I Am Allergic to Codeine. Any Suggestions for Pain Control After Mommy Makeover?

Sensitivities and allergies are very common when dealing with patients who are scheduled for surgery.

I often have multiple medication's that I prescribe that help in giving different type of therapeutic solutions to patient's pain. This is called multimodal therapy.

Multimodal therapy often allows you to decrease the amount of narcotics that you take especially in the early postop. Which also helps and decreasing the side effects of narcotics such as: constipation & nausea

And example of this would be to prescribe extra strength Tylenol, Celebrex, gabapentin and Hydro morphone.
Depending on the initial reaction that you had with codeine a different narcotic class such as hydromorphone may help as it is similar to codeine but may be better tolerated in some patients.
There are numerous other narcotic class to mention as well, but it goes well beyond the scope of this question.

Its always recommended to discuss these issues with your surgeon at the pre-op visit and hopefully this will allow you to have the smoothest recovery possible!

best of luck

First, let your plastic surgeon know about your drug allergies and the type of reaction you get from them. For example, some people get mild itching that is tolerable, while others have much more severe reactions.

There's many ways to tackle pain control following surgery. Narcotic alternatives to codeine include: (Norco) hydrocodone/ (Percocet) oxycodone/ Nucynta (tapentadol). Flexeril is a muscle relaxant that may help with muscle spasms (if the breast implant is placed under the muscle, or if the 6-pack muscles are tightened during the tummy tuck). Some surgeons use a "pain ball" that slowly releases a longer-lasting local anesthetic over several days after surgery, while others directly inject the local anesthetic during time of surgery.

Overall, an allergy to codeine shouldn't prevent you from having surgery. But it is important to discuss it with your plastic surgeon prior to surgery to map out the best pain regiment for you. Hope this helps!

There any many different options available if you have an allergy to a particular drug. Dr Ngan works with highly qualified Specialist Anaesthetists who will contact our patients prior to surgery to discuss any allergies or reactions they have had previously to particular drugs. We will ensure you are given the appropriate pain relief suitable to you following your procedure.