breast augmentation, Breast Reduction, breast surgery, Plastic Surgery, Recovery, Risks
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Aside from your surgeon’s skills, the result of cosmetic plastic surgery will also depend on how you take care of the treated area and incisions during your recovery. And by carefully following your doctor’s postoperative advice, you can avoid or at least minimize the risk of complications and achieve the most desired outcome.
To guide you during your recovery after surgery, the California Surgical Institute has provided a list of answers to the most frequently asked questions about what you should do and expect during the healing time:
1. Question: Should I assign someone who will care for me during my recovery?
Answer: Yes. Assign a capable adult who will tend to your needs for at least three days following your surgery. But in case that your procedure is an extensive one, it is best that you opt for an overnight stay at a hospital.
2. Q: How long is my recovery?
A: The length of your recovery will largely depend on the treated area, extensiveness of the procedure, type of plastic surgery, and your body’s healing capability.
These are the most common cosmetic procedures and their estimated recovery time:
- breast augmentation – three to 12 months
- eyelid surgery – eight weeks to seven months
- tummy tuck – eight weeks to nine months
- traditional liposuction – eight weeks to 12 months
- facelift – eight weeks to 10 months
3. Q: When can I resume my work and normal activities?
A: Most patients can return to normal activities (excluding strenuous exercises) and “quiet” work” 10 days after their surgery. But to be on the safe side, you should always ask your doctors on when you can safely resume your daily life activities.
4. Q: Why is it dangerous to remain sedentary or bed-ridden for a long period of time after my surgery?
A: If you remain in bed for a long period of time, you are at risk of developing blood clots in your legs and lungs and other serious complications. Ideally, you should take a short, gentle walk as soon as you can in order to promote a good blood circulation.
5. Q: What are the most common postoperative symptoms should I expect?
A: It is most likely that you will experience swelling, bruising, tenderness, soreness, pain and discomfort, temporary numbness in the treated area, and nausea as the anesthesia wears off.
But a week after your surgery, most of these symptoms will become less pronounced.
In case that there is no improvement within a week, you should immediately visit your plastic surgeon to determine if you are experiencing delayed healing and other complications.
6. Q: How can I minimize the swelling?
A: Swelling is more common after a facelift, eyelid, rhinoplasty or nose surgery, otoplasty or ear tucking, neck lift, and tummy tuck. To minimize this symptom, you should elevate your head and shoulder with pillows within seven to 10 days following your surgery.
Ice packs can also be helpful in minimizing the swelling and bruising.
7. Q: Why should I avoid aspirin and anti-inflammatory medications during my recovery?
A: These drugs, which are sometimes called as blood-thinners, can increase bleeding during surgery and recovery and can also inhibit the body’s healing ability. Herbal supplements and vitamins, particularly those containing green tea, vitamin E, ginseng, and ginkgo biloba have also been found to increase bleeding.
Just to be on the safe side, you should tell your surgeon all the current medications you are taking.
8. Q: Why is it important that I avoid smoking and second-hand smoke before my surgery and during the recovery period?
A: The nicotine can inhibit normal blood circulation, thus significantly increasingly your risk of developing skin necrosis or death of skin tissue, a complication that often leads to delayed healing and unnecessary scarring.
9. Q: What is the most ideal diet during my recovery after plastic surgery?
A: Because your body will need to repair itself after a surgical procedure, your diet should be high in protein. However, you should watch your sodium intake since too much of this may aggravate swelling.
10. Q: Why is it important to wear compression garments particularly during the first few days of my surgery?
A: If you undergo breast augmentation, breast lift, breast reduction, liposuction, facelift, body lift, and tummy tuck, your doctor will require you to wear a compression garment for a certain period of time in order to prevent sagging, provide support to the new contour, and minimize swelling.
11. Q: What are the tell-tale signs of complications related with surgery?
A: You should immediately seek medical attention if you experience any of the following: abnormal heart rate, swelling and bruising which do not subside after a week, delayed healing, and other conditions which are “out of ordinary.”
12. Q: How can I avoid or at least minimize the appearance of scars?
A: Never expose the incision sites to direct sunlight for six to 12 months in order to avoid dark pigmentation. You can also use petroleum jelly or special creams, ointments, and lotions especially those containing vitamin E and C, glycolic acid, onion extract, Retin-A, and emu oil. However, you should only apply these creams after the surgical wound is completely closed (to be on the safe side, you should ask your doctor).
13. Q: Aside from using creams and lotions, what are the other ways to remove or minimize the appearance of scars?
A: Scar revision procedures may include laser resurfacing, anti-inflammatory agents to flatten and/or soften the scar tissue, and medical tattooing to camouflage the dark pigments.
14. Q: Is the result of plastic surgery supposed to last a lifetime?
A: It will depend on the type of procedure. For example, the result of tummy tuck, body lift, breast reduction, and liposuction can last a lifetime as long as you will maintain a stable, normal weight and avoid future pregnancy.
Rhinonoplaty or nose-reshaping surgery is also supposed to last a lifetime unless you experience unexpected nasal growth. For this reason, most doctors require their patients to be at least 15 years old to make sure that their nose is fully developed.
But if you will undergo a breast augmentation, expect that you will have a revision surgery at some point in your life since breast implants are not designed to last forever.
September 22, 2011
Breast Reduction, breast surgery, Plastic Surgery, Techniques
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Breast reduction surgery, also referred as reduction mammaplasty, is a procedure that can remove the excess fats, skin and tissue from inordinately large, heavy breasts. In many cases, this is performed not just to make the body appear proportionate but also to treat physical symptoms such as skin irritation along the crease, bad posture, chronic pain in the neck, back and shoulder, and restricted activities because of the excessive weight of the bust.
While this surgery can be performed at any age, most doctors recommend their patients to wait until they are at least 18 years old, a stage in which their breasts are fully developed. Most experts also advise women to postpone breast reduction if they are considering having children in the future since their ability to breastfeed may be compromised.
Because breast reduction is relatively extensive, surgeons often perform this under general which can put a patient to sleep during the entire operation. However, the surgery is typically conducted in an outpatient basis which means that a woman can return home on the same day of the procedure.
Nowadays, doctors use different incision patterns and techniques in order to achieve the most desired outcome. But for women with excessively large breasts, the most ideal is the standard approach which involves an anchor-shaped incision—one around the perimeter of the areola, another cut that travels vertically from the nipple down to the breast crease, and a third one that horizontally covers the crease.
In some cases, the horizontal incision is removed particularly when only a small amount of tissue and skin is removed from the bust.
Once the incisions are made, the extra tissue, fats, and skin are excised in order to reduce the size of each breast.
In many cases, the nipple and areola remain to their original position. However, doctors who are treating women with inordinately large, heavy breasts will have to remove and reattach this area to a higher position in order to achieve a more natural result. And if needed, the sized of an enlarged areola is also reduced.
One major downside of detaching the areola and nipple from their original nerves and blood vessels may result to reduced or permanent loss of sensation. In some cases, this procedure may also lead to a woman’s inability to breastfeed.
After a breast reduction surgery, the incisions are closed with tiny sutures and the chest is then covered with an elastic bandage or gauze dressing.
September 22, 2011
breast augmentation, breast surgery, Plastic Surgery
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Most plastic surgery procedures such as breast augmentation, tummy tuck, body lift, facelift, and buttock enhancement involve the use of incisions which may result to scars. But in most cases, these surgical marks are often hidden (e.g., behind the scalp and ears in facelift) and placed along the natural creases of the skin to make these less noticeable.
However, certain procedures including extensive tummy tuck and lower body lift for massive weight loss patients always require longer incisions that may result to visible scarring. Fortunately, you can avoid this kind of risk by following these tips:
- Do not expose your incisions and skin to anything that will cause irritation or injury. It is also important that you follow the proper wound care that often includes using gentle soap and avoiding vigorous scrubbing.
- Make sure the incisions are not exposed to direct sunlight for at least six to 12 months in order to avoid dark pigmentation.
- While the surgical wound is not yet completely healed, never perform strenuous exercises that may reopen the incisions. Just to be on the safe side, you should ask your plastic surgeon on when it is safe to resume your daily life activities.
- You can ask your doctor about self-adhesive silicone sheeting. These small patches have been the most commonly used method to minimize the appearance of scars after plastic surgery. (See picture below.)
For over 20 years, these medical devices have been used in wound healing and also in the prevention of keloid, or the excess growth of scar tissue at the incision sites. Meanwhile, dark-skinned patients are more prone to this problem than fair-skinned individuals.
Once the surgical scars are completely healed, these will often turn into a thin, less noticeable line. But in case that your skin is prone to develop keloids and dark pigments, you might want to consider these other options:
- Laser resurfacing to soften and minimize the appearance of scar tissues.
- Medical tattooing needles that will inject pigments in order to hide or minimize the appearance of scars.
- Use of special lotions, creams, and ointments especially those containing vitamin E and C, glycolic acid, onion extract, and Retin-A. But you should take note that the effectiveness of most of these ingredients is not yet proven, although many patients have reported that they were satisfied with the result.
- Use of anti-inflammatory agents to soften the scar tissues.
September 21, 2011
Breast Implants, Breast Reconstruction, breast surgery
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While breast implant surgery is more commonly known as a cosmetic procedure performed on women who are not satisfied with the appearance and size of their bust, this is also used to reconstruct the breasts of post-cancer patients who have undergone mastectomy or tumor removal surgery.
Breast reconstruction via implants is less complex and involves fewer surgeries compared with tissue grafting. But regardless of which technique is used, the procedure may not perfectly recreate the appearance of the breasts before the mastectomy.
In the US, only the saline- and silicone-filled implants have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for breast reconstruction surgery. But when it comes to giving a more natural result, many plastic surgeons recommend the silicone type because it is filled with a relatively cohesive gel that can replicate the movement and feel of a breast tissue.
Breast reconstruction through the use of implants can start right after the mastectomy particularly if a significant amount of tissue remains in the breasts. However, this may not be possible if the tumor removal surgery is too extensive.
In case the mastectomy involves the removal of a significant amount of tissues and skin, a tissue expander is first inserted inside the breasts before the implants are placed. This balloon-like device, which is injected periodically with saline solution, will slowly stretch the skin and tissue for six to eight weeks in order to create enough room for the breast implants.
Once the tissue expander has created a pocket where the implants can be placed, this instrument is then removed in order to start the breast implant surgery.
To create a more natural result and prevent visible lines, most doctors place the breast implants under the chest muscles so more amounts of skin and tissues can envelop the shell. Another benefit of this implant placement is that it prevents breast ptosis (sagging) since the thicker wall of tissue can support the weight of the implants.
In some cases, doctors also add or reconstruct the areola and nipple during a breast implant surgery in order to make the appearance as natural as possible.
Meanwhile, some patients are concerned that the implants may interfere with their mammogram test which is used to detect tumors and other abnormalities. Fortunately, there is a very low risk of cancer recurrence for mastectomized breasts which is why breast reconstruction via implants is a highly recommended procedure among plastic surgeons.
September 21, 2011
Breast Implants, Breast Lift, breast surgery, Photos/Pictures/Videos, Plastic Surgery, Techniques
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With advancing age, changes take place in a woman’s body particularly in her breasts. Because of tissue and skin laxity, it is not uncommon for some to develop breast ptosis (sagging) in which their bust appears deflated with nipples pointing downward.
To treat this aesthetic problem, breast lift surgery is the most recommended solution as it provides a long-lasting result. But still, it is important to note that the aging process may slightly affect the outcome of this procedure in the long run, although the breasts will not experience significant sagging.
Meanwhile, significant weight fluctuations and pregnancies may affect or even reverse the result of breast lift. For this reason, most patients are advised to postpone this cosmetic procedure if they are 25 to 30 percent heavier than their ideal weight and if they are planning to have children in the future.
As with most cosmetic breast surgeries, this procedure involves the use of incisions which can lead to permanent scars. But as much as possible, doctors will place the surgical lines in areas in which these will not be seen even if a patient will wear a low-cut top.
For women with large breasts and severe ptosis, the most recommended incision pattern is shaped like a nautical anchor: a horizontal cut across the breast crease, an excision around the perimeter of the areola, and a vertical incision starting from the areola to the breast crease.
However, there are cases in which the horizontal incision across the breast crease can be removed particularly if plastic surgeons only have to excise a small amount of skin and tissue. With this minimally invasive technique, which is called lollipop lift, most patients can enjoy shorter recovery and one less scar.
Meanwhile, some women not just want to lift their sagging breasts but also desire to make their bust appear fuller. For these patients, the most recommended approach is the donut lift (only the skin and tissue around the areola is excised) which is complemented with breast implants, preferably the silicone type in order to achieve a more natural result.
Because the weight of the implants may aggravate the ongoing breast ptosis, these devices are generally placed under the chest muscles so more amounts of skin and tissue can provide a better support. On the other hand, placing the implants behind the tissue is not recommended since it can worsen the sagging in the long run.
September 21, 2011
