Will smoking weed affect your breast augmentation?

YES.Smoking marijuana takes in both THC and carbon monoxide.  THC is a drug and in medicine, we always try to avoid negative drug interactions.  There are so many anesthetic agents as well as antibiotics and pain medication one is given around the time of surgery, and there is so little known about the drug interactions of THC with these various medications that it would be foolhardy to mix drugs whose interactions may be dangerous to one's health, especially around the time of cosmetic surgery.Smoking anything is very dangerous because carbon monoxide is a breakdown product of combustion.  This carbon monoxide can attach to one's hemoglobin molecule in place of oxygen leading to poor wound healing and suture line separation.  Interestingly, the hemoglobin molecule would rather carry carbon monoxide than oxygen, and therefore even a little bit of smoking can lead to a big problem before and/or after surgery.  

Most experts unanimously agree that smoking increases the rate of breast augmentation surgical complications significantly. Just about all plastic surgeons strongly recommend women to stop smoking and all nicotine products well in advance of breast augmentation with breast implants. Many plastic surgeons recommend stopping all tobacco products several months prior to surgery.Here is the reason why: the nicotine in cigarettes and other tobacco products (including Nicorette gum, patches, etc) is a vasoconstrictor, meaning it makes the Smoking is a significant multiplier of many potential complications following surgery and breast augmentation with implants are no exception. Nicotine from smoking causes blood vessels to vasoconstrict ( tighten up). Over time, these constricted arteries and capillaries deliver less blood to the breast tissue which is needed for normal healing. Smokers therefore have an increased incidence of higher likelihood of complications such as infection, and in particular capsular contracture (hardening and distortion of the implants). General complications of surgery such as blood clots, anesthetic problems such as pneumonia are also increased. A scientific article in the Archives of Internal Medicine indicated that, among all forms of surgery, quitting smoking eight weeks prior was never associated with an increased risk of complications.In young patients you will probably statistically avoid these complications, why tempt fate by increasing your odds that something bad will happen.On a long term basis, smoking also causes accelerated aging of the skin and loss of elasticity. Hopefully these reasons will help give you the will power and courage to stop smoking.

Both nicotine and carbon dioxide can decrease your oxygen supply. In my practice, the anesthesia team makes the final decision as to whether or not it’s safe to have surgery, so there are no guarantees that you'll be able to have your breast augmentation. The anesthesiologist needs to know about your smoking habits; he or she might express the possibility of some respiratory risks, such as an increased chance of bronchitis after surgery. For more information on this and similar topics, I'd recommend a plastic surgery Q&A book like "The Scoop On Breasts: A Plastic Surgeon Busts the Myths."