What can I expect in the post-operative period following revision breast enlargement surgery?

The following information is given to Dr. Gerzenshtein’s patients before surgery to inform them of a typical course after breast augmentation. Your plastic surgeon may have a different working environment, and his or her patients a different experience. Consult with your physician about their impressions of patient experience. On waking from anesthesia, you will find yourself in the recovery room with dressings and/or bra in place. You will be able to depart once sufficiently recovered from anesthesia. A friend or family member should drive you home and stay with you for the next 2 days to help you with activities of daily living. You will feel tired and run down for the first several days after general anesthesia, this will improve substantially over the first week. Discharge should be minimal over the next 48 hours; bleeding may occur with excessive activity. If dilute local solution was used (superwet or tumescent technique) pain and discomfort will be mild initially, it will increase and peak within two days, it will then subside over the course of one to two weeks, please use pain medication as needed to help. Nausea and vomiting in the postoperative period is not uncommon and has to do with the type of anesthesia used, and overall patient sensitivity to the various medications, it generally resolves within one to two days after surgery, increasing fluid intake, especially via one of the “ade” (gatorade, powerade, etc.) solutions available for sports use, combined with anti-emetic medication should minimize this problem. Use of opiate pain medication, combined with inactivity, and dehydration may lead to constipation, increasing fluid intake will help this as well, especially in combination with walking, and the use of the prescribed stool softener. Swelling and bruising peak within three days of surgery and gradually subside over the following week. Healing incisions will adopt a pinkish hue which should gradually fade over the next six months to a year. Some patients react to absorbable (inside) suture, small pustules or whiteheads along the incision may signal this, the suture may be removed in the office if the problems becomes bothersome. Numbness may affect the breast skin, and/or the nipple, most commonly this involves the lower pole of the breast skin, and resolves on its own within six months.