Contact Us

    Night After Breast Surgery

    Breast Implants | Breast Augmentation Beverly Hills | Los Angeles

    NIGHT AFTER SURGERY

    The most comfortable position to recover in after surgery is a reclining chair with your head elevated.  Over the first night you will most likely find yourself having to use the bathroom frequently. This is normal and is due to the intravenous fluids you received during your surgical procedure. Drink a lot of fluids in order to keep up with this fluid loss. As your body begins to balance itself out, it will rid itself of this extra “water weight and everything will return back to normal. Leave all dressings intact until the next morning when you will return to Dr Motykie’s office to have your dressings changed and receive further instructions for the remainder of the week. The night following your surgery, you may experience some pain and discomfort that can be controlled with your prescribed pain medication. Temporary bruising, swelling and numbness are common the first night after surgery. You should leave all of your bandages intact overnight including your Bra and elastic ACE wrap.

    ONE DAY AFTER SURGERY

    The next morning following your surgery, you will return to Dr Motykie’s office for your first post-operative visit. You should leave all bandages and dressings intact overnight and until you reach the office the following morning.  Upon arrival to the office you will be escorted to a private examination room where your dressings will be changed and your operative sites will be evaluated. After your examination, you will be placed back into your surgical brassiere and ACE compression wrap and you will be allowed to return back to your home.

    You may feel tired and sore for several days following the surgery.  Your breasts will be swollen and tender. You may also experience a feeling of tightness in the chest area. The sensation/feeling in the areolas/nipples may also be diminished the immediate post-operative period and may take several months to return to normal. You will most likely be able to return to work within a few days depending on your job. You will most likely be allowed to shower the day after surgery, taking care taken to keep the dressings and incision sites dry.

    ONE WEEK AFTER SURGERY

    The results of your surgery will typically be obscured by swelling and bruising at one week after surgery. In fact, you may even notice during the first week or two after your surgery that your breast appear slightly “too large”. Do not be alarmed, this is completely normal and is due to swelling from the surgery. If the breasts were the perfect size immediately after surgery, they would most likely end up being too small after the swelling resolves.  All of this water adds temporary extra weight and volume to your body. For this reason, during the first week after your surgery you will notice yourself going to the bathroom frequently until your body begins to reach equilibrium and sheds all of the extra water weight.

    Some people can return to work after a few days and some after one week. Most patients can drive their vehicles within a few days after surgery, but plan on having someone drive you to your first few post-operative visits anyway. With regard to an exercise program, use common sense and use pain as your guide; if it hurts, simply don’t do it!  The majority of patients are allowed to return to light, low impact cardiovascular exercise after the first week of recovery. Having said this, rest is also important to the healing process and heavy lifting and strenuous activity are still restricted during the first month after surgery. You will be able to return to more strenuous exercise/heavy lifting at 3-4 weeks after surgery.

    You will be given a specific breast massage program that is intended to keep your breasts soft and natural in appearance. It is critical to perform these massages in order to have the most natural result possible from your breast augmentation surgery. Avoidance of performing your breast massages regularly can place you at risk for scar tissue formation inside of the breasts which is known as capsular contracture (hardening of the breasts).

    During this time period, there may be some moderate pain, but it can typically be treated with your prescription pain medications. You may want to wear an athletic or support bra until the swelling has subsided (Bra information). Heavy lifting or straining should be avoided after surgery because this can cause the breasts to swell and increase pressure. Sensation in your nipples may be reduced temporarily, but should return to normal or become hypersensitive as your breasts heal.

    ONE MONTH AFTER SURGERY

    If you are still feeling a bit tired during this time don’t worry because it will take you a few weeks or months to feel completely like yourself again. Depending on the amount of physical exertion required to perform your expected duties, you should already be back into your normal rhythm at work. Exercise and workout routines may begin at this point in your recovery process with pain as your ultimate guide. Any activity that causes discomfort and/or pain needs to be avoided until further along in your recovery process. When you return to the activity, start at half speed and increase to your normal routine as long as you do not feel any pain during and/or the day after your workout.  Although exercising will not adversely affect your end result, it may temporarily cause more swelling immediately after the exercise that will subside over the next few hours. The majority of my breast augmentation patients are back to their regular workout routines within 4-6 weeks after surgery.

    During this period, sensory changes of the nipples and breasts are normal and only temporary. Typically, normal sensitivity will return slowly over time. Lastly, as sensation begins to return some patients experience a hypersentivity in the nipples and/or areolas. This is also completely normal and temporary, and is a sign that normal sensation is beginning to return to the breasts. Over the next several months many of the benefits of your breast augmentation surgery will begin to materialize and you will begin to enjoy the transformation to your new profile.

    At this point in time you will no longer be required to wear surgical compression garments. However, many patients choose to continue some sort of light compression clothing during this time period including spanks or similar spandex type clothing.

    Your breast massage routine should be continued for at least the first few months post-operatively. Massaging your breasts hastens the healing process and it will help to keep them as soft and natural as possible. Over-exertion, avoidance of performing routine breast massage or inflammation of the breasts for any reason can lead to an increased risk of scar tissue formation within the healing breast (capsular contraction). The mechanism of capsular contraction is still not well understood and its avoidance is critical to having a symmetrical, beautiful outcome from breast augmentation surgery.

    LONG TERM RESULTS

    All patients vary in their ability and speed to recover after surgery, but you can expect the final result from breast augmentation surgery to be evident within six months of surgery.  Your scars should begin to fade and diminish. Lastly, your breasts should be close to their final shape and size, signaling that it is at last, the proper time to begin shopping for new bras and swimwear.

    Several months after surgery there is only one thing that patients should be concerned about: capsular contracture.  Capsular contracture is caused by inflammation inside the breast pocket that can lead to hardening of the breasts, deformity, asymmetry and pain. Care must be taken for at least six months after surgery to avoid this complication. The best way to avoid developing this capsular contracture is to perform your breast massages routinely and avoid anything that could possibly cause inflammation of the breasts and/or your body. For this reason, it is critical to let your surgeon know about any dental work, colds, fevers, sore throats, injuries, breast pain or other surgeries you may be planning in the first six months post-operatively.

    To find out more about breast augmentation please contact us at 310-246-2355

    Contact us Today View Our Photo Gallery

    Comments are closed.