Will going to a sauna help remove nicotine from my body? Could the lab results determine if I would be safe for surgery?

Question

i want to get a tummy tuck and I just recently quit smoking about 3 weeks ago, and in those 3 weeks I've had a total of 4 cigarettes (I've been marking it in a calendar). - i exercise 2-3 hrs 4-5 days a week and go to the sauna for about 30 minutes every day I exercise. I read that going to the sauna could help with removing the nicotine from your body....is this true? will lab test results tell if i have nicotine in my body? could the lab results determine if I would be safe for surgery? Regards

Joshua Cooper, MD, FACS · Answer

I do not perform tummy tucks on patients that have smoked any cigarettes within 6 weeks of their operation. I highly recommend that you quit smoking completely before your operation. Smoking can cause serious issues with healing of your skin as well as your umbilicus (belly button). There is a urine nicotine test that can be ordered to see if you have nicotine in your bloodstream, although I have no personal experience with this test.  I know that quitting smoking is not easy, but there are so many benefits of not smoking in addition to better healing after your tummy tuck. I am not aware of saunas helping to rid your body of nicotine. Best of luck to you!

Karol A. Gutowski, MD, FACS · Answer

A sauna will not help remove nicotine. There is a lab test that checks urine nicotine levels. Your best bet is not to use any tobacco or nicotine products 6 weeks before and after a tummy tuck.

Aras Tijunelis, MD · Answer

The evidence against smoking (nicotine) is overwhelming. No physician should encourage, support or accept smoking.  Smoking affects every aspect of your body and it's ability to heal.  Best advice is not to find ways to "trick" the system, because the end result can be a bad outcome for you, and a very unpleasant situation for your surgeon. Please listened to your surgeon's advice.

Jourdan Gottlieb, MD · Answer

Smoking is a high level risk for all the lift procedures we do--face lift, tummy tuck, breast lift and reduction. The operation itself diminishes blood supply to the healing tissues.  Nicotine, by a completely separate mechanism further reduces blood flow to the skin, risking skin death. 3 or 4 cigarettes in 3 weeks may not seem like much, and indeed before surgery it may not be much. After surgery, however, a single cigarette can do permanent damage, and the period of risk is probably about a month.The only way to diminish nicotine levels is to not smoke.All the best.

Peter E. Johnson, MD · Answer

Actually nicotine will be present in the sweat, though there is no data to suggest that the sauna will get the nicotine out of your system any more than hyperventilating will sober a drunk person (yes alchol is present in your breath). There are blood and urine tests for nicotine, but this is not much help to you either. Smoking is a serious risk during tummy tuck, and the best solution is to stop.

Jason M. Petrungaro, MD, FACS · Answer

It sounds like you are overall a very healthy person who is committed to regular exercise.  Congratulations!  However, nicotine is one of a Plastic Surgeon's worst enemies because it can cause terrible wound healing complications and skin death.  It is imperative that you are nicotine-free before, during, and after your surgery until you are completely healed.  I would make you abstain from cigarettes for 6 weeks prior to surgery and then as long as possible after surgery (at least 2-3 weeks).  I am not aware that exercise or sauna treatments will reduce the nicotine in your body.  It has a half-life of approximately 30 minutes, but if you are a heavy smoker it can take a long time to metabolize out.  Sweating will do nothing, your body needs to break it down.  And then you need a good month of being nicotine-free in order to allow your arteries and blood vessels to relax (nicotine makes them clamp down which reduces blood flow to the tissues, which causes the tissue death I mentioned earlier).  I do not allow even 1 single cigarette slip-up.  If you smoke the clock starts over.  I would be very honest with your surgeon.  We can test you for nicotine either via a blood or urine test.  It will be up to your surgeon to decide if this is needed.  Hope this helps!

Tom J. Pousti, MD · Answer

You are wise to be concerned about the effects of any form of nicotine when it comes to increasing risks of complications associated with tummy tuck surgery. I am not aware of any beneficial effects of sauna when it comes to “removing nicotine”. In my practice, I would ask that you be completely nicotine free for 4 to 6 weeks prior to proceeding. I would rely on your history (hopefully, for your own sake, an honest one), more than any laboratory result, when it comes to timing to proceed. Best wishes.

Will going to a sauna help remove nicotine from my body? Could the lab results determine if I would be safe for surgery?

Answers (7)

More Tummy Tuck Questions

WE SEND PRETTY
EMAILS

Answers (7)

More Tummy Tuck Questions

How do I fix my distended abdomen? Is it my core strength or something more? (photos)

Can my crooked belly button be fixed? (Photo)

5 days after my tummy tuck and I feel so bloated. Is this normal?

I'm 4 weeks post op from a fleur de lis tummy tuck. I have some yellow puss coming from the T section of my scar.

Loose skin after tummy tuck. 8 weeks po. Should I be worried? (Photo)

Is it normal for your stomach to get flabby after tummy tuck when it was initally flat?

WE SEND PRETTY EMAILS

WE SEND PRETTY
EMAILS