Getting Ready: Tips pre and post breast reconstruction
Pre Surgery Tips:
Stay active
Maintain a healthy weight
Care for your skin
Avoid cuts, bruises, sunburn, insect bites
Post Surgical Tips:
Attire-
Button down shirts or zip ups will be your best friends for the first 7-10 days
Meal prep-
Consider grocery delivery
Reach out to friends and family to assist in daily routine tasks for the first week after surgery
Compression-
After your post-op visit, if you are experiencing any swelling, sensitivity, seromas, etc.. consider investing in a good compression bra-
Prairie Wear (one of my personal favs)
Carefix by Tytex has some great post-op bras available for both elective surgeries and non-elective breast procedures
Stay active and exercise-
Participate in exercises once cleared by your doctor. For the best outcome, it is beneficial to be guided through exercises by a trained therapist for 1-3 weeks post-op to keep you on the fast track to recovery
Scar management-
This is an important part of the recovery process and one not to ignore
It is crucial not to start scar management too soon or when your surgical incision is not fully closed because then you could experience some adverse effects
A trained therapist can perform and teach you hands on soft tissue techniques for scar management
Other tools helpful to incorporate when in the scar management phase are:
Lotion! This is the 1st line of defense. Please don’t let your skin dry out. Any non scented lotion in fine..coco butter, lubriderm, cerave, etc.
Incorporate silicone sheets at night: Cica-Care and Mepiform are both good products. If your skin is very sensitive or if you have a reaction to silicone Oleeva is a great alternative
Scar cream, gels or oils: Skinuva, Mederma and Bio-oil are ones I have used and have offered some good results. Every individuals skin is different so it is important to find what works best for you
*(I have no disclosures to report or affiliations with the products mentioned above.)
