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Overview on the recovery process.
We find it is useful to think of the breast augmentation recovery period as occurring in stages or phases. We have categorized the recovery into 4 phases in order for you to better understand the entire recovery experience. The 4 major phases of breast augmentation surgery include:
The first stage, or the Surgical Recovery phase begins as soon as surgery is completed and you enter the anesthesia recovery unit. The professional nursing staff in the recovery unit will make sure you come out of anesthesia gently and have the appropriate level of pain control before going home.
Let's get it started.
The Breast Recovery phase lasts about 2 to 5 days and focuses on post-op comfort. Once you arrive at home, you can begin taking prescription medications such as muscle relaxants and oral pain medications. There is a constant amount of pressure in the breast area after breast implants and muscle relaxants have been proven to work effectively. The combination of prescribed pain reliever and muscle relaxant is noteworthy for creating the most positive experience after surgery. A great number of patients can stop the pain medication after 2 to 3 days and can typically return to some activity, including light-duty work. Certainly, by 5 days after breast surgery the vast majority of patients have resumed limited work activity.
Most important phase.
After 5 days, you begin the Breast Renewal phase. This is the most important phase of the entire recovery process and involves a great degree of patient participation. The breast renewal phase focuses on breast shape and expansion by allowing the implant to settle appropriately. After the implants are placed, regardless of size, every patient must create additional space to accommodate their breast implants while making the breasts grow. Since there is not enough room initially, breast implants will appear high on the chest, and the breast may also look flat. It is important to begin breast massaging in order to relax the breast tissue and pectoralis muscle, reduce swelling, and allow the  breast implants to settle nicely. An additional tool employed is a breast band which will assist in implant setting. These techniques are important because we must have the breasts grow in volume so the appropriate cup enhancement is achieved while at the same time expanding the breast tissue.
Breast massaging starts on or about day 5 of the breast renewal phase and is performed for at least 5 minutes per side and twice a day. Initially, the massaging is done gently in the first few days, but by the second week a more vigorous massage technique will be encouraged. These breast massage techniques must continue to be performed by the patient in the comfort of their own home for a minimum of 6 weeks. All of these massage techniques are taught after surgery by our postoperative team of nurses. The Breast Renewal phase last until 3 months after surgery and overlaps with the Return to Activity phase of the recovery process.
Back to your routine again.
We allow patients to begin a gentle return to more vigorous activity after 14 days from breast surgery. This is when the Return to Activity phase officially begins. Before this time, we encourage breasts massaging and avoidance of vigorous exertion. Once this phase begins patients are allowed to perform limited physical activity like aerobic exercise and light weights. When performing aerobic exercise, we recommend not to raise your heart rate above 130 beats per minute. In some cases, if a patient wishes to perform a particular strenuous activity it is better to call our office and check with our office.
What is "Scar Massage?"
embrace® is a great incisions treatment.
embrace® Active Scar Defense is a NEW state-of-the-art treatment based on Standford clinical trials have have been proven to minimize the formation of scars. The dressings will benefit you by tension relief, stress shielding and silicone therapy. Dr. Aldo's delicate incision and closing techniques in surgery and the advanced embrace® scar therapy treatment is a winning combination for beautiful results.
Call us now at (480) 970-2580 or contact us online to learn more about adding embrace® Scar Defense to your breast augmentation incisions treatment plan.
Oh yeah. We're going out tonight.
Patients are considered healed from their breast augmentation surgery when the breasts have fully expanded to their desired cup size or when their breast implants have fully settled into place and the patient has been fitted for a regular bra. When this occurs, we tell patients they are cleared to live a completely normal lifestyle. We call this the Clearance Phase. The rate of healing is based on each individual’s ability to heal and the size of the breast implants placed. For some patients, especially those with elastic breast skin, such as women with a history of having children or breast feeding, the ability to expand their breast cup size and the settling of the breast implants occurs at a faster pace. On the other hand, patients without a history of pregnancy who have tighter skin should expect that implant settling and breast expansion will proceed at a slower pace.
We have also noted through our vast experience using breast implants that implant sizes less than 400 cc will more readily settle in an expedient manner. On the contrary, if your implants are larger than 400 cc then settling and breast expansion will occur at a slower pace. Therefore, patients with increased elasticity and implants less than 400 cc can expect to be cleared to full activity around 6 to 8 weeks. While patients with tighter skin and/or very large implants more than 400 cc can expect to be cleared and settled in 8 to 12 weeks after breast augmentation surgery. In addition, with tighter skin and larger breast implants you can expect to have a longer breast renewal phase and have to perform more breast massaging exercises to obtain full cup expansion.
We perform the most breast augmentations in AZ.
Dr. Aldo Guerra is one of the top board certified plastic surgeons in Arizona that has an artistic eye for giving patients a beautiful breast augmentation result. Every patient is different in terms of what look they want but he has all the training and experience to help them achieve their desired results. From natural to fake he sits down with each patient at their personal consulation and actually listens to them. Dr. Aldo takes breast measurements and develops a plan with the patient to help them get to their final result.
If you are interested in a breast augmentation then contact us today to get started.
(480) 970-2580 Call us today.
