So as always, immediately after surgery, you’ll awaken in the operating room, and then you’ll be transferred to the recovery room for observation. We always watch patients for at least an hour or two before they go home just to make sure that their blood pressure and heart rate are stable. We want to make sure that you’re not experiencing any severe pain. Mild pain is normal. You should be able to tolerate food and water, and before you go, a surgical bra will be placed on you for support.
When you go home, your breasts will be mildly swollen. I recommend that you take a nap for two to three hours, and then when you get up, eat something solid, take pain medication if you need it, and get into a nice warm shower. Light activity that evening is fine.

The day after surgery, your breasts will continue to feel mildly swollen. I recommend that you continue to wear your surgical bra for support. Avoid any heavy lifting, exercise, or sexual activity for two weeks. Two days after surgery, breasts are still swollen. Again, recommend that you wear your surgical bra for support. Usually, we will take pathology during surgery. We’re just taking off your skin and a little bit of breast tissue. Those results are usually available within about two or three days after surgery, and we will call you to review those. Most patients are able to return to work on the following day, like day three or four. Again, heavy lifting, exercise, and sexual activity should be avoided.

So by 10 to 14 days after surgery, we see patients back in the office, and at that point, we have their sterostrips removed, which are the sticky pieces of tape on their incisions. Any sutures that are not dissolvable are trimmed or removed, and all the incisions are checked to make sure that you’re healing well. You can return to exercise as tolerated at this point, and I always recommend that you start out slow and work up to your normal level. Gentle, controlled motion is much better than quick, sudden motions. You can start doing some heavy lifting as tolerated. You can also go back to taking all of your regular medications, including any anti-inflammatories such as Advil or Aleve. We do give all of our patients a scar bone to use in a on their incisions, and I personally recommend continued use of a support bra for a total of six weeks after surgery. I found that during this period of time, as your incisions are doing the most healing, if you have support, then the incisions tend to heal up the best.

By six weeks after surgery, all of your swelling should have resolved, and at this point, as usual, there are no limitations on activity, and you can wear any garment that you’d like.
At three months after surgery, we like to see patients back for another evaluation. At this point, your breasts have settled into their final position. The scars are still typically prominent. This stage was just quite normal, and they should be just starting to fade.