When should I stop drinking before a tummy tuck and breast lift?

Hi Sexyshev, Thank you for your question. I usually ask my patients stop any smoking and drinking of alcohol about 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after their procedure. I usually ask this as any blood thinners can cause wound healing issues. Please check with your surgeon on how they feel about alcohol before and after surgery to be sure. 

When I meet with my patients we review an entire preoperative safety protocol including medications and what to stop. I ask them to stop drinking two weeks prior to surgery and sometimes longer.

Each Plastic Surgeon has their own view point on this and I would suggest you speak with your plastic surgeon. The reason that it is suggested that you stop or have minimal alcohol leading up to your surgery is that if can effect the metabolism (how fast the drugs last) of the anesthesia and pain medicines afterwards and can cause bleeding problems during surgery. Definitely do not drink and take pain medicines afterwards as it can cause you to stop breathing in certain circumstances.My suggestions to my patients is to have no more than one glass of wine or beer per day 2 weeks before surgery and preferably stop a week prior to surgery, resuming after pain medicines have stopped and you are back to your normal routine.#alcoholbeforesurgery

This is really a question for your surgeon since there are different recommendations. alcohol is a blood thinner and you definitely don't want to combine it with pain meds after surgery. However the effects of alcohol on blood clotting are probably short acting, but may be accentuated by other compounds in red wine.

In general I advise my patients to stop alcohol and tobacco use 2 weeks prior to surgery to allow the byproducts to clear out of their system. Each surgeon will have different opinions so its best to talk to your surgeon about what they want you to do. 

In our practice, we generally recommend stopping the consumption of alcohol 7 days prior to surgery.  Alcohol may play a role in reducing the ability of platelets to allow normal clotting when necessary.  The lifespan of the platelets is 7 days.  Good luck!

Good question. I think you will find varied opinions from surgeons. In my opinion, moderation is the key. A cocktail or glass of wine prior to surgery, even the night before, should not be a problem. Excessive alcohol consumption could cause problems with dehydration or interaction with anesthesia. Since you want your surgeon to be comfortable providing your care, ask your surgeon what he or she wants you to do. Best of luck.

Some patients like to have a glass of wine the night before to relax but there is typically no hard rule for when you need to stop drinking. If you do smoke while drinking, make sure you stop per your operating surgeon's preop protocol. Good luck!

Thank you for your question. Generally we tell our patients to limit alcohol consumption for 2 weeks prior to surgery. Hope this helps, 

Drinking alcohol is really not a problem before surgery as long as it is not heavy consumption.  We generally tell our patients not to drink a few days before surgery.