How to prepare yourself for plastic surgery

OP. DR. YUNUS DOĞAN

Stop! In the name of health

Prepping for surgery involves more than getting a good night’s sleep and not eating or drinking anything after midnight the night before. Asking your boss for time off and planning transportation are important details to cross off your To Do list, but there are things you need to think about before you do any of those tasks.

You might think about arranging items in your home or hotel room for easy navigation post-surgery, but you should also prepare the room you never ever leave, your body. A strong body has a direct correlation with safe, successful surgeries and outcomes. You need to give yourself the proper tools to navigate and to heal from surgery. We will tell you five pieces of advice to follow about a month before your surgery date.

Stop smoking

Smoking kills everything. If you smoke before your surgery, you put yourself at risk for heart, lung and immune system complications after. In short, you could have a heart attack or stroke on the table. Why are you having plastic surgery if you’re gambling with your life by smoking? Quit now so you will live long enough to reap the benefits you’re sowing with your chosen procedure(s.)

We probably are not the first ones to tell you smoking is bad for your health and we won’t be the last. But truthinitiative.org wrote a beautifully blunt post about how smoking will eventually suffocate every good thing out of your life. In fact, smoking decreases blood and oxygen flow in your body. When blood and oxygen can’t flow to recovering surgical sites, healthy tissue dies and necrosis begins.

Stop drinking alcohol

You may feel like partying after making such an important decision about your surgery: you chose a procedure, found a doctor you vibe with and all the important boxes have been checked! All that time researching and deliberating is over. The planning is complete. Now who wants to do some shots?!?!

Not you! Well, you might WANT to, but you shouldn’t. Instead, prepare your body for surgery by drinking things that will add value, like water and sports drinks with electrolytes. Drinking water is always a smart choice, even when you’re not planning an invasive and traumatic surgery. It is also especially important in the month leading up to your procedure, when you can fortify your body to more efficiently handle surgery and begin healing.

Being hydrated prior to surgery means you will respond to anesthesia more favorably, increasing its effectiveness and resulting in the safest possible reaction to it. And if you’re wondering if water is important AFTER surgery, read our post about rapid recovery. You might be thirsty when you wake up.

Stop birth control pills

You may need to suspend your contraception before your surgery, depending on what type you’re using. You could be at a greater risk of developing blood clots during and after surgery based on three things: the method of hormonal birth control, your own personal risk of blood clots and the type of surgery you’re having. The complications and conditions may differ from a BBL to 360 degree liposuction or a tummy tuck, so check with your doctor now.

Healthline.com has a more detailed commentary on specific kinds of birth control and their side effects. Your surgeon will need to know any medication and/or supplements you take prior to surgery; discussing birth control should always be part of your pre-surgical communication.

Stop drinking herbal teas

Before we talk about herbal tea’s side effects, we should define herbal tea vs. true tea. Maybe the type of tea you drink is “true,” so you can keep drinking it. The Qi spills the tea on what herbal tea is made of here. In short, if your tea’s ingredients are just simply tea leaves and nothing else, you are drinking true tea. Congratulations! You can go boil some water now!

Many kinds of herbal tea can interact with anesthesia, causing excessive bleeding and/or swelling. Read this article to learn more about specific herbal tea flavors and their side effects.

Stop using Vitamin E

While Vitamin E is an excellent antioxidant that can enhance and fortify your immune system, beware. It thins your blood, resulting in a greater risk of excess bleeding during surgery as well as bruising during the healing process.

Some studies have shown that Vitamin E can hinder the body’s ability to metabolize Vitamin K, which could prolong recovery time. It’s best to press pause on this vitamin four weeks prior to AND AFTER your procedure(s.) As mentioned above, your surgeon should know about any medications and supplements you currently take prior to your surgery, vitamins included.

The last stitch

Now you know five things you need to do before you have plastic surgery: stop smoking, drinking alcohol, taking birth control, drinking herbal teas and using Vitamin E. Of course, there are other precautionary measures you can also take but these five are some of the most important. This handful of tips will help your body be in better shape than it is in now, before you go have surgery put it in the best shape ever.