Just three aftercare essentials can help you navigate breast surgery recovery with little disruption.
Rest
Patients are sometimes surprised at how tired they feel after plastic surgery. But healing is hard work for the body! It requires a lot of energy, which leaves less for the normal activities of life. Therefore, the best thing you can do to help your body recover is to listen to it. If you sleep 9 hours at night and still need a nap, do it. To improve comfort, it is helpful to have extra pillows on hand. Pillows of different sizes and softness can be positioned around the head, neck, and body to ensure that sleep isn’t hard to come by.
Medication
Another reason you may feel extra sleepy for a few days after breast augmentation is that you’ll likely be taking prescription painkillers at least a few times a day. It is important to take medication as directed so that you don’t experience pain unnecessarily. Fill your prescriptions before surgery so you have them available when you return from the surgery center. If you are worried about constipation caused by pain medication, talk to your doctor. They may recommend a supplement to help avoid this side effect.
Help
It is unwise to attempt to recover from breast implant surgery without some help. First, someone will need to drive you home from the surgery center. It is highly beneficial to have someone stay with you for a few days, as well, and to drive you to your follow-up visits. Post-op recovery can feel much more pleasant when you have someone to take necessary obligations off your hands for a short time. For example, to care for young children or drive children to school and other activities. Healing tends to just feel better when loved ones are close and providing a bit of extra care, such as cooking healthy meals and spending time together.
Learn more about breast implant surgery. Contact our St. Peters office at (636) 896-0600 to schedule your consultation.