Is it a good idea to start birth control before BBL? Worried about clots

Thank you for your question. If you are not actively taking birth control now, it's best to wait and start after surgery. Hormone therapy can increase risk of blood clots during surgery. And of course, It's always advisable that you consult and discuss this with your prescribing doctor as well as with your surgeon.

I would not start an estrogen-containing birth control pill, patch, or ring right before a BBL just to be on birth control. BBL with liposuction is a major elective operation, and blood clots are one of the risks your surgeon should actively screen for. Estrogen-containing contraception can add to clot risk, so many surgeons prefer that patients avoid starting it close to surgery, and some ask patients to stop it several weeks before major procedures depending on the medication and personal risk factors.

This should be coordinated with both your plastic surgeon and your OB-GYN. If pregnancy prevention is needed before surgery, ask about non-estrogen options, such as a progestin-only or nonhormonal method, and make sure your surgeon knows exactly what you are taking. Also discuss your full clot-risk profile: smoking or nicotine use, BMI, prior clots, family history of clots, long travel, varicose veins, and any hormone use. Your surgeon may use compression devices, early walking, hydration, and sometimes blood-thinning medication depending on your risk score. Do not start or stop medication on your own without both doctors agreeing on the plan.

Thank you for your questions, you need to suspend birth control pills before the procedure. I would suggest to be treated by board certified plastic surgeon with experience in this procedure, to get the best desired results.

Respectfully,
Dr. Emmanuel Mallol Cotes.-

Thanks for your question. It will be better to start the birth control pills after your BBL procedure and use other contraceptive methods till then. Please discuss your concerns with your Plastic surgeon who can guide you. All the best!

Dear Genius191099,
every plastic surgeon has his own preoperative protocol which he recommends to his patients. I would suggest you to discuss this with your plastic surgeon.
Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

It is absolutely not a good idea to start birth control pills before a BBL operation.
We advise you to give a break to the oral contraceptives before liposuction and body contouring operations.

Always best to ask your chosen surgeon their recommendations since they are doing your surgery. Unless you are using a clinic setting where you never get to see or discuss your surgery with the chosen surgeon, then you are on your own! In private practice setting the surgeon is usually available to respond to these types of questions. In my practice I would advise too forego starting BCP (pills) till after the surgery, but also avoid the possibility of pregnancy. Best to virtual with... GOOD LUCK - you may need it.

If it’s an option you’re probably better off starting birth control pills after your BBL if both are decisions you have options over.
Some plastic surgeons will not do the procedure on patients on birth control pills so will ask the patients to come off them. If you haven’t started yet and your procedure is in a month then you should probably wait until after your BBL or at least until you’ve had all your consultations and know what your surgeon prefers.
Delivering consistent quality liposuction and fat transfer results is more difficult than most people believe.
Liposuction results are permanent and irreversible.
The majority of plastic surgeons are not as good at these procedures as they may think.
To master body contouring requires years of dedicated committed work with a commitment to improving your results and from what I see there is something to be desired from a lot of BBL results.
Because there’s such a discrepancy in outcomes patients need to be very careful in choosing the right provider.
I recommend patients do this exclusively by having multiple in person consultations and preferably staying local whenever possible.
Avoid the temptation of having virtual consultations.
During each consultation ask each provider to open up their portfolio and show you their entire collection and before and after pictures. some may or may not be willing to do this. you should at least get them to show you as many pictures as they’re willing to.
An experienced surgeon should have no difficulty showing you at least 50 sets of before and after pictures and highly experienced surgeons will have hundreds or even thousands of before and after pictures of commonly performed procedures like the BBL.
Being shown a handful of preselected images which most likely represent the best results of the providers career is totally insufficient to get a clear understanding of what I rich results look like. for fat transfer it is also imperative to know how long after the procedure the pictures were taken. Early postoperative results can look very impressive but do not at all represent final results. After pictures should never be taken less than three months from the date of surgery.
Ask the providers to show you examples of excellent outcomes, average outcomes and less than outcomes. You may want to also ask what their revision rates are and asked to see pictures of patients who had revisions.
When reviewing the pictures look at all areas treated with Liposuction and look carefully for any evidence of skin contour irregularities. I asked the provider to review the pictures with you asking them to point out areas treated in areas not treated then look carefully at transition zones between treated and untreated areas. it’s very common for surgeons to treat the upper abdomen, lower abdomen, love handles and waist but completely leave the entire upper torso including the entire back and under arm area. depending on the thickness of someone’s fat distribution and how to proceed there is done this can leave transition areas that look like someone’s had partial Liposuction.
Bring in pictures of your own body from your knees to your shoulders wearing undergarments posing exactly the way plastic surgeons take before and after pictures. You can use pictures of yourself as a reference when reviewing before and after pictures.
Continue having consultations until you feel like you found the right provider who has sufficient skill and experience for your needs.
During the consultation you can also review your medical history and get firsthand answers regarding the decision to take birth control pills.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom MD