With today’s lifestyle focused on immediacy whenever possible, it should come as no surprise that many cosmetic surgeons are now advertising a “weekend” breast augmentation. The tagline is that you can come in for surgery on Friday and be back at work Monday morning with no one the wiser. Is this a smart option, let alone a realistic possibility?
Getting Real about Rapid Recovery
Weekend breast augmentation, sometimes called rapid recovery breast augmentation, is based on the idea that drastically reducing the amount of bleeding during surgery and trauma to the surrounding tissues will enable patients to skip the surgical drains, put their hair up and go out to a celebratory dinner within a day or two of their procedure. It’s such a nice mental image and it’s easy to see why a woman would want to be able to enjoy her results so quickly.
In real life, though, placing breast implants is still a surgical procedure, and while it is performed on an outpatient basis, that doesn’t mean that you’ll be ready to go straight from the OR to a night on the town. There’s simply no way achieve beautiful results without making some changes to the surrounding muscle and tissue, and this requires a real recovery afterward.
Realistic Expectations
Does this mean that a quick recovery after breast enhancement is impossible? Not at all. With today’s advanced methods, most women find that they’re often up and about within a day or two after surgery. That being said, there will always be patients who have a slower recovery time, and that’s normal too. It’s also normal for breast implants to take some time to “settle” in place following surgery, so your final results may not be revealed for several weeks.
The bottom line is that it’s far better to find a skilled and experienced cosmetic surgeon instead of looking for whoever will perform your surgery the fastest. Remember, what you’re really looking for is beautiful results, and those will last much longer than a weekend.
Author: Dr. Joseph Castellano
Dr. Joseph Castellano is a native Floridian who grew up in the Tampa Bay area. After medical school and residency, Dr. Castellano returned home and has opened a practice in Tampa, Florida focusing on breast augmentation, abdominoplasty, liposuction, facelift, and eyelid rejuvenation. He is a member of the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery, American College of Surgeons, and American Medical Association
