Important Information >
Routine operative and post operative experience after breast augmentation

On the morning of breast implant surgery, the woman should not have eaten or drank anything after midnight the night before. She will have her instructions and directions for the certified operating facility or hospital. She will meet with the nurses and anesthesia personnel and have her IV started and preoperative antibiotics and medications given. She will meet with Dr. Michael J. Brown and he will answer any last questions and go over the operative plan again and perform the operative markings. She will then be taken from the holding unit and into the operating room.

The breast implant surgery should last less than an hour and usually between 30-45 minutes. She will then be allowed to awaken from her anesthesia in the operating room and then transported to the recovery room. Dr. Brown will then speak with the family or significant others. After approximately 60 minutes she will be allowed to be discharged to leave the operating facility.

The night of the breast implant surgery and the following day are the most uncomfortable for the woman. To aide in the relief, Dr. Brown places a long acting numbing medication is placed into the chest area before the end of the breast implant surgery. Ice packs on the top half of the breasts above the nipples seem to provide some relief of the muscle stretching pain. Pain medications are provided to aide in tolerating the discomfort. It is important to realize that nothing will make the pain go completely away. The pain is usually well controlled and tolerable. A phone call check up during that first night will usually find the woman awake, walking around and talking on the phone. There may be some nausea which will usually subside within the first 24 hours. Anti nausea medications and techniques are used before; during and after the breast implant surgery to prevent this nausea from occurring. Extra anti-nausea medications can be prescribed if a woman has a history of post-operative nausea, vomiting, motion sickness or simply requests them.

On the morning after her breast implant surgery, she may sponge bath or immerse her lower half in the tub. On the second day after her surgery, she may remove the outer bandage and take a shower. Mobility will usually improve quickly and it is normal for most women to go back to work on the fifth day after her breast augmentation surgery. Obviously this is variable and it depends on the woman’s job.

She will return to office on or about the fifth or sixth day to have her stitches removed and to learn how to move or massage the breast implants. She will continue to move the breast implants for the next month. She may begin regular physical activity as tolerated on the tenth day after her surgery. This activity may hurt her sore muscles but it will not hurt her result. It is recommended not to start physical activity sooner because this may increase her blood pressure and increase her chance of bleeding. If she does have a bleeding problem at this point, she will need to have a second operation.

By the tenth day after her breast implants, she should have full range of motion and is able to do all exercises. Push ups may be attempted but it is usually still too early. It usually takes about a month to resume push ups or pull ups. Lifting a 20 pound baby is not recommended until the woman has little or no pain. If a child wants to be held, it is recommended to have the child crawl into the woman’s lap and be held that way. Lifting heavy objects, like luggage, closing airplane doors, babies into car seats, tennis etc, may all be performed as tolerated. Sun bathing is permitted as long as the incision is covered. No special wound care is required for the incisions, but creams and vitamins are permitted.

The breast implants will settle over time, and will look dramatically different over a period of a few weeks to months. The settling time is variable and depends on a woman’s unique characteristics.

The second post operative visit is typically at one month after the breast implant surgery. The next visits are then at 3-6 months, one year and every year after that if she would like to keep coming for visits. The after breast augmentation photos are typically taken at 6 months and then yearly.