By: Michael Chiaramonte, MD, FACS

Take a quick look at the Web sites for several plastic surgeons in your area and you will see some interesting differences in breast augmentation recovery times – they can be all over the map, from days to weeks to a month or two. Why the difference? It all comes down to what’s factored into the recovery period.

Understand What Counts as “Recovery”

Fact: Recovery is a complex process, so the term has many meanings.

Plastic surgeons talk about breast enlargement recovery in stages, not in terms of a clear cutoff point between “recovering” and “recovered.” Here are some stages of recovery:

• Mobility – feeling comfortable to get up and move around after surgery and soon after to go out in public
• Moderate healing – incision sites are closed and muscular healing has reached the point that you can engage in most of your day-to-day activities without significant discomfort
• Deep healing – being able to engage in even strenuous activities like exercise without risking damage to the surgical site
• Scar healing – after superficial and deeper healing is complete, scars start to flatten and achieve a color much closer to that of your natural skin tone

Recognize That Every Person is Different

Fact: Each of my Maryland breast augmentation patients heals differently. Genetics, age, exercise level, nutrition, history of smoking – all of these and plenty of other factors can influence your healing times.

When surgeons “sketch out” recovery times in broad terms on their Web sites, then adjust their projections after they review your health history during a consultation, they’re trying to give you a better sense of how long your recovery may take, but of course this is more of a guidepost than a guarantee.

Get Technical

Fact: While it’s true that a good surgeon will use techniques that help facilitate quick healing, this isn’t something you can tell just from looking at his or her stated recovery times.

A skilled plastic surgeon often will be able to explain in detail what kind of steps they take to speed healing – and the best way to know is to ask. Find out:

• The typical ages and recovery times of the surgeon’s patients. Use these facts to get a better idea of how you closely you fit the “average,” and whether you can expect those kinds of recovery times.
• Take notes during or after each consultation, to keep better track of what you talked about and evaluate the different surgeons more objectively.

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