Breast Augmentation
Breast Augmentation Recovery
After reading this page, be sure to visit Tips for Speeding your Recovery to learn how to reduce your pain and speed your recovery.
Anesthesia:
Your breast augmentation procedure will most likely be performed under general anesthesia, but not always. Some plastic surgeons perform breast augmentation under sedation anesthesia, but this is not usually advised, especially if you want you breast implants placed under the muscle.
If your plastic surgeon suggests sedation anesthesia, there are some questions to raise. In some cases, the use of sedation anesthesia requires so much sedation that it is safer to use general anesthesia. Sometimes doctors will use sedation anesthesia because their office is not approved for general anesthesia. This should be a red flag for you to seek surgery elsewhere. In some of these cases, using sedation anesthesia may involve difficulty achieving adequate comfort for you, and this means you could endure pain during a breast augmentation procedure.
Location of operation:
Your procedure may be performed in your plastic surgeon’s private operating room, at a nearby hospital or a surgery center. If performed in your plastic surgeon’s office, be sure to ask whether the office is certified and by whom.
Length of surgery:
The actual procedure takes 1-1 1/2 hours. However, the length of time you will be in the operating room will be longer.
Once you are transferred to the operating room, it takes awhile to get you ready for surgery. You will have monitors placed then sedated or put to sleep. You will then be “prepped” which means your skin will be carefully cleansed to rid it of normal skin bacteria. Drapes will be placed around your body and the surgical “field” will be set up. The breast augmentation surgery will then begin.
After your procedure is over, your skin will again be cleaned and a dressing will be applied. Once you’ve awakened and are stable, you will be transported to the recovery room. For these reasons, your procedure could be scheduled for anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 hours.
Length of stay:
In most cases, you will be allowed to go home the day of surgery.
Discomfort:
Discomfort will vary for each patient. On average discomfort is mild to moderate following implant placement over the muscle. Discomfort is moderate to severe following implant placement under the muscle, but there are a number of things that your surgeon can do to greatly reduce discomfort in most women. Ask your surgeon about this.
Swelling:
Swelling is less if the implants are placed over the muscle and more if the implants are placed under the muscle. It is usually at its peak 3-5 days after surgery and thereafter improves. During the time of peak swelling, you may feel as though your breast milk has “come in.”
If your implants are over the muscle, 75% of the swelling will be gone in 2 weeks and the rest will resolve over the next several weeks. If your implants are placed under the muscle, 75% of the swelling will be gone in 2-4 weeks, and the rest will resolve over a few months.
Bruising:
Most women do not bruise after breast augmentation. If you do, however, do not worry, because it is not unusual and does not affect your final result. If any exists, it improves within a week or so.
Shower:
Most plastic surgeons will let you remove your bandages and shower within a few days.
Stitches:
Most surgeons use stitches that absorb and do not require removal. If your surgeon uses stitches that require removal, do not be critical or suspicious, as this is not uncommon. If stitches are to be removed, they will be removed in 5-7 days.
Back to work:
You may return to work in 4-7 days if the implants were placed over your muscle, and 7-10 days if the implants were placed under your muscle. If your job requires lifting, you may return to work in the same time frame but will probably have lifting restrictions.
Resume exercise:
For implants placed over the muscle, most plastic surgeons will ask you to stop all exercising for 1-4 weeks after surgery. For implants placed under the muscle, 4 weeks is the normal wait time. Resuming exercise sooner may increase the risk of hematoma.
As a side note, Dr. Loftus has found that women planning to have implant placement under the muscle have less pain and a speedier recovery if they can stop pectoral exercises 4 weeks before surgery. This includes bench press, fly, and push-ups.
Final results:
Will be seen after your swelling has resolved (see above).
Travel after Surgery:
Dr. Loftus has found that most women can travel safely within a few days of breast augmentation surgery. Because women travel from all over the country to see her for breast augmentation, she has many patients who travel home shortly afterward, and this has not been a problem.