Pre and Post-Op: What to Know About Your Facial Procedure
When it comes to your cosmetic procedure, pre and post-op care are just as important as the overall results. In fact, proper care, both pre and post-op, is instrumental for the best results. For your facial procedure, let’s go over what to expect, do’s and don’ts, and everything else vital to your pre and post-op care to maximize your results, minimize your recovery time and discomfort, and become your best self!
Early Pre-Op: First Steps
Once you’ve consulted with your surgeon, settled on your desired facial procedure, and booked the date, the next step is proper self-care and preparation.
Smokers: Smoking slows the body’s healing process by decreasing blood flow and inhibiting inflammation. Quitting 4-6 weeks before your procedure and staying smoke-free for at least 4 weeks post-op can decrease your risk of complications and help speed up the recovery process. It’s important to note that nicotine replacement, while safer than smoking, is still toxic. For best results, we recommend complete cessation and abstinence from nicotine for at least 4 weeks pre-op and 4 weeks post-op.
Roughly two weeks before surgery, patients should stop taking any blood-thinning medications, as well as any medications containing Vitamin E, diet pills and supplements, and aspirin or ibuprofen. You should discuss your medication list and physical history with your surgeon at your consultation.
Part of your preparation for a facial procedure also involves taking care of the skin on your face. For best results, we recommend a facial regimen with Vitamin C, Retinyl, and Moisturizing serums. This will help keep your face hydrated, moisturized, and ready for your procedure.
Pre-Op: Just Before Surgery
On the day just before your procedure, in addition to clearing out your schedule so you can rest and heal unimpeded, you should begin your antibiotics, as well as your Arnica (a holistic anti-inflammatory).
Antibacterial (or antimicrobial soap) is instrumental to your recovery. On both the night before surgery and the morning of, it’s important to wash your face thoroughly with this soap, as it will help minimize the risk of infection.
Continue your antibiotics and Arnica through the date of surgery, including the morning of your procedure. If you take an anxiolytic for your procedure, take that the morning of as well.
The Day of the Procedure
Don’t wait until the day of your surgery to ask your surgical team questions. If you have any questions or concerns in the days or weeks leading up to your procedure, be sure to contact your team without delay.
*Remember, communication and transparency are crucial to both a quick recovery and best results!*
As mentioned, your surgeon will tell you what medications you can and cannot take leading up to, directly before, and after your procedure, including the morning of. You should also arrange transportation to and from the facility. Depending on the procedure(s) performed, we also recommend having a loved one nearby for the first few days of healing. This can help the patient rest and focus on recovery.
Post-Op: Just After Surgery
Immediately after surgery, the most important things to remember are to keep the head elevated and to apply ice to help reduce swelling. As mentioned, we recommend having someone nearby for at least the first 24 hours post-op, to help the patient follow these two rules. Take any prescribed pain medications before you begin to feel discomfort–it’s easier to prevent pain than to try to control it.
Continue your antibiotics, Arnica, and any other medications as recommended by your surgeon immediately following your procedure. Try to restrict your activities for at least a few days post-procedure. It may take up to a week or longer to feel “back to normal”-at which point you can resume physical activity.
Post-Op: What to Expect After Your Procedure
Both bleeding and swelling are completely normal side effects of a facial procedure. Both should be easily controlled with rest, elevation, ice, and medication. If persistent bleeding or swelling occurs, contact your surgeon immediately.
As early as you can post-procedure, we recommend washing with antibacterial soap again. Continue your antibiotics, Arnica, and any other medications as directed by your surgeon. We also recommend the application of CBD restorative creams to help pain/numbness relief, moisturizing, and healing.
About one week to one-month post-op, you can discontinue your antibiotics. Remember to take the entire prescription, however, as avoiding even one dose can significantly reduce the efficacy. Continue your Arnica and CBD creams and consult with your surgical team about scar management.
Scar management: We begin scar management strategies about 10-14 days post-op. These include the use of sunscreen, gentle massages of the operative area, and the use of silicone-based gel to encourage optimal scar maturation. We continue these scar management strategies for up to a year post-op to ensure full scar maturation.
We also recommend patients start warm compresses around this time to reduce bruising. Your surgeon will tell you what compresses or apparel is best for your specific procedure. Continue use of these garments as recommended by your surgeon for as long as needed post-op.
Pre and Post-Op Recap
Early pre-op:
Quit smoking & nicotine use.
Stop taking blood-thinners, Vitamin E, ibuprofen/aspirin, and dietary supplements.
Begin facial regimen.
Ask any questions/clear any concerns.
Late pre-op:
Begin antibiotics, Arnica.
Clear out schedule to aid in rest and recovery.
Wash face with antibacterial/antimicrobial soap.
Day of procedure:
Continue taking antibiotics, Arnica.
For IN-OFFICE PROCEDURES, if you take an anxiolytic for your procedure, take that the morning of as well.
Keep head elevated, apply ice.
Days-weeks post-op:
Continue to wash with antibacterial/antimicrobial soap.
Continue antibiotics, Arnica. Remember to take entire course of antibiotics.
Apply CBD restorative cream for pain/numbness, moisturizing, and healing.
Start scar management.
Start warm compresses to relieve bruising.
Ready For Your Procedure? Schedule Today!
From face and neck lifts to facial implants, rhinoplasty, eyelid lifts and so much more, DeLuca Plastic Surgery offers dazzling results customized to your needs. We also take great pride in walking our patients through all the aspects of pre and post-op care. From answering your questions to outlining a customized treatment plan to standing by your side through recovery, DeLuca Plastic Surgery is about more than just results. Our over 30 years of experience is a testament to the personalized, professional care we provide to each patient who walks through our doors.
If you’re ready to experience a different side of cosmetic surgery, book a consultation with DeLuca Plastic Surgery today. We offer in-person, phone-in, and instant email consultations.
Choose the right experience for you and start on the road to changing your life today!
Post-Operative Care After Plastic Surgery
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Post-operative care after surgery helps patients achieve their optimal results. The mainstays of the first week of surgical recovery are skin care, rest, ice, elevation, preventing bruising, and controlling swelling. As patients enter the second week of recovery our efforts switch to focus on contour and scar management and massage. Specific recommendations are tailored to each surgery and patient needs. As an Amazon Associate, DPS may earn from qualifying purchases.
Elevation and Icing
Surgical recovery usually begins with elevation and icing. To make icing the face easier, we recommend the TheraPearl Reusable Hot & Cold Therapy Face #Ad or Eye Mask. These masks utilize gel beads to better focus the cooling effect of the mask. Elevation of the head can be achieved by sleeping on a couple of pillows, however, the Brentwood Home Zuma Therapeutic Foam Bed Wedge Pillow #Ad makes it easier and more comfortable to maintain the elevation in any sleeping position.
Skin Care
To help with pain control and better skin hydration during the healing process we all recommend the Restore and Repair line from Ageless Millennial Aesthetics. The Restore and Repair line of skin care creams and serums includes the CBD and hyaluronic acid-infused CBD Restorative Cream. These help provide the hydration and essential building blocks the skin needs to recover after surgery.
Discover more skincare recommendations by checking out our blog post: Skin Care In The Age of COVID.
Bruising and Swelling
In addition to icing and elevation, for all surgeries we recommend, most patients take anti-bruising supplements, such as VitaMedica – Bromelain with Quercetin and VitaMedica – Arnica Montana 30X, starting before surgery and continuing for about a month after surgery. These supplements help to prevent and resolve bruising after surgery.
Scar Management
At about 10 – 14 days after surgery, post-operative scar management strategies are begun. Sunscreens, such as Neutrogena Sheer Dry-Touch Sunscreen #Ad, help block the UV rays and prevent the scars from staying dark/too pink. Gentle massage of the incisions and operative area encourages blood flow, helps to breast down scar tissue, and keeps the scars from getting too raised.
Silicone-based scar tape is recommended to help encourage optimal scar maturation for breast and body surgery and scaring after minor procedures, Soothing Silicone Scar Tape from Estéticoceuticals is a waterproof, soft, silky tape that can easily be worn under clothes and only needs to be replaced every 3-7 days. For scar management after face surgery, Mederma Advanced Scar Gel is a clear gel that dries to a thin layer.
These scar management products are continued for the full scar maturation period of a year or more. Typically the darkness or redness of the scar is the last to disappear.
Bras
Breast support is critical after augmentation, reduction, and lifting procedures. Our patients recommend SheFit and Marina Bras for their unparalleled support and comfort.
- Post Op – SheFit Lounge Bra #Ad or Marena Flex Fit Bra
- Light Activity Bra – SheFit Low Impact Sports Bra #Ad or Marena Flex Fit Bra
Compression Garments
Compression after body contouring help to control swelling and contour irregularities that can result after liposuction and skin removal surgeries. The day after body contouring surgery patients are placed into a binder or Stage One compression garment. This garment is made of a stiff material that provides a high amount of compression. Patients often purchase additional binders or Stage One garments for their convenience.
Deluca Plastic Surgery recommends Marena Recovery #Ad garments. These garments provide firm, form-fitting compression to help control the swelling that occurs in the weeks after surgery. These garments are tailored to your specific operation.
- Abdominal Binder #Ad
- Stage One Compression Garments of the Abdomen and Back #Ad
- Stage One Compression of the Abdomen, Back, and Thighs #Ad
- Chin and Neck Compression #Ad
- Arm Compression #Ad
After about 2-3 weeks of wearing this garment, patients are encouraged to purchase Stage Two garments to complete their healing process. These later stage garments provide more even compression and are less bulky than Stage One garments.
- Stage Two Compression Garments of the Abdomen and Back #Ad
- Stage Two Compression of the Abdomen, Back, and Thighs #Ad
For men, our patients recommend Underworks and Marena compression garments. These compression garments come in a range of styles and have several models tailored specifically to the post-operative management of gynecomastia and FTM patients.
- Stage One (Weeks 1-2) – Men’s Extreme Chest Binder #Ad or Marena Recovery Vest
- Stage Two (Weeks 3-6) – Men’s Ultimate Chest Binder #Ad
- Chin and Neck Compression #Ad
Nothing But Neck – Kybella vs. Liposuction To Treat Neck Fat
Click here to contact Dr. Tauber to make an appointment for a free cosmetic consultation today!
Fullness of the neck due to excess neck fat can be treated with both invasive and non-invasive strategies. Reduction of this fat can give better definition to the jaw like and neck and make patients look younger and more fit.
Kybella
Kybella is a non-invasive injection that has been recently approved by the FDA to help improve the appearance of fullness associated with the submental fat of the neck in adults. Young adults, with a moderate amount of excess fat and good skin tone are usually good candidates.
During a office based Kybella treatment, the neck is first cleaned and numbed with topical lidocaine. A pattern is drawn on the neck and the product is injected into the fat of the central neck – dissolving the fat. The body then absorbs the fat over several weeks. There is swelling that occurs and may be bruising and some numbness in the area during this time. The injections are usually done once every six weeks and it usually it usually takes at least two treatments to achieve the desired improvement. (more…)
Do I Really Need A Breast Lift?
The decision to do a breast augmentation without lift versus a breast augmentation with a breast lift, however, is less based on patient preference and more dictated the saginess, the nipple position, and the ratio between the breast volume and the amount of excess skin that is present.
How Ptotic Are My Breasts?
The gold-standard method of assessing the need for a breast lift is the “pencil test.” Standing in front of a mirror, lift the breast and lay a pencil in the fold under the breast and allow the breast to settle over the pencil. Look at the position of the nipple in relation to the pencil.
The lower the nipples and breast are below the pencil and the more excess skin you have, the greater the chance you will need a breast lift and the more of a breast lift you will need. If your nipple and a majority of your breast are at or above the pencil (Normal), you will likely get a great result from a breast augmentation alone. Larger implants can shift this equation slightly for patients that have borderline ptosis (Grade 1).
(more…)Hollow Cheeks – Treatment with Implants, Fat Transfer, and Fillers
What Causes Hollow Cheeks
The aging, hollow face is typified by soft tissue decent and volume loss. These stigmata of growing older are manifest by the development of nasolabial folds, marionette lines, and jowls combined with a sunken mid-face and hollow cheeks.
In recent years, DeLuca Plastic Surgery has looked past skin tightening as the solution for all of these complaints and has recognized the role that volume loss contributes to the appearance of aging, hollow cheeks. This volume loss occurs as the soft tissue (and even bone) of the face resorbs over time as we get older or secondary to weight loss. To combat these changes we utilize a variety of techniques including several types of non-invasive facial fillers, fat transfer, and facial implants.
Facial Implants
Projection of the cheeks and mid-face is due to the interaction of the bones of the face and the overlying skin and soft tissue. Facial implants are used to add a more substantial foundation to hollow cheeks by adding projection to the bones of the face in patients that have experienced significant resorption as they age or who have always lacked projection. Skeletal implants are powerful tools to modify the framework of the face and can produce dramatic results. In our practice, these implants are often combined with soft tissue augmentation, such as fat transfer, to treat hollow cheeks – restoring harmony and symmetry.
(more…)
The Brazilian Butt Lift – Baby Got Back
There has always been a fascination with the posterior of women, however, over the last few years plastics surgeons have seen the demand for the Brazilian Butt Lift to skyrocket. This new found focus has still not eclipsed breast augmentation or liposuction as the procedure of choice, however, the influence of celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Nicki Manaj have caused demand to surge 58% over the last year.
Dr. David Tauber and DeLuca Plastic Surgery have seen requests for buttock augmentation increase year over year during he same time period. In response to this demand we have recently began offering our patients the world famous Brazilian Butt Lift.
(more…)Current Trends in Labiaplasty – The Edge vs. The Wedge
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Women seek labiaplasty for many reasons ranging from discomfort with intercourse and pinching in tight clothing to purely cosmetic reasons. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery there has been a significant increase in the number of these tissue reduction and restructuring procedures — an astonishing 48 percent rise in 2014 from 2013. Workout gear is becoming tighter and women are becoming more self conscious about how they look in lycra enhanced tight clothing.
Although there are variations in technique and equipment used, labiaplasty most often involves reducing the size of one or both of the labia minora through one of two basic techniques. Both techniques attempt to preserve the nerves to the skin within the mucosa instead of simply removing it. In addition, both techniques can be extended to reduce some of the excess clitoral hood.
The first technique is a straight-line (trim) excision. It reduces the excess tissue in straight line front to back. This technique is more straightforward and has the added benefit of reducing the unsightly thickened free border of the labia. There are variations on trim that include the Lazy-S Labiaplasty and the Extended Excision Labiaplasty.
The second most common technique is the wedge excision. It reduces a pie-shaped wedge of tissue from the central portion of the labia. The remaining tissue at the front and back is then brought together and closed. This technique preserves the free border, however, it is more complex and requires additional incisions to reduce the dog-ear that forms. There are variations to the original wedge resection including the the Z-Plasty Wedge Labiaplasty, the Hockey Stick Wedge Labiaplasty, and the DOVE (Double Opposing V-Plasty with Extended Deepithelizing) Wedge Labiaplasty.
The choice of technique is based on patient preference and is tailored by Dr. David Tauber to each patients needs. A detailed examination will help delineate the best surgical treatment.
Get more details on the management of swelling and scars in blog post: Post-Operative Care After Plastic Surgery.
Blepharoplasty with Fat Redraping – Solutions For Aging Eyes
Aging eyes are characterized by the development of wrinkles, fine lines, drooping skin, midface hollowing, and eyelid bags. These changes make patients look tired and angry. The bulging of the lower eyelids occurs as the tissue wall (orbital septum) that holds the fat in the orbit begins to weaken and stretch. Traditional blepharoplasty attempts to address this bulge by reducing the fat.
This approach to treating the aging eyes reduces the bulge, however, it can produce two unwanted effects. The first is an unmasking of midface hollowing that was masked by the fullness of the bulging lower eyelids. The second occurs as the face continues to age. Over time, the orbital fat begins to lose volume. This produces hollowing around the eyes. If the fat is reduced during a blepharoplasty, this hollowing is accelerated. This leaves the patient with a skeletal look that is difficult to correct.
(more…)
Clinical Diagnosis in Plastic Surgery by Dr. David Tauber
DeLuca Plastic Surgery would like to congratulate Dr. David Tauber on the publishing of the book, Clinical Diagnosis in Plastic Surgery.
Clinical Diagnosis in Plastic Surgery systematically presents a collection of entities, syndromes, and diseases that are diagnosed and treated by plastic surgeons, hand surgeons, otolaryngologists, oral surgeons, and dermatologists.
The goal is to document an extensive array of signs and visual clues that are critical to the diagnostic process, thereby enhancing the clinician’s ability to identify relevant diagnostic features and make correct diagnoses. Skill in recognizing deformities and disease processes by observation is of vital importance in plastic surgery, which is very much a visual surgical specialty. In drawing together key diagnostic signs, this book will spare readers the onerous task of searching through endless resources, books, and websites.
A helpful appendix details the various classification systems used in the book with the aid of appropriate diagrams. Clinical Diagnosis in Plastic Surgery is intended for students, residents, practicing physicians, and surgeons in all of the affiliated fields of plastic surgery. (more…)
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