Breast Augmentation – Tips For A Faster Recovery

Thousands of cosmetic breast surgeries are performed each year, also known as augmentation mammoplasty. As the surgical procedures get more advanced, the risks associated with this surgery have reduced drastically over the years. Coupled with increased awareness among the general population, more and more women are opting for improving the looks of their breasts.

In recent years, breast augmentation in Singapore has become hugely popular among women because of the life-changing benefits it offers. It helps women feel more self-assured, boosts their confidence, and helps them feel more comfortable with their bodies. It can bring a transformational shift in the person’s lifestyle, making it a worthy option for women looking to reshape, resize, enhance or reduce their breasts’ form.

The breast augmentation procedure is fairly simple, but it’s still surgery. If you’ve gone through a breast augmentation surgery recently, there are things you need to note and do for faster recovery and prevent any unwanted risks.

Surprisingly, some women take much less time to recover and bounce back to a normal routine after the surgery in just a couple of weeks, while others may take even a couple of months. It primarily depends on the person’s age, body shape, weight, health, lifestyle, type of breast augmentation, fitness levels, and any conflicting medical history.

For faster recovery, it is important to have the right mindset, approach, and the ability to follow care instructions given by your doctor in a disciplined manner. Moreover, it is also important to prepare your home and surroundings for a better outcome apart from preparing yourself.

Now, without further ado, let us delve deeper into some important tips for a faster recovery after breast augmentation.

Avoid Uncomfortable and Underwire Bras for At Least Two Months Post Surgery

It is important to stock up on comfortable bras for use post-surgery. Avoid uncomfortable and underwire bras for the first couple of months after breast augmentation surgery. Underwire bras can irritate your skin and potentially inflame your incisions. It can cause scarring around your sutures and increase the already existing mild pain around the incision.

Typically, sports bras and soft, supportive bras that don’t create pressure points around incision by wire are recommended. The bra and the fabric should feel comfortable against your skin and help accelerate the pace of recovery.

Avoid Submersion In Water

You must avoid submerging recently done incisions around breasts underwater. Avoid swimming pools, dipping in nearby fresh lakes, or even bathtubs until the wounds heal completely.

Why is this important? The incisions are fairly new, and the bacteria from water can cause infection, interfering with the pace of recovery and impeding the overall healing process. The better option is to take a warm shower to reduce the chances of infection and relax the sore muscles around the bust.

Avoid Drinking Alcohol and Smoking

Alcohol consumption and smoking need to be avoided a few weeks before the breast augmentation surgery and even after the surgery. It helps your body maintain optimal health, which is essential for faster recovery.

Alcohol dehydrates your body, increasing the risk of drug interactions, bleeding, and unwanted infections. Similarly, smoking will inhibit the optimal flow of oxygen-rich blood to reach and heal your incisions.

Sleep On Your Back

It is important to sleep on your back after the breast augmentation procedure, especially if you’ve undergone breast enlargement surgery. Post breast augmentation surgery, the implants are still getting acclimatized to your body and sleeping on the side, or your stomach can cause the implants to deflate, droop, or shift. Most of all, your breasts would be tender after breast augmentation and sleeping any other way than on your back would be uncomfortable.

Avoid Heavy Lifting And High-Intensity Upper Body Exercises

One of the important tips for faster recovery during this phase is to avoid heavy lifting and intense workouts, especially upper body workouts. So, don’t lift anything over 15 pounds, including babies. Heavy lifting can drastically increase the risk of bleeding and hematomas (the condition when blood vessels drip into the surrounding breast tissue). It’s also important to regulate your blood pressure and keep it within 100 to speed up the healing process.

Plan Ahead & Take It Easy

Even though the newer breast augmentation techniques have become minimally invasive, it’s still invasive, and it’s still surgery. You need to allow and give your body sufficient time to heal. It’s important to know about post-surgery care instructions and discuss them in length with your doctor before going in for breast augmentation.

So, if you’ve got a hectic schedule, need to travel, plan to remodel your kitchen, take your car for service, or have any major event coming up – plan ahead. Schedule your surgery around when you can give yourself enough stress-free time to heal.

Make sure that you’re not in a rush always post the surgery, and your body is relaxed. Too much strain, mental stress, strenuous physical activities, and very little rest can impede the healing process in ways more than one. Your body knows how to rebuild and repair, but you need to give it a comfortable space and time for it to happen. Don’t overwhelm your body, get back to the gym a week after the surgery, hit a rock concert, party all night, and so on – you get the point?

Set Up Recovery Area – Get Enough Rest

Many surgeons give as much importance to healing post-surgery as the surgery itself. It’s important to set up a cosy and comfortable recovery area for faster recovery and give your body sufficient comfort to heal. Whether it is your bedroom or your living space where you’re spending most of your time, ensure it is set up to support the recovery process.

Keep extra blankets, pillows and cushions around to keep you warm and support your body. Try to keep most things you often need around you at a hand’s distance to avoid moving around too much.

Keep reminders for your post-surgery medications to ensure you don’t miss a dosage. Also, it’s important to keep healthy snacks, TV remote control, water bottles, magazines, and books around you to stay hydrated, energetic, and entertained.

Don’t Miss Post-Op Appointments/Check-ups.

These pre-scheduled post-surgery check-ups are crucial. It helps the doctor determine if you’re healing as planned, if there are any underlying symptoms or issues that need medical attention, understand how you’re feeling, provide actionable inputs, and if any alteration to post-surgery care/medication needs to be made. Missing these scheduled check-ups can complicate things later on if any underlying negative development goes unnoticed.

Eat Healthily

Last but not least, eat well to provide your body with sufficient nutrition to heal faster. It is advised to eat a good amount of fruits, green leafy vegetables, and lean protein to prime your body for faster healing. Avoid junk foods and focus on fresh and healthy foods. These are the few important tips to help your body heal after the breast augmentation procedure quickly.

It is common to second-guess your decision of going for the surgery or feel uncomfortable for the first few days post-surgery – physically and mentally. There are times when you’ll get impulsive, impatient, and may even feel low. However, one of the most important ingredients for faster healing is to stay patient.
Give it some time, and you’ll come out of it with more confidence, self-assurance, and a brand new body profile you will be proud of.

Happy healing!