to regular rest and relaxation. Sleep inhibitors, therefore, are a bad idea. If you wish to maintain a regular healing process, then certain forms of medication- Uroxatral, Cardura, Hytrin- caffeine, and blue light should all be avoided as much as possible. Sleep is a necessity, and inhibitors of that sleep are problematic.
As one might be able to imagine, drinking water and remaining hydrated is one of the most important tools for a recovering body, and so drinking lots of water is a necessity for a body in rehabilitation following breast augmentation surgery. In fact, almost any form of procedure should be met with considerable hydration.
Smoking- of any kind, tobacco or otherwise- can have a heavy toll on the body, forcing it to focus more energies on just maintaining a normal healthy stasis, especially in the chest, which is already going to be in a vulnerable and recovering state. It would be very unwise to damage it further by smoking. During the recovery process, smoking is completely forbidden, and should be avoided at any cost.
It’s an indelible facet of the human condition that we’re continually trying to push ourselves harder than is absolutely necessary for the task at hand. While this is admirable, and highly beneficial in such tasks as competition and scientific pursuit, it’s something of an irritating urge that must be fought in a recovering patient of surgery. Don’t strain yourself to do things you deem you must be well enough to try- get help when necessary, and take it easy for 4-6 weeks after the treatment.
If your breast augmentation uses breast implants (as almost all breast augmentation surgery tends to do), then it’s absolutely crucial that you act with the utmost care around those implants until you’re completely certain that they’ve stabilized- and even after they’ve been completely set, you should handle them with care. If the implants rupture, it could be a seriously dangerous (and potentially very costly) situation.
While you’re getting in your necessary amounts of beauty sleep, it should be noted that sleeping on your back is really the only option. Sleeping on your front is medically inadvisable, for obvious reasons, and sleeping on your side is almost as bad. You should be doing all that you can during the rehabilitation period to make sure that the implants are safe, and that includes taking the right precautions to keep pressure off of your new implants.
You may be tempted, as part of your pain management regimen, to try using over the counter creams, ointments, and other medications on the surgical scar during the recovery process. This is a particularly foolish thing to do- a surgical scar is much unlike other more natural forms of scars because they typically perform other duties than simply sealing over the skin. Using creams which may disrupt their vital functions can have disastrous results.
Doctors nowadays often say that much of the healing process comes down to mind over matter. It is typical to hear that much of rehabilitation following a surgery is about maintaining a positive mental outlook. Keeping yourself optimistic about the future of your new body is an absolute must for those who want to make sure that the surgery takes hold, so try to keep positive about the natural aches and pains of recuperation following an otherwise completely beneficial surgery.
At the end of the day, your surgeon and physician, and every other manner of medical professionals are there in order to help you through the process, and want to see you reach your ideal body. So if you have any questions, concerns, or other grievances, they can always be brought to your surgeon. If you’re feeling worried about the future of your body, your surgeon will always be ready and eager to aid you however they can.
The recovery timeline following breast augmentation surgery is long and sometimes harrowing, but each step of the way gets a little easier, and the whole thing is only a month and a half, statistically speaking. While the information regarding the specifics of your own timeline may vary from physiology and other conditions which can change, the results will generally looks the same as other patients.
The first two or three days following the procedure are going to be met with extreme discomfort and other pains. This can be minimized by the pain management plan that you’ve set aside ahead of time, but it won’t be eliminated completely. The breasts will be in a nebulous state at this point, so be extra careful with them- no physical stress, and plenty of sleep and hydration are a necessity. It’s also wise to have a helping hand nearby at all times for tasks which may have suddenly become impossible for you due to your fragile physical state.
After about a week, you should be able to function relatively normal when it comes to day to day tasks, but working or any form of physical stress is still completely out of the question. You may still feel the same levels of discomfort as after the surgery, but it will begin to fade a little bit after the end of the first week, even if it’s only marginally.
The pain will, by now, have subsided slightly, though it will still be a part of day to day life for a little while longer. Tasks may have come easier to accomplish, and if you have a job which doesn’t require a particularly active use of the body, then you may consider returning to work. However, intense exercise or anything that involves the chest or bust directly should still definitely be avoided, and the necessary elements of plenty of sleep and water are still as important as ever.
For smaller treatments, four weeks in can mark the beginning of the end of the recovery process. For bigger treatments, it’s advisable that you maintain the regimen of care that you have been practicing up to this point. Ask your surgeon if you’re unsure about the condition your breasts are in at this point in the recuperation process.
Even for bigger jobs, the 6 week mark is generally considered a safe place to consider the recovery process over, and most people will be able to comfortably return to jobs, exercise regimen, and other typical day to day activities with little to no problem. Regular discomfort should be more or less absent by this point, and if extreme discomfort or pain is still being experienced, it would be wise to consult your surgeon.
Contact us today to schedule your appointment with the renowned plastic surgeon and breast & body specialist Dr. Mark Schusterman. Take your first steps to a more beautiful you.
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