Can Smoking Cause Necrosis(tissue Death) 3 Months Post Breast Surgery?

Thank you for your question. Smoking before or after your surgery can increase your risk of developing complications including infection and wound healing problems. I tell my patients that it is ideal to stop a couple months ahead of surgery and then for a couple months after surgery. Please discuss with your surgeon what their guidelines are for your particular surgery.  Given your findings 3 months after surgery, I would visit with your plastic surgeon who can help assess what is going on.

Hello! Thank you for your question! The issue with nicotine is that it
also acts as a vasoconstrictor, clamping down of blood vessels. Blood
supply is always of great concern during any surgical procedure, but
especially in such a procedure as a mastopexy where the viability of the
nipple-areolar complex is obviously important. Since the vascularity to
the area is already tenuous since it will be raised by cutting around
the area, maximizing blood flow to the tissue is critical.  This remote from your initil procedure, it may not be the cause, but rather from the procedure alone causing the necrosis.  Typically,

we recommend at least 6 weeks of smoking cessation prior to and at
least 6 weeks after any surgical procedure. The longer, the better.
Nicotine always increases the risk for infection, nipple necrosis, poor
scarring, and
wound complications, as well as other health consequences including blood clots. The
anesthesia risk is greater with general anesthesia as well as pulmonary
issues/lung infections postoperatively. I would
discuss this with your surgeon prior to your procedure. Hope that this
helps! Best wishes!

In my opinion, unlikely that the limited “smoking” has caused the hardening in the breast tissue that you are noticing 3 months after surgery. Much more likely that this is related to surgical scarring or fat necrosis etc.

 Always best to have a new “breast finding” evaluated by your physicians. In-person examination will be necessary to provide you with a diagnosis and/or treatment recommendations.

 Best wishes.