Breast augmentation

Aftercare

On discharge from hospital you will be wearing your sports bra over the dressings. We will provide you with pain killers to relieve any post-operative pain. After a general anaesthetic you should not drive for 48 hours. We will encourage you to take regular walks and maintain general mobility. You should not smoke.

We usually see patients after a week following surgery to remove all dressings and wound closures. You may then resume normal skin care and you should apply a proprietary moisturising cream to the wounds.

We will usually ask you wear a firm sports bra for three months following surgery. You should wear this at all times for the first month and may then leave it off at night for the second and third months. Towards the end of this period you will not do any harm wearing a normal bra for special occasions and particular clothing but for everyday use please continue with the sports bra.

If you have had round implants placed in the submuscular or subpectoral plane we will provide you with a firm elasticated band to wear across the upper part of the breast for three weeks following surgery. This will help stabilise the implants and prevent them from riding too high.

In the early stages following breast augmentation you will find your breasts are rather swollen and prominent in the upper part. This will improve as the implants settle into their natural position.

Providing you are wearing a bra you can return to normal activity as comfort allows apart from running or jogging which we ask you to avoid for the first two months following surgery.

 

Recovery

In general, exercise freely within the limits of discomfort following these guidelines;

You should not drive for 48 hrs following a general anaesthetic.

You should not smoke until the dressings have been removed when the wounds will be healed.

As soon as you can you should be doing lots of walking.

Introduce lower and upper body work after a few days increasing, within the limits of any discomfort, to a full exercise regime at two weeks except high impact work.

Impact work can be introduced at six to eight weeks providing you are wearing good support but we would discourage you from running or jogging on the road for three months.

The implants that we use have a textured surface to reduce the risk of capsular contracture. How this actually works is not known but it is believed that it is important that a mechanical bond develops between your body and the implant. The vigorous movement of high impact work may interfere with this bond hence the advice to avoid jogging.