BREASTENHANCEMENTMD.COM GREATBREASTS.NET Breast Enhancement: January 2007

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Smoking and Surgery

I know that quitting smoking is much easier said than done. If you are a smoker-no matter if social or not-and are considering breast augmentation or any other surgery for that matter, please read the following.

Smokers have a much tougher time with wound healing-why is that? Well, everytime you take a puff, you are depleting your body of oxygen. Oxygen is a life line-it carries a multitude of nutrients that are especially necessary for wounds to heal. It takes your body 3 weeks to be at 90% wound strength. We have seen patients (smokers) who are initially doing just fine with their sutures for about 2 weeks, and then they start popping them. Your body has run out of material to heal your injury-which surgery really is-it is trauma to your body. Now, there are smokers who do not encounter any difficulties-but that is definitely not a given.

Also, consider that a long term smoker may suffer from chronic lung ailments. In many of the longer cases, you may be intubated. If your airways are not clear, that can cause serious problems during your anesthesia.

Dr. Bednar is one of the few plastic surgeons that I know who will actually listen to your heart and lungs and take your blood pressure during the initial exam. If you are a smoker and he finds that your lungs are not clear, he may very well refuse to do surgery on you. He has actually stopped performing facelifts and tummy tucks on smokers-they just don't heal well at all.

Overall, if you are a smoker you run a higher risk of complications after surgery, such as poor and prolonged wound healing and higher rate of scar tissue formation. Why would you want to risk that - especially for costly elective surgery. You want the best possible outcome, right? I know it's hard to quit-but maybe consider cutting back-or better yet-this could be your best excuse ever to stop.

posted by Breast Info at 3:16 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Patient before and after photos

A few months ago, I went on a consultation for breast augmentation (will not say where) to see how this practice dealt with before and after photos. We receive many comments on our website photos (positive that is) and patients always comment that we have a plethora of before and after photos in our albums. There was not a single before and after photo on that surgeon's website (that part of the site was under construction and still is to-date). So, I was a bit curious whether I would find many in his office. Well, this is what happened-he pulled out a Sports Illustrated Magazine and showed me several swimsuit models. Mind you, I am in good shape-I work out every day but I am 42 years old and not 22. My body has held up relatively well, but I am definitely not 6 feet tall. I am 5.3. Any how, I almost could not contain myself.

The reason I am writing about this is that airbrushed photos are not reality. You need to see patients that have similar builds, shapes, whether the implants are above or below the muscle. When you come in for a consultation, we actually take a pre-op photo and have you look at that photo as a means of comparison to what is in the albums. I guarantee you, you will see someone with similarities to yourself. It is so helpful to see what the outcome could be-given your own preferences, such as size or type of implant. These photos are medical photos-they are not airbrushed-they are brutally honest. Dr. Bednar may point out certain things about your chest wall for instance that you may not have noticed so much until you see it in the photo. Therefore things are kept much more in perspective-ie your expectation can be so much better met than when being compared to a playboy bunny or a swimsuit model. I know I am not.

Sylvia

posted by Breast Info at 1:38 PM 0 comments

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Additional informative links for breast augmentation

I highly recommend the following sites for additional good and solid information on breast augmentation procedure.

www.implantinfo.com
www.allaboutimplants.com
www.lookingyourbest.com


Check them out and let me know what you think.

posted by Breast Info at 7:41 AM 1 comments

Friday, January 12, 2007

Exercising after Breast Augmentation

Happy New Year!!!

Many of our patients work out consistently and worry about setting themselves back after breast augmentation.

We do recommend not isolating the pectoralis muscle for 6 months to 1 year with exercises such as the pec fly, chest press, push ups, dips. Now, everyone is different-I have seen patients at the gym doing modified push-ups or going lighter on their weights when doing chest press. You have to listen to your body - if there is pain involved-do not continue, obviously.

What patients have to remember is that the implant will have to settle in the pocket after surgery-exercising the pec muscle will interfere with the settling process by keeping the pec muscle tight and the implant therefore high. The muscle has to relax (lenghthen) in order for the implant to settle. After the first week of surgery at your first post op visit, you will learn a massage technique to help you get the implant down-this will have to be done consistently and aggressively-there will definitely be discomfort-but it's necessary to help in settling the implant.

Here is what I suggest-start with light cardio after 7-10 days after surgery. Keep your heart rate down and time your work-out to 10-20 minutes and see how you do. Increase the time of your work-outs slowly after giving your body time to adjust. I was up to 30 min of cardio w/o breaking a sweat after 3 weeks out and kept that intensity for 2 more weeks after that and then increased intensity slowly after that. It is importanat that after your surgery, you do not break a sweat as that will cause increased swelling due to your elevated heart rate. Keep this schedule for a couple of consecutive workouts and then maybe start incorporating lighter weights, such as for arms, legs.

A lot of patients take body pump classes. Initially, you might just want to use the bar without weights and refrain from presses, dips , push ups-anything isolating the pec muscle.

Lighter weights for bicep curls - push-down triceps w/ straight bar is better than rope, you can do light leg workouts-stay with machines-that way you don't have to carry the weight plates around.

Altogether, remember-you will not lose muscle tone overnight-I was out for 2 weeks after my surgery and it took me 1 full week to get back to a semi-normal routine. Sometimes your body even welcomes the rest. I felt like I had no endurance at first-mainly due to all the pain pills that had to be flushed out of my system. I had also gained water( 5LBS) weight from the meds but the bloats went away after 1 weeks- no fun. But I went back slowly and my endurance level and strength slowly returned as well. I listen to my body and watch for changes!! You will get all the hints you need to modify your exercise routine to what you can and cannot do by taking it step by step and respecting what your body tells you.

So, no fears!

posted by Breast Info at 2:44 PM 1 comments