Good day and thanks for your question. After surgery general anesthesia can affect your bowel habits. The use of pain medications (narcotics) can be very constipating therefore I always prescribe a stool softener with the pain medications for the first week to be taken twice a day. After any surgeon you should not be straining too much to have a bowel movement, nor should you be going longer than a week without evacuating your bowels. For this reason you should consult you certified plastic surgeon to discuss further.Drink lots of water and increase your dietary fibre.Good luck
Surgery and post-op narcotic pain medicine can lead to constipation after surgery. This is certainly something to discuss with your own surgeon. They are in the best position to make specific recommendations for you, including laxative medications. In general, we expect our patients to have near normal bowel habits, and to call us if any problems arise.