12 Common Questions Answered About Recovery And What To Expect After Breast Augmentation / Breast Implant Surgery

If you are considering breast augmentation or breast implant surgery in London, it’s important to be your own advocate. Do your research and find a plastic surgeon who takes his time and discusses all aspects of the procedure with you, including the very important aftercare and recovery.

At Consultant Plastic, Aesthetic & Reconstructive Surgeon, Mr Allen Rezai’s Practice, the most integral part of your journey with us is your initial consultation. It is important for you to be fully informed, have all your questions answered and know what to expect in terms of recovery, prior to undergoing surgery. In this article, we share with you some of the common questions our patients ask during their initial consultation with Mr Allen Rezai. It is important that you follow your own surgeon’s instructions as it may vary to what we recommend to our patients.

After breast augmentation surgery it is important to keep the dressing dry thus, we advise our patients to use wet wipes to clean their upper body and maintain good hygiene until we see them for their 5-7 days follow-up.  From 7 days post-op you may take a shower, preferably not longer than 10-15 minutes. Baths can only be resumed 4-6 weeks after surgery, once the incision is fully healed from the outside this is to reduce the risk of infection. You may be provided with specific instructions based on the progress of your healing.

Depending on your recovery, you may start driving from 10-14 days after a breast augmentation surgery. This timeframe allows for the initial recovery period and ensures that you are comfortable and able to perform the necessary movements required for safe driving. The time frame may vary depending on your individual situation and healing.

The recovery time after breast augmentation varies for each individual. We generally recommended to take 1-2 weeks off work to allow for proper healing. Many times, if your job is office based and non-strenuous, one week would be more than enough for the initial recovery.

We advise our patients to wear a post-surgery / sports bra for about 4-6 weeks after surgery, to provide support and help with the healing process. If your implants are placed under the muscle, a breast band should also be worn for about a week, 10 days, to level the upper breast poles and prevent the implants from moving upwards with sudden movements. Both the bra and the compression band, if applicable, may be removed for an hour a day.

Following you 4-6 weeks follow-up appointment with us, you may start wearing regular non-wired bras but for underwired bras, you should wait 6 months as the wire can hinder the healing process and cause unnecessary complications.

After a breast augmentation surgery, it usually takes several weeks to several months for the implants to settle in place. The initial swelling, firmness and tightness will gradually subside, and the implants will begin to naturally drop and settle into a more natural position. Generally submuscular implants take longer to settle in comparison to subglandular implants. It is important to understand that the settling process varies between individuals, and we are not able to speed up this process. You need to be patient and allow your body to heal and for your implants to settle in place at their own pace.

We recommend waiting at least 4-6 weeks after your breast implant surgery before resuming exercise and strenuous activities. Once you’ve been to your 4-6 weeks appointment with Mr Allen Rezai, and he gives the all clear, you may ease into your regular fitness routine. Always wear a high impact sports bra and remember that it may take few weeks to months for you to regain the full strength you had prior to surgery. Always listen to your body, start gently, and work your way up over time.

The timing for resuming intimate activities after breast augmentation can vary based on individual healing rates. Generally, it is recommended to wait at least 4 weeks before engaging in any strenuous physical activities including sexual intercourse. Remember that everyone is different, and you may require more time to recover and heal, it’s important to listen to your body and resume intimate relations when you feel ready.

Aftercare is as important as the actual surgery and it is during the follow-up appointments that your healing can be assessed.  At Mr Allen Rezai’s practice the routine follow up appointments after breast augmentation surgery are, 5-7 days, 4-6 weeks, 9 months and thereafter yearly if the patient wishes. These appointments are NOT optional but essential for monitoring your healing process, checking for any complications or concerns, and assessing the final result of your breast augmentation. After the first year, annual check-ups with Mr Allen Rezai are recommended to ensure the long-term health and well-being of your breasts.

We advise our patients to NOT book any holiday until 4-6 weeks after the operation, this will allow enough time for proper healing and reduces the risk of complications. However, some of our patients are required to travel/fly for work and in these instances, we recommend waiting at least 2 weeks for short haul and 3 weeks for long haul flights after breast augmentation surgery.

It should be noted that the healing process continues for months and for some people up to a year after the surgery, thus it is important to follow the advice and instructions given at every stage after your surgery as this will certainly impact the end results.

We recommend that you wait with having breast surgery if you are planning to conceive within a year or two. It is ideal to complete your family first prior to having any type of breast surgery as changes during pregnancy and breast feeding may have some impact on your breast augmentation results. However, it is not unsafe to become pregnant after breast augmentation surgery, it is typically recommended to wait at least several months after the surgery before trying to conceive to allows for a proper healing period and give the body time to adjust to the breast implants.

Although some breast implants come with a lifetime warranty from the manufacturer, it does not mean that they will last forever. The reality is that no one really knows how long breast implants last. With the Mentor implants that we use, there is no need for routine replacement after a certain number of years, for some they can last a lifetime whereas others may develop an implant related complication and would require some type of surgery within few years of their initial augmentation surgery.

It is important to understand and accept that having breast implants would mean that you’d need to undergo further surgery at some point in your life, this can be for various reasons, either to address any implant related complication or to simply improve the size and shape of your breasts following weight loss, pregnancy, or natural ageing.

After breast augmentation surgery, scar care is an important aspect of the recovery process. You’ll be provided with detailed instructions on how to care for your scars during the first year after surgery. It is important to allow your scar to fully close and heal from outside before applying any silicone gels, creams, or sheets. We normally recommend waiting at least 4 weeks and many times, especially if you do not have tendency to develop bad scarring, there’s no need to apply silicone gel or sheets on your incisions as overtime they’ll heal and fade into a fine line on their own.

Remember, healing of scars is a gradual process and results may vary depending on individual circumstances. It’s important to be patient and allow your scars to heal at their own pace.

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