Nearly every breast surgery, except for reconstruction techniques using tissue expansion, result in immediate and visible changes to a woman’s breasts. However, post-surgical swelling and other conditions require time to resolve. Given the soft nature of breast tissue, your breasts will settle a bit over time, resulting in their final appearance anywhere from a few weeks to a few months following surgery. In addition, just as any part of your body changes through time, aging, and with weight fluctuations, so too will your breasts. Therefore, while nearly all breast surgery is permanent, the appearance of your breasts will change over time.
Recovery following breast surgery is variable based on a number of things.
A discussion of the recovery process relative to the specific breast surgery procedures discussed in this article is included with each procedure. This includes general information of how long your recovery is expected to take, what you will experience during your recovery, and your obligations as a patient. The specifics of your recovery are part of the informed consent process you will undergo prior to consenting to surgery. If you have any questions at all, ask them directly to your cosmetic surgeon and his or her staff, and keep asking questions until you get answers you understand. You must, however, accept and exhibit patience. There are trade-offs to quick recoveries and those are likely to affect outcomes and risks to your health. Therefore, follow all of the instructions you are given and accept the various stages of recovery you will experience. When in recovery, returning to a normal daily routine seems very far away. But once you do return to your normal daily routine, the time invested in your recovery will be a small investment and a brief memory, necessary to achieve your goals.
Each procedure has specific considerations for postoperative care that are included with each breast surgery procedure discussed in this article. How you specifically should care for your breasts will be defined by your plastic surgeon in the informed consent process. In general, regardless of the breast surgery procedure you will have, it is important to do a few things.
While it is important to properly care for your breasts, having breast surgery will not limit your physical ability once you have recovered. Therefore, don’t use breast surgery as an excuse not to do the things that you know you can do. The potential for serious injury comes from truly pushing your limits or from accidents, not from normal and accepted physical activity.
Breast surgery carries the same risks as any surgical procedure. These include: poor healing of incisions, bleeding, infection, pulmonary emboli, anesthesia complications, and unexpected complications related to individual procedures. The potential to develop these complications following breast surgery is related to your overall health and the extent of your procedure. They cannot in any way be fully predicted. Additional complications include a temporary or permanent loss of sensation in the breast or nipple, asymmetry, and risks related to each procedure specifically. For example, the use of breast implants has the added risk of capsular contracture, and implant rupture, leaking, or deflation. Therefore, to minimize your risk of any complication, follow all of the instructions you are given, to the letter. If you slip-for example, you take an aspirin or have a cigarette when instructed not to- make certain to tell your cosmetic surgeon right away. For your safety, your surgery may need to be postponed. Waiting an extra week or more to undergo surgery is certainly a fair trade-off to avoiding what has been scientifically proven to increase the potential for complications. If you fail to follow instructions that you are given after surgery, tell your plastic surgeon right away.
You and your cosmetic surgeon will need to evaluate your condition, perhaps revise your instructions, and review all of your instructions once again, so that you understand and accept that the imperative for good results and good healing requires your cooperation. Scars are not a risk of breast surgery; they are to be expected. However, how you heal and the formation of irregular scars is a risk that can often be carefully controlled. This is very much in your control and requires following all of the instructions that you are given regarding wound care and healing. Also, a breast that does not fully appear or feel completely natural is not a risk of breast surgery. This is one of the trade-offs you must consider when electing some breast surgery procedures.
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