No Pain, No Gain! …Not True With Breast Augmentation

Each patient I consult with regarding breast augmentation has a hurdle or two they must overcome to allow them to undergo the procedure and obtain the results they desire. For some, it’s the post-operative recovery restrictions, for others, time off of work, but for many, it is the concern over post-operative pain. At this point in my career, I have performed over three-thousand implant related breast surgeries, and I feel very confident in telling patients that most patients find the recovery less difficult than expected. However, there is no more powerful information than reports from actual patients who have gone through the procedure, so I decided to survey my patients after their breast augmentations.

The survey was provided to patients at their three week post-operative visit so that it was close enough to the time of surgery that they would remember details of their experience, but was far enough out that they were off of pain medication. The information I obtained mirrored what my experience has been; about thirty percent of patients said the day of surgery was the most uncomfortable and about fifty percent said the day after. About two-thirds of patients said on the day the pain was most severe, the pain was only a five or less on a scale of one to ten. All patients were off of pain medication within one week, and over half had discontinued the medication by post-operative day three. Remarkably, eighty-one percent of patients reported their pain was less than expected.

The moral to this story is if you can take a few days off of work and avoid lifting for three weeks post-operatively, you shouldn’t let pain get in the way of pursuing breast augmentation.

Categorized in: Popular, Breast Augmentation