After Cosmetic Surgery Care: Things You Should And Shouldn’t Do After Plastic Surgery

The skilled plastic surgeons at the South Florida Center for Cosmetic Surgery do everything in their power to help ensure patients achieve the best possible aesthetic results from plastic surgery. However, it is important that patients do their part as well. This includes avoiding certain activities after cosmetic surgery, especially the first several weeks of the recovery process. The following are three things you should never do in the first few weeks after your cosmetic procedure.

What Not To Do After Cosmetic Surgery?

Smoke

If you need another reason to abstain from smoking, this is it: smoking constricts blood vessels, making it difficult for the body to deliver nutrient-rich blood to the healing tissues in your treatment area. It also deprives the blood of life-giving oxygen, and instead fills the blood with noxious chemicals. Smoking can lead to several postoperative complications, including excessive scarring, poor wound healing, and other side effects.

Expose Incision Sites to the Sun

With proper care, the scars from your incisions should eventually fade to match the color of the surrounding skin, so they are nearly invisible to others. However, even 20 minutes of sun exposure can cause your incision scars to rise up from the surface of the skin and become red. Once this happens, it is nearly impossible to improve the look of scars. If you don’t want telltale signs of your procedure (i.e., red, raised scars), be sure to keep your incision sites out of the sun for at least six months after your procedure. You can do this by staying in the shade or covering incision sites with clothes or sunscreen with a broad-spectrum SPF of 30 or more. (Be sure to reapply your sunscreen frequently, especially after swimming or sweating.)

Ignore Your Plastic Surgeon’s Instructions

Besides the post-operative doctor visits, post operative care also includes what patients do at home during the surgery recovery. In general, you should follow all your plastic surgeon’s postoperative instructions as closely as possible to ensure you achieve the best results possible. This includes wearing any surgical garments (e.g., surgical bra, compression garments) for as long as directed by the surgeon, massaging the treatment area if directed, Pain management Рtaking any pain medications, antibiotics, and/or supplements as instructed, etc. If you ignore your knowledgeable surgeon’s instructions, you will probably not achieve the results you desire and potentially extend the recovery times.

To schedule a consultation with one of our knowledgeable plastic surgeons to learn more about your treatment options, please contact the South Florida Center for Cosmetic Surgery by calling (954) 565-7575.