What You Need to Know About Breast Augmentation Surgery and Pain Management
As you would expect from any surgery, breast augmentation surgery does lead to some post-op pain and discomfort. How you manage this pain will ultimately be up to you and your surgeon. There are a few different options for pain management in the first few days after surgery, although pain medications are the most common.
Methods of Pain Management
In the initial stage of your breast augmentation recovery, you will likely need some assistance with coping with the post-op pain.
At the end of your surgical procedure, you may receive an injection while you are under anesthesia. The medication is injected directly into the breast at the end of your surgery. This injection keeps you from feeling the pain of the procedure for up to 14 hours, which means that you won’t need to rely on narcotic pain killers much, if at all.
Some patients may benefit from muscle relaxing medications which can make you more comfortable as the body adjusts the the stretching due to the implants.
Often the use of cold packs in your surgical bra will help to decrease swelling along with decreasing pain.
Cautions Against Use of Narcotics
If you decide to take narcotic pain medications prescribed by your surgeon, you should only take those medications for the first two to three days after surgery. After that, the pain should be manageable enough to switch to over-the-counter medications, which have less side effects. Dr. Mosiello prefers Tylenol.
Using narcotics for more than a few days can cause many side effects, including nausea, loss of appetite, mood changes, irritability, and constipation. It can also lead to addiction and further use of prescription abuse.
If you are planning on breast augmentation, we can assist you in determining the best options for pain management after your procedure. Contact us today to schedule your consultation.
