Recovering from breast augmentation is an important final step in your surgery. How you help your body heal can impact the final appearance of your procedure, and also reduce potential risks and complications.

The amount of time it takes each person to recover—and the amount of time needed before resuming regular physical activity—is based on a number of individual factors including the details of your specific breast augmentation procedure, your body’s natural ability to heal and your lifestyle choices. Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Eugene Kim will outline a recovery plan with you prior to your breast augmentation surgery and work with you as you heal to ensure a complication-free recovery that will allow you to resume your active life as soon as possible.

In the first few weeks following surgery, it is recommended to take a slow walk at least once a day. Walking will help reduce swelling, and will decrease the risk of complications. While mild walks can reduce recovery time, it is important to avoid strenuous exercise for about four to six weeks after your surgery.

Moderate to strenuous aerobic exercise will raise your blood pressure and cause undue stress on your breast implants before you’ve properly healed. This, in turn, may lead to bleeding and ultimately impact the aesthetics of your augmentation surgery.

Dr. Kim will monitor your healing in the months following your breast augmentation surgery and will gradually clear you to engage in more intense physical activity.

If you live in the Los Angeles, Beverly Hills or Newport Beach, California, areas and are interested in learning more about breast augmentation, please contact Dr. Eugene Kim at E. Kim Plastic Surgery to schedule a consultation.

Click here see more plastic surgery procedures and treatments performed by Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Eugene Kim on patients in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Monica and surrounding areas or call 310-271-6996 to schedule a consultation.

In Los Angeles, swimsuit season is one of the main motivators for women to request breast augmentation. If you are one of these women, you may be concerned that the presence of scars may diminish the benefit you get from your breast augmentation.

Remember that the scars from breast augmentation are small (1-2 inches, smaller for saline breast implants, larger for silicone breast implants), and generally heal up very well. Los Angeles plastic surgeon Dr Eugene Kim uses surgical techniques designed to minimize the scarring from the procedure, and we will give you postsurgical care instructions that can help them heal as faint as possible.

Ask yourself which breast augmentation incision location will give you the best concealment possibility. The transaxillary incision might seem good because it is not on the breast (it’s in the armpit), but when you are wearing a swimsuit your incision site will be exposed every time you raise your arm. This might include a volleyball game or waving to a friend or reaching up to shield your eyes from the sun.

For most women, the inframammary incision (at the crease below the breast) is well concealed most of the time. If you want to wear small swimsuit tops, though, this incision site could be exposed when you lie on your back.

The periareolar incision is the one that will be concealed most often. Because it is located directly below your nipple-areola complex, it will be concealed whenever you wear a top.

One last reminder: remember that you should not immerse your incision sites until you are cleared by your doctor, especially in a hot tub or in the ocean. Immersing your incisions can increase your risk of infection, which can lead to a number of potential complications, including increasing the degree of scarring you experience.

If you are considering breast augmentation and have more specific questions about breast augmentation you want answered, we invite you to schedule a consultation with Dr. Kim. Please call or email us today and get all the answers you need to make a decision about your breast augmentation.

Click here see more plastic surgery procedures and treatments performed by Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Eugene Kim on patients in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Monica and surrounding areas or call 310-271-6996 to schedule a consultation.

After any surgical procedure, the body will swell in the area where the surgery was performed. Swelling is the body’s response to trauma and is a natural way for the body to protect itself while healing. You will experience swelling after your breast augmentation procedure; however, the swelling should quickly subside.

Swelling will be at its peak for the first couple of days following your breast augmentation. After the initial couple of days, the swelling should dramatically decrease. You may notice a small amount of swelling for about four to five weeks. After the fifth week, swelling will typically have subsided.

Tips to Reduce Breast Augmentation Swelling

Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Eugene Kim will give you instructions to follow after your breast augmentation procedure. The post-operative instructions will help you maintain your comfort and keep swelling to a minimum.

You will be asked to wear a soft sports bra following your breast augmentation surgery. The sports bra will give you support, limit swelling and discomfort, and help speed your recovery. Sleeping in an elevated position will also help reduce swelling. You may find that sleeping in a recliner is very comfortable following breast augmentation surgery.

Applying cold packs to your chest is another great way to reduce swelling. Using bags of frozen fruit or vegetables is sometimes more comfortable than using ice packs. The bags of frozen fruit or vegetables conform to the shape of your breasts unlike ice packs that are usually in a rigid, rectangular shape.

Click here see more plastic surgery procedures and treatments performed by Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Eugene Kim on patients in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Monica and surrounding areas or call 310-271-6996 to schedule a consultation.

For women considering both breast augmentation and motherhood, the decision of whether to have breast implant surgery before or after childbirth can be a difficult one.

Although breast implants pose no risk to unborn children, pregnancy can significantly alter the shape and proportion of your breasts. Generally speaking, most plastic surgeons advise that women who anticipate having children in the near future wait until after the stresses and body changes associated with pregnancy, childbirth and nursing run their course before undergoing breast augmentation surgery.

While some women experience little change in their breasts during pregnancy, others undergo a dramatic alteration to breast shape and size. These changes can affect the appearance of women with existing breast implants or affect the surgical options necessary to achieve the desired results in women considering breast augmentation.

Depending on the extent of the natural body changes that occur during pregnancy and following childbirth, some women with breast implants require an additional procedure to compensate for the resulting loss or gain of breast volume.

A consultation with experienced Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Eugene Kim can provide you with the information you need to make the best decision for yourself.

Click here see more plastic surgery procedures and treatments performed by Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Eugene Kim on patients in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Monica and surrounding areas or call 310-271-6996 to schedule a consultation.