Just as important as it is to have a successful and effective breast lift procedure, it’s important to know how to care for your body during your breast lift recovery. Not only will caring for your body support healing, but it can help normal experiences like swelling and bruising subside faster.
Swelling and bruising are both common and normal parts of recovery after a breast lift. After surgery, your body will send blood cells, nutrients, and antibodies to the area, as part of the natural healing process. Essentially, this is responsible for swelling, as well as the accumulation of fluid in the area. Bruising is the body’s response to tissue damage that occurs during surgery, and it is caused by minor bleeding beneath the skin.
In this blog, we’ll give you our key tips to help reduce swelling and bruising during your breast lift recovery. While these tips will be helpful, you’ll also get personalised recovery advice from your surgeon, Dr Hunt, during your consultation in his Sydney Clinic.
1. Slow down: Lower your physical activity levels and get plenty of rest
Especially during the earlier days of your breast lift recovery, you’ll need to limit exercise, focusing on getting plenty of rest. You’ll be able to slowly resume activities as you progress through your healing, but you should still limit this to light walking only until your surgeon says you are ready to make further changes.
After a breast lift, the chest area will, of course, be particularly tender. As well as avoiding strenuous exercise, you’ll also need to avoid heavy lifting, and any activities that can put strain or pressure on your chest.
So, how does lowering your physical activity levels help to reduce swelling? If you begin exercise routines or overexert your body too soon after surgery, it can prolong the healing process, increasing swelling and even causing pain.
Being gentle with your body during your recovery will help swelling subside sooner, allowing your body the rest it needs to heal efficiently.
2. Wear your supportive bra: Reduce swelling and bruising with the specially-designed compression garment
Throughout the weeks of your breast lift recovery, it’s common to need to wear a specially-designed compression bra.
Your compression garment might feel a bit tight and uncomfortable at first, but it will be essential for managing swelling and supporting your healing tissues. After a few days of wearing the bra, most patients find that they get used to the feeling of wearing it.
The garment will apply a gentle, even pressure that keeps fluids from building up excessively.
Not only does it help to reduce swelling, but it can also help to reduce bruising by stabilising the tissue and allowing blood vessels to settle faster.
In the earlier days of your recovery, you’ll normally need to wear the garment full-time before switching to only wearing it part-time. You should follow Dr. Hunt’s advice to ensure that you can support healing, reduce swelling, and reduce bruising as much as possible.
3. Sleep on extra pillows: Keep your upper body elevated to help the swelling subside
While you sleep at night and rest throughout the day, keeping your upper body elevated can significantly help to reduce swelling. Elevation helps to reduce swelling, as gravity keeps fluids from accumulating in the chest area.
You can place extra pillows beneath your upper body to create a slight incline, or if you have access to a recliner, this can be a good option for the first few days. Just make sure that you are still comfortable with the incline and are not accidentally putting any strain on your neck or elsewhere on your body.
4. Apply a cold compress: Use ice packs to reduce swelling and bruising
Applying ice packs or cold compresses to the chest area can help reduce fluid buildup and soothe discomfort.
When using cold compress after a breast lift, it is often recommended to only apply it for 20-minute intervals. You should also be careful to avoid direct skin contact by wrapping the ice in a cloth or using gel packs designed for gentle cooling.
Cold compresses can be more effective earlier in recovery, so you may be advised to use them regularly during the first two days after your surgery.
5. Follow a healthy diet: Stay hydrated and limit salty foods
During your recovery, it can significantly help your healing to stay hydrated, eat healthy foods and limit salt intake.
Staying well-hydrated supports your body’s natural recovery processes and reduces inflammation. At the same time, salt causes your body to retain fluid, which can directly increase swelling.
Hydration helps to flush out any fluids that your body might otherwise retain, which can prevent fluid retention and reduce swelling. To make sure that you’re drinking enough water, you can keep a water bottle by your side throughout your recovery or aim for at least eight glasses a day.
To reduce your salt intake, be mindful of packaged and processed foods, as they tend to have hidden salt content. We recommend focusing on nutritious meals and snacks that you may want to pre-prepare before your surgery.
6. Take your medication: Follow instructions for prescribed pain medication or antibiotics
To aid in your recovery, you may be prescribed medication that can manage pain or prevent complications, like infection.
Pain medication should always be taken according to instructions, as well as other medications like antibiotics. Sometimes, medications can help to reduce inflammation, which can contribute to helping swelling subside over time.
Apart from medications, some supplements may also support your body’s recovery, which can help to reduce swelling and bruising. We recommend speaking to Dr Hunt about supplements during your consultation, as your suitability for particular supplements will highly depend on your personal needs.
7. Reduce heat exposure: Avoid hot showers, saunas and steam rooms
As comforting as a hot shower or bath may sound during your breast lift recovery, heat can actually encourage swelling by dilating blood vessels and increasing blood flow to the area.
To prevent this, you’ll need to aim for lukewarm water and avoid direct exposure to hot water in the chest area. Apart from showers and baths, you’ll also need to avoid hot tubs, saunas, and steam rooms.
Essentially, taking these steps to reduce your heat exposure is more about preventing an increase in swelling. However, keeping your body cooler will allow swelling and bruising to ease naturally without any heat-related complications.
8. Start moving: Take gentle walks to promote blood circulation
When you feel ready, beginning to increase your activity levels by taking gentle walks, either around your home or neighbourhood, can help to improve blood circulation. You should start with very short walks as you feel up to it, without pushing yourself too hard.
Improved blood flow aids healing and can reduce swelling by helping fluids move throughout the body instead of settling in one place. Getting your body moving can also prevent some post-surgery complications, particularly blood clots.
Discuss your breast lift procedure and recovery with Dr Hunt in Sydney
If you are thinking about having a breast lift procedure, you are welcome to contact our team to begin your consultation process with Sydney plastic surgeon Dr Jeremy Hunt.
During your consultation, you’ll receive much more information about breast lift recovery and instructions tailored to you.
Contact us today to arrange your consultation!