Recently had a breast lift with implants. How long after surgery do I have to wait before swimming?

Thanks for your question. In general, I recommend to all my patients to refrain from submerging in water after breast implant surgery for a minimum of 4 weeks.  This includes bathing, hot tubs, swimming pools, as well as ocean and lake swimming.  I believe this helps lessen the risk of breast implant infection.  Should infection occur, it would usually require more surgery starting with the removal of the implant.  When a breast lift is done together at the same time as breast implants (breast augmentation), the incisions usually take a bit longer to heal, usually at least 6 weeks.  So I extend this advisory to my patients that want to swim to at least 6 weeks or until the incisions are completely healed.  I hope this is helpful.  I would definitely return to swimming pool water before ocean or lake in general because of high concentrations of bacteria in the ocean or lake.  Good luck!

Dear Tkbear23,you should wait until you are fully healed. But every plastic surgeon has his own postoperative protocol which he recommends to his patients. I would suggest you to discuss this with your plastic surgeon.Daniel Barrett, MD, MHA, MS 
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery  
Member, Am. Society of Plastic Surgery

Thanks for your inquiry, each surgeon has different protocols, so ask your surgeon.  I usually let my patients swim after six weeks, good luck.