Breast augmentation is both a popular and highly successful procedure that is done over 300,000 times per year in the United States alone. Some women, however, fear the procedure due to the belief that there is a lot of pain after surgery and that their return to work or normal activities may take several weeks. Breast augmentation surgery today, however, can put the patient back to a near normal schedule within days.
Breast augmentation, from a simplistic standpoint, is really a big 'pulled muscle'. In this
case, the pectoralis muscle on the chest is 'pulled'. Breast augmentation, in most cases, is the lifting up of this muscle and placing an implant partially underneath it. No breast implant is completely under the muscle or it would be positioned too high and the nipple would be pointing downward. As the pocket into which a breast implant is placed controls the final shape of the breast, recovery after breast augmentation is really muscular. From a physical therapy standpoint, how do you recover from a pulled muscle? Do you not move it...or bind it up and keep it from moving? The answer is.....use it! Early moving and stretching of an injured muscle is the key to a faster recovery after breast augmentation. You can't hurt the breast implant by using your arm and chest muscles and early movement will not be responsible for an implant 'getting out of position'.
INDIANAPOLIS
In Indianapolis, the approach to a no recovery breast augmentation program begins in the operating room. A dose of steroids is given at the start of surgery and a bioelectric device, known as Actipatch, is placed over each breast before the patient leaves the operating room. This device, which is worn for 48 hours after surgery, helps control pain and swelling. I then start my breast augmentation patients on range of motion arm exercises beginning the night of surgery as well as 800mg of Ibuprofen twice a day also. The goal is to get patients off narcotics in 24 hours, if possible, and be able to get out of the house for dinner or shopping the next day. While not every patient achieves this exact timeline for a 'rapid recovery', this aggressive approach helps make a breast augmentation easier to go through than ever before.
Rapid Recovery After Breast Augmentation
Dr Barry Eppley is a board-certified plastic surgeon in private practice in Indianapolis, Indiana at Clarian Health Systems. (http://www.eppleyplasticsurgery.com) He writes a daily blog on plastic surgery, spa therapies, and medical skin care at http://www.exploreplasticsurgery.com
INDIANAPOLIS
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