Is It Safe to Take Vitamedica (specifically for Surgery Patients) Before and After Brazilian Butt Lift?

I think it is a great idea to take Vitamedica surgical supplements including their vitamins, arnica and bromalain prior to your Brazilian Butt lift. The formulation is made specifically for  surgical patients and eliminates several of the ingredients of multivitamins and supplements that can cause bruising such as Vitamin E, alpha omega fatty acids, flax seed or fish oil, etc.

We recommend the Vitamedica brand specifically for all of our patients.

For example here is some more information about Bromelain which is one of their ingredients: Bromelain is a type of enzyme found in high concentrations in pineapple plants (and other plants of the plant family Bomeliaceae). Animal studies and anecdotal evidence of the medicinal properties of this pineapple plant extract have brought to light its therapeutic value. Bromelain has also been shown to have low toxicity and produces little to no undesirable side effects.

Evidence from decades of research suggests that bromelain is effective at:

reducing pain
reducing edema
reducing inflammation
improving the potency of antibiotics.
All of these properties are related to important aspects of post-operative healing.

The FDA in the United States recognizes bromelain as generally safe, and has categorized it as a food additive. It is commercially available in capsule, tablet, powder, and liquid forms for oral consumption. The recommended dosage varies between 500 to 1,500 milligrams per day.

Evidence from early studies indicate that bromelain may be an effective pain reducer. Healthy adults showed a dose-dependent response to the extract, which reduced acute knee pain and appeared to promote their general well-being. Bromelain reduced pain when applied directly to open blisters in another study.

Bromelain may reduce healing time for soft-tissue wounds. Patients in one controlled clinical trial who took Bromelain had bruising and faster reduction of edema than patients who did not. Analysis of the results, however, showed that the effect fell short of statistical significance. Results from another study showed that patients who took vitamin supplements containing Bromelain had shortened wound-healing time than those who did not.

Bromelain enhances the action of antibiotics. An early study suggested that Bromelain makes tissues more permeable to antibiotics but the results were not statistically significant. Another study, in children, found that Bromelain significantly reduced healing time for sepsis by potentiating the antibiotics.

Studies of Bromelain’s toxicity have found it to be very low. Some reports of “gastrointestinal problems, headache, tiredness, dry mouth, skin rash, and unspecified allergic reactions” have been cited as possible side effects of high doses of Bromelain. Then again, some of these symptoms are seen with placebos. Higher doses have been correlated with stronger side effects. Overall, there have been few reports of adverse effects

If you are referring to the Recovery Support supplements by Vitamedica (Arnica Montana and Bromelain)  they are probably ok.  But as with everything you do around the time of surgery, clear it with your surgeon first.  If you like your surgeons results, you should follow all of the instructions they give you exactly and hopefully you will obtain similar results.  I always recommend that my patients take similar supplements when I perform the Brazilian Butt Lift and many other surgeries. 

Hello,

In general, if you are healthy with a balanced diet you will not gain much benefit from supplements before or after surgery.  Large procedures such as lower body lifts require a more careful evaluation of nutrition since the body requires a lot more to heal but also most patients that require lower body lifts for example usually have undergone some type of weight loss surgery which can affect their nutrition.  Some plastic surgeons actually place their patients on the supplements that you mention but I think in most cases they do neither hurt nor improve your healing parameters.

All the best,

Dr Remus Repta