How to Reduce Pain and Recovery Time After Breast Implants Surgery?

There are several excellent points made here regarding pain and recovery after breast augmentation. Factors which can influence postoperative pain and recovery include:


Under the muscle is more painful than over
Larger implants tend to cause more breast expansion and pain
Meticulous and precise dissection of the muscle are important aspects of minimizing injury and pain
Intraoperative use of local anesthetics
Use of Pain pumps
Use of Celebrex as an anitinflammatory agent
Use of Valum or other muscle relaxants
Immediate institution of range of motion exercises: we institute the following regimen:





Rapid Return Exercises Following Breast Augmentation

Perform these exercises immediately in the recovery room and at least once circuit each hour while awake until your first post-operative visit. Although these are illustrated in the sitting position they can be performed in the standing position as well. Our goal is to progressively stretch the pectoralis muscle. If the exercises are not performed, the muscle tends to contract and shorten which may cause more discomfort (as is seen with a hamstring pull.) Remember: NO HEAVY LIFTING or SUDDEN MOVEMENTS.

Shoulder Roll
With your arms hanging straight down at your sides, pull your shoulders up toward your ears and roll your shoulders back slowly in a circular motion. Maintain an upright posture and sit at the front of the seat. Roll your shoulders for 10 to 15 repetitions in one direction before reversing direction for an additional 10 to 15 repetitions.
Arm Circles
While seated upright at the front of your seat, hold your arms straight out to each side and slowly rotate your hands in a small circular motion. Complete at least 10-15 revolutions in each direction, rotating forward, then backward.

Arm Stretch

This places the pectoralis muscle on full stretch. Place your arm over the head with your forearm resting on the top of your head while your hand reaches for the opposite ear. Avoid tilting your head. With the other hand, slowly pull on the elbow and hold it as you take a few slow breaths. Hold this position for 10 to 15 seconds with each arm.

I would say by and large it is not extremely painful, there’s always going to be some patients that have a significant amount of pain. I think that pain after surgery is somewhat determined by surgical technique and makes a huge difference in post-op recovery. I have found that the overwhelming majority of my patients either with a subfascial or a dual plane technique have very minimal pain in the post-operative period and are quite comfortable using narcotics maybe for a few days at most and then advil or motrin after that.

Recovery after breast augmentation varies from person to person as well as the technique utilized. It is very important in which plane the implant has been placed. If the implant is in the submuscular plane, movements involving the arms can cause pain and discomfort in the early postoperative period. In these cases, exercises of the upper body should be limited to 3 months after the surgery for best results. However, implants placed in the sub-glandular or subfascial planes can tolerate an earlier use of the pectoral muscles.
As a practitioner of the subfascial technique, my patients who have their implants placed under the fascia can go to work 2-3 days after surgery. They can start vigorous exercise in 6 weeks postop, however this is not a strict limitation. Since the muscle is not disturbed in these cases, the patient can literally start exercise the day after surgery, with almost no pain at all!
Proper pain management during surgery, meticulous and precise dissection, not cutting the muscle and administration of intra-operative local anaesthesia all contribute to a painless and smooth postoperative period.
Hope this helps,
Ali Rıza Öreroğlu, MD FEBOPRASEuropean and Turkish Board Certified Aesthetic, Plastic and Reconstructive SurgeonIstanbul, Turkey