Reschedule Breast Lift and Augmentation Days After Quitting Smoking?

You should be free of any type of nicotine product for at least 4 to 6 weeks prior to breast augmentation/ mastopexy surgery. This holds true for other plastic surgical procedures that involve flaps, such as facelift thing and tummy tuck surgery. Nicotine behaves as a vasoconstrictor of blood vessels thereby decreasing blood flow to tissues ( that need to receive blood flow to heal after surgery). A decrease in this blood flow may result in wound healing problems... more

I request that my patients stop smoking 3-4 weeks prior to surgery and delay restarting for another 3-4  weeks.

Hi. In New York City, we really prefer that patients be smoke free for at least two weeks before having a breast lift with breast implants.

For breast implants, smoking may not be as much of an issue. The bigger issue is the lift. If it is a significant lift (repositioning the nipple), you are at risk for wound healing problems and losing the nipple! NOT WORTH IT! If it is a more minor lift, it likely won't be a big issue, but smoking may still worsen the appearance of the scars and make waking up after surgery rougher (more likely to cough, maybe higher risk of pneumonia). This is elective surgery and you want it to go as... more

Patients should be off all tobacco products (inluding nicotine patches/gum) for a minimum of two weeks before and two weeks after cosmetic surgery. This risk of wound healing complications, poor scarring, nipple/areola skin loss is much higher in patients who smoke during(before/after) surgery. Also, with breast implants, there is higher risk of capsular contracture (thick scar tissue) developing in smokers. The longer you can quit smoking, the better your chances of normal wound healing.... more

Yes you need to re-schedule. Smoking has a significant effect wound healing and will increase your risk of complications. This is elective surgery, it needs to be as safe as possible. Please tell your surgeon and re-schedule. Different techniques of breast lifts have varying degrees of risk to blood supply and healing. Your surgeon should be able to advise you the proper length of time. There is no proven correct period of time to be smoking free. For most procedures i would... more

Yes, you need to reschedule your surgery and let your plastic surgeon know.  You need to stop smoking atleast 2 weeks prior to your surgery if not 4 weeks.  Not even one.  Your complication rate is greatly increased as well if you continue to smoke. Good luck.

Dear Lulu, As a group, women undergoing combined augmentation and lift procedures are the unhappiest of all patients in plastic surgery and generate the largest number of lawsuits. I believe that if this group was limited only to smokers, the rate of complications would be astronomical. Smokers have a huge rate of complications NOT only because of nicotine and other chemicals interfering with oxygen transport to the tissues but also because of a chronic state of vessel spasms reducing blood... more

Hi Lulu, You should delay your surgery. Smoking tremendously increases the risks of breast lift with implant placement. Wound healing complications, which can include skin separation, skin loss, and nipple-areola loss, can be disastrous if they occur. I make all of my patients quit smoking at least 4 weeks prior to having a breast lift with or without implant placement. Because this is elective surgery, there is no reason not to optimize all conditions to minimize the risks of surgery.... more

I would advise you to reschedule your surgery as smoking negatively impacts healing. I have my patients stop smoking at least 4 weeks prior to surgery and also for 4 weeks after surgery. Since your surgery is cosmetic and elective, it makes the most sense to have it done under the most ideal conditions. If you have problems healing after your surgery, your scars may be more noticeable as well.

I have a very strict policy regarding smoking and any procedure that involves undermining and lifting. No smoking for 3 months ahead of time. Why? because the most common problem that I had seen was patients stopping ahead of time but starting up again too soon. After the procedure is the critical time to not smoke. I have seen too many patients who have started smoking again too soon after the surgery and have has significant wound problems. When you add implants to that mix it really... more

 TYhe degree of danger you take on in breast lifting after quitting smoking depends on many factors such as the amount of nicotine exposure, the degree of tissue undermining in your lift and your surgeon's experience.  In general, 4 days is too short.