Year after year, breast augmentation maintains its popularity among women throughout the country. Most women planning for breast augmentation surgery have many questions regarding their recovery time. That’s certainly true of the breast augmentation patients we see from the Ark-La-Tex and other surrounding areas.
Our patients are busy–some work full-time, others are college students, and many have young children at home. While they want to look their best, they simply can’t take a lot of time away from their obligations. How can they fit surgery and recovery into their schedule?
Rapid Recovery Breast Augmentation
We understand! To address this need, we chose to incorporate the rapid-recovery breast augmentation technique into our practice. Holly and I have performed this version of the surgery for nearly 2 decades.
Patients are drawn to the rapid recovery option because, in many cases, they can return to light activities the night of surgery, often feeling well enough to go out to dinner or their child’s soccer game! We can’t tell you how many times we have called our patient on the night after their surgery to find that they are shopping, eating at a restaurant, or cheering on their son or daughter.
How Does Rapid Recovery Work?
Rapid recovery begins in the operating room. During this form of the procedure, we use meticulous technique to minimize trauma to the surrounding tissues, accelerating the healing process and making recuperation more comfortable.
After surgery, we give each patient instructions for a thorough post-op recovery program that includes specific stretching and massage techniques. Much like with exercise, if you stretch, your muscles will not hurt and can relax. These exercises improve muscle condition and encourage the muscle to soften and allow the implant to drop into more natural-looking positions.
Most rapid recovery patients find they don’t require narcotic pain medication, which is a major plus for patients who are wary of using opiates. Instead, a combination of cold compresses, stretching, and Ibuprofen are sufficient to maintain comfort.
What’s the Timeline for Rapid Recovery?
Typically, rapid recovery breast augmentation patients are back to work within only a couple of days, a reduction from the usual guideline of 1 week. We caution that patients should avoid more strenuous activities for at least 2 weeks, with further avoidance of upper-body activities (including tennis, golf, and weight-lifting) for a full month after surgery.
In a previous blog post, we asked some of our own breast augmentation patients to offer advice and guidance to patients just beginning their own journey. These women said our detailed post-op instructions and thorough follow-up appointments helped them to recuperate by eliminating guesswork and giving them peace of mind. They each stressed the importance and benefit of following the instructions closely. Many women had their surgery on Friday, and were back at work the following Monday!
Rapid recovery techniques make breast augmentation a breeze. You don’t need to worry about taking a lot of time off of work. Gone are the old days of telling women that they can’t raise their arms, wash their hair or dress themselves. Our patients are always amazed at how easy the recovery was and wish they had done it sooner!