Increased Risks from Breast Lift for Smokers?

In a breast lift/reduction, a tummy tuck, or a facelift there is a considerable risk of skin death and massive wound healing problems and resultant permanent scars. This is because the nicotine constricts the blood supply to the skin that is being further compromised by lifting and tightening it. Nicotine gums, patches and even second hand smoke have the same effect. You need to be away from ALL nicotine products for at least one month before and another month after surgery to minimize... more

Smoking causes constriction of blood vessels. Blood vessels provide blood and nutrition to the wounds while they heal. A breast lift operation requires many incisions. There is a tremendous amount of healing that must take place for a breast lift operation to heal well. Smoking greatly interferes with healing. The risks of complications, such as infection, wound healing, poor scarring, opening of wounds, are signficantly increased by smoking. Every surgeon is different. I personally require... more

Thank you for the question. You should be free of any type of nicotine product for at least 4 to 6 weeks prior to breast lifting 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... more

I strongly encourage you to quit smoking for 3-4 weeks prior to your procedure. I agree with several of the other physicians that smoking prior to surgery can lead to devastating outcomes. In general my patients are off of nicotine products and smoking for at least 3-4 weeks prior to a facelift, abdominoplasty and breast lift. It is likely safer to have a heart bypass procedure in a smoker than to have an of the above stated procedures in terms of minor complications. more

Smokers tend to have the highest complication rate.  I recommend to my patients to stop smoking 4 weeks before and the same amount of time post-op.

Hi. There are several ways to do a breast lift, and some techniques we absolutely will not do on smokers in New York City. But even the safest techniques carry increased risk. Some of our patients feel the best thing I did for them was getting them to stop smoking.

Hi Saggy Girl 46, As others have answered, smoking comes hand in hand with problems. You shouldn't be afraid of surgery .. it's the cancer stick that you should fear. There's no better feeling for me to nail it on a breast lift in a patient that has quit. Many use this as motivation so kick it and get going! Good news and bad news ... -the good news is that this is a great opportunity to quit smoking. -the bad news is that if you don't quit, not only should you not get this surgery but you more

Any exposure to any tobacco products, to include nicorette gums, etc., can lead to decreased blood flow to the healing tissues leading to potential complications. The complications put you at higher risk for infection, wound/incision seperation, and loss of tissue to include the nipple. I 'm sorry to be so direct but it is very important that you be made well aware of the risks. Best of luck with smoking cessation and your surgery. Dr Edwards