If Diagnosed with Anemia, How Long Before I Can Have Plastic Surgery? My Level is at a 10.3

Question

Vincent N. Zubowicz, MD · Answer

Modest anemia of and by itself is not necessarily a contraindication to cosmetic surgery if the operation loses little blood. However, the reason for the anemia should be established prior to proceeding.

Joseph L. Grzeskiewicz, MD, FACS · Answer

There are really 3 main issues contained in your question:

	1.  The first issue is what caused your anemia in the first place.  There are  many different types of anemia, and some have different treatments than others.  It is important to have a specific diagnosis for the anemia in order to guide treatment.  This is something your primary doctor should coordinate and treat himself or have a hematologist's assistance.  You should not have any elective surgery until this is established, treatment is underway, and the anemia is reversed and stabilized.

	2.  The second issue is what type of surgery are you contemplating.  Some types of plastic surgery have greater blood loss than others.  A tummy tuck or breast reduction procedure may result in the loss of a unit of blood; essentially what you would donate if you went to the blood bank.  Just like they won't let you give that much blood if you're anemic, you shouldn't have that kind of surgery until your blood counts are at safe enough levels to provide the reserve to withstand that degree of blood loss.  Other plastic surgery procedures like breast augmentation or eyelid tuck may not lose much blood at all, and we can allow slightly lower levels of normal blood counts safely for those.

	3.  The last issue to consider is what it will take to correct your anemia and keep it there.  This is something that should be done before elective surgery is performed.  Sometimes a person needs iron supplements, sometimes vitamin B, sometimes there is occult, or hidden blood loss that needs to be identified and treated.  Whatever the type of anemia, planning for its treatment and stabilization should be done before planning for elective cosmetic surgery.

	Good luck.

Jourdan Gottlieb, MD · Answer

The answer is as long as it takes to get your blood counts to a safe level. Your primary doc can prescribe the appropriate treatment depending upon the cause. Most times it takes several weeks before any uptick in blood counts can be seen. 

	Timing will depend upon the kind of surgery your are having. For eyelids, as an example, where no blood loss is anticipated, your surgery would procedure at the current hemoglobin level. For a TT, your surgeon would want to see a level of 12 or so.

	All the best.

If Diagnosed with Anemia, How Long Before I Can Have Plastic Surgery? My Level is at a 10.3

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If Diagnosed with Anemia, How Long Before I Can Have Plastic Surgery? My Level is at a 10.3

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Everything you need to know about Tummy Tuck

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.