As your breast augmentation surgery date gets closer, it is common to feel anxious about the surgery and your recovery period. While you can learn the steps of the procedure and know exactly what is going to happen during your breast augmentation, recovery is unique to every patient, so the unknown can often feel overwhelming. But the good news is you have nothing to be anxious about. Here we offer some tips to help you better understand and prepare for your breast augmentation recovery and get the most from your results.
1. Plan for Help at Home
Your recovery begins before you even have your breast augmentation procedure. Let’s face it, you aren’t going to feel like getting anything organized or done after your procedure, and you shouldn’t. Recovery is the time to rest and allow your body to heal. Preparing for your recovery is essential. In the weeks and days before your procedure, enlist the help of others during your recovery. Have relatives who can come take care of your children and friends who want to drop off healthy meals for you as you recover. Consider creating a recovery area that is loaded with water bottles, healthy snacks, a television remote, and fun things to do all within reach.
2. Find a Surgeon who offers Regional Blocks
A regional block is an anesthetic method that can be added on to general anesthesia to prolong the numbness and promote pain-free recovery within an isolated part of the body. Here at Columbia Aesthetic Plastic Surgery we often combine our anesthesia with a regional PECS block to allow for a longer pain-free recovery period, thereby allowing our patients to recover from surgery more quickly. The addition of a regional block also allows our anesthesia providers to lessen the amount of general anesthetic needed for surgery, which makes for a smoother and quicker wakeup and less postoperative nausea after surgery.
3. Focus on Healthy Recovery
A healthy recovery isn’t just about rest, but also about the fuel you provide to your body. While it may be easier to turn to at-home delivery of meals, you want to make sure you are making healthy choices and not eating fast food alone. In addition, you want to make sure you keep your body hydrated with plenty of water. Avoid drinks like coffee and soda that contain caffeine which can contribute to dehydration.
4. Follow Post-Surgical Instructions
The surgeons at Columbia Aesthetics will provide you with post-surgical instructions that are important to follow. These instructions cover everything from incision care and surgical bra wearing to medications and activity limitations. These instructions were created to help promote successful healing and recovery.
5. Avoid Alcoholic Beverages and Stop or Quit Smoking
Smokers and those who consume a few alcoholic drinks a day can face increased surgical and recovery complications. For example, smoking affects the body’s immune system and can delay the normal healing process while also increasing the risk of complications, such as infection. Our team will recommend stopping or quitting smoking at least a few weeks before your procedure and limiting alcohol consumption before surgery and during recovery.
As you prepare for your breast augmentation procedure, it is just as important to prepare for your recovery. These tips offer some helpful suggestions but if you still have questions, we are here to answer them. Call 410-740-9330 today to reach the team and allow us to help address your concerns.
Author: Dr. Eric Chang
Few plastic surgeons offer Dr. Eric Chang’s rare blend of impressive credentials and genuine compassion. After becoming a board-certified plastic surgeon, he returned to his home state and established Columbia Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, one of the premier cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery practices between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore.
