Recovery from Procedures
Consultations offered at our two convenient locations in Florham Park, NJ and Somerville, NJ
Understanding recovery from procedures is important whether you are receiving surgical or nonsurgical treatments. At The Peer Group, we provide a personalized set of instructions to help your body heal properly for the best possible results. Although the recovery process varies by patient and procedure, (1) following instructions designed for success is critical to ensure a smooth recovery.
At The Peer Group, our experienced board-certified plastic surgeons will walk you through every step of the recovery process so you can enjoy beautiful, long-lasting results. The Peer Group’s experienced plastic surgeons have decades of experience helping patients enhance their appearance with customizable body and face procedures.
Reaching your goals has never been easier. Contact our office or call (973) 822-3000 to learn more about how our simple procedures can help you achieve life-changing results.
Contents
About Recovery from Procedures
The recovery process is designed to help you achieve the best results after a surgical or nonsurgical procedure based on your lifestyle, medical history, current medications, and personalized treatment plan. Recovery often entails follow-up appointments, and our team believes you should have the proper support and supplies to recover fully. Both functional and cosmetic procedures–and even some noninvasive treatments–require social downtime, which means adjusting your social routine for a few days or longer. For this reason, we discuss recovery from procedures with each of our patients in-depth and provide tailored recommendations based on the requirements of specific procedures.
Types of Recovery
We can provide specific instructions based on your medical history and individualized treatment plan. While nonsurgical procedures typically require light recovery, surgical procedures are more hands-on. After most surgical procedures, you can return home after a monitoring period, but you will need someone to drive you home and care for you for 24-48 hours. It is common to experience some swelling or skin irritation around the incision sites afterward, including bruising while your skin heals. Based on your treatment plan, we will also let you know when to follow up with the office.
There are typically a few different types of recovery required by different types of procedures:
- Minimal downtime: Some procedures only require you to take the day to rest, or they even allow you to return to normal activities immediately afterward.
- Extensive recovery: You may need to take at least 2 weeks off of work to rest. You should be able to return to light activities after 2-3 weeks. Most patients can benefit from taking short walks to improve blood flow.
Recovery from Surgical Procedures
Recovery from Face and Neck Procedures
If you receive a face and/or neck procedure, you must keep your head elevated, avoid strenuous exercise, and limit sun exposure during recovery. We offer several different facial enhancement procedures to tighten the skin on the face and neck for a smoother, more youthful appearance:
- Facelift: We can remove excess skin for a smoother, more youthful-looking appearance.
- Mini Facelift: We can reduce mild signs of facial aging, fine lines, and wrinkles with less extensive adjustments.
- Male Facial Surgery: We can help you achieve a more masculine appearance.
- Rhinoplasty: We can reshape the nose to balance your facial features.
- Brow Lift: If you save droopy skin above your brows, we can tighten it to reduce fine lines and wrinkles.
- Blepharoplasty: To reduce under-eye hollows, we can remove excess skin and fat from the upper eyelids and/or reposition the fat pads beneath the eyes.
- Otoplasty: We can reposition and/or reshape the ears to balance your facial features.
- Neck Lift: We can reduce the appearance of muscle banding and droopy neck skin and improve the definition of your jawline.
- Neck Liposuction: If you have excess fat on the neck, we can remove it with gentle suction to preserve your surrounding tissue.
- Fat Transfer: To improve volume, fat can be excised from one area of the body and reinjected into another.
- Chin Augmentation: We can adjust the shape of your chin to enhance your facial balance.
Recovery from Breast Enhancement Procedures
Breast enhancement procedures improve the size, shape, and position of the breasts for a more youthful, perky appearance with thin incisions along the natural curves. Recovering from these procedures typically requires that you take about 2 weeks off of work to rest, and sleep with your chest elevated. Our breast enhancement procedures include:
- Breast Augmentation: We can increase the size of the breasts with implants and/or a fat transfer for a fuller, curvier appearance and beautiful cleavage.
- Breast Lift: If you have sagging skin, we can raise the breast mound to a higher position and remove the excess skin for a smoother appearance.
- Breast Reconstruction: We can reconstruct the breasts with your tissue after you recently experienced cancer and had one or both breasts removed.
- Breast Reduction: We can remove fatty and glandular tissue from the breasts to reshape them, creating a smaller breast mound to reduce back, neck, and shoulder pain.
- Breast Implant Removal:
- Gynecomastia: If you have abnormal breast growth from a hormonal imbalance, we can remove excess tissue for a smoother, more masculine chest.
Recovery from Body Procedures
Body contouring procedures can sculpt your figure by removing excess skin and fat for a smoother appearance. Recovering from body procedures may incorporate the use of compression garments or regular follow-up appointments. Some of the body contouring procedures we offer include:
- Tummy tuck: We can sculpt and reshape the midsection by removing excess skin affecting your body proportions.
- Liposuction: Gentle suction can remove pockets of exercise-resistant fat that do not respond to diet or exercise.
- Mommy Makeover: We can sculpt multiple body areas during a single procedure by removing skin and fat for a smoother appearance.
- Post-Weight Loss: If you recently lost weight, we can use specialized techniques to remove a significant amount of excess skin, a common issue.
- Body Lift: In a single appointment, we can remove excess skin from the thighs, abdomen, and lower back to create a smoother body.
- Arm Lift: If you have droopy arm skin, colloquially known as bat wings, we can remove the excess tissue with a thin incision along the underside of the arm
- Thigh Lift: We can remove excess thigh skin to improve how your clothing fits.
- Labiaplasty: We can reshape intimate areas to improve your physical intimacy and sexual function.
Recovering from Nonsurgical Procedures
Nonsurgical procedures can enhance your appearance with minimal downtime because they do not require general anesthesia or longer incisions:
- Injectables: We can use minimally invasive injectables to add natural-looking volume to your skin, reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles while subtly lifting the skin for a smoother appearance.
- Hair Restoration: If you have a thinning hairline or bald patches, we can reposition your hair follicles with a specialized technique to help you achieve thicker, more even hair growth.
- Fat Reduction & Skin Tightening: We can alter the structure of your fat cells with heat and laser energy to make it easier for your body to flush them out through the lymphatic system. Some treatments also tighten the skin so that we can enhance your appearance without incisions, scarring, or the lengthy downtime associated with anesthesia.
- Lasers, Light, and Energy: We can improve your skin’s collagen levels to diminish signs of aging for a smoother appearance and lasting results.
- Skin Care: We can recommend personalized skin care products to address signs of aging and help you care for your skin to prevent damage from free radicals and environmental factors that could affect your appearance.
Benefits of a Proper Recovery
Following your recovery instructions is important because it comes with several benefits, including:
- Accelerated healing process: You can heal more quickly when you follow your recovery instructions.
- Less discomfort: If you take your medication as prescribed and follow instructions, you can recover more comfortably.
- Less visible scarring: Taking good care of your skin can prevent damage and scars that affect your appearance.
- Longer-lasting results: If you take good care of yourself during recovery, you can enjoy lasting results. You will not need to worry about lasting side effects from sun exposure or injury from not following your instructions. This can also prevent you from having to undergo another procedure.
Support is also important for optimal recovery, and our team at The Peer Group for Plastic Surgery will be there to support you every step of the way.
The Importance of Your Consultation
During your consultation, we will ask about your medical history, medications, lifestyle, and any previous procedures you had to determine the best treatment plan.
Your consultation is important because we will need to discuss your goals openly so we can provide instructions on how to prepare for your recovery.
How Preparation Affects Your Recovery
Preparing for your procedure is just as important as your recovery process. How you prepare greatly impacts your recovery and the results you will achieve. This is why you must take time to understand your options and discuss your lifestyle so you can make the necessary adjustments.
Cost-Effective Recovery from Procedures in New Jersey
Depending on the type of procedure you had, we can provide specific information about how to best recover from it and provide you with the resources you need to recover fully.
Contact our office or call (973) 822-3000 if you have any questions about your recovery or the supplies you will need.
References
- Allvin R, Berg K, Idvall E, Nilsson U. Postoperative recovery: a concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 2007;57(5):552-558. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2006.04156.x
- Gouin JP, Kiecolt-Glaser JK. The Impact of Psychological Stress on Wound Healing: Methods and Mechanisms. Immunology and Allergy Clinics of North America. 2012;31(1):81-93. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iac.2010.09.010
