You only need to go as far as RealSelf.com to see that certain procedures are notorious for having a very uncomfortable (read: painful) recovery process. You’ll find Mommy Makeovers and tummy tuck surgeries at the top of that list.
At The Wall Center, we’ve always done everything within our control to keep our patients as comfortable as possible. We use an unprecedented 8 drug anti-nausea protocol, an extensive evidence-based anti-infection protocol, and the best options for pain management. When my patients ask me about pain, I can truthfully reassure them that, in the vast majority of cases, any discomfort they experience after surgery won’t be nearly as bad as they likely thought, thanks largely to our pioneering use of a remarkable product called EXPAREL®.
Dr. Holly Wall and I recently co-wrote an article for Surgical Aesthetics magazine in which we describe our experience with EXPAREL. EXPAREL is an extremely long-acting local anesthetic that we inject at the surgical site during surgery. Since we started regularly using EXPAREL, our patients have reported significantly less pain after surgery. Many of them don’t even need to use any oral opiate medications, which is great news for people who can’t or don’t want to take them. EXPAREL has generated so much interest among plastic surgeons all over the world that I frequently lecture on it not only here in the U.S., but even in countries that don’t have it yet, as was the case at this October’s annual meeting of the Association of South African Plastic Surgeons in Cape Town, South Africa, where I served as an invited keynote speaker. Closer to home, I’ll be giving an update specifically on EXPAREL at next year’s Atlanta Breast Surgery Symposium.
Years ago, we started using EXPAREL for all tummy tuck and Mommy Makeover patients, and it’s been a game-changer for us and for them. We also get a lot of referrals for revision breast augmentation surgeries at our Shreveport, Louisiana practice, and many of these women have a history of pain with breast surgery. We offer EXPAREL to help alleviate their fears about pain after surgery, and to help them enjoy a positive experience after the disappointments of past surgeries.
We treat our patients like we’d want to be treated, and the use of EXPAREL for optimal comfort is just another of the many ways we go the extra mile.
