Whether you undergo facelift surgery, breast augmentation, liposuction, or another procedure, Dr. Zemmel generally advises patients to avoid alcohol for at least one to two weeks after surgery — and only after you have finished taking your pain medications.
How Long After Breast Augmentation Can I Drink? You should avoid alcohol for at least 1 week before and 1 week after the procedure. You might think an occasional glass of wine during recovery is harmless, but consuming alcohol while taking pain medication is dangerous.
How soon after surgery is it safe to drink alcohol? Following surgery it is generally advisable to avoid drinking alcohol for at least two weeks, and even then only after you have finished taking pain medication and any antibiotics you were prescribed by your consultant.
Drinking low to moderate levels of alcohol is unlikely to increase your risk of complications after surgery. However, the more you drink, the greater your risk. Even just two or three drinks a day can be enough to start having a negative impact on your immune system.
3–4 weeks after surgery
After about 3–4 weeks, a person should no longer feel much pain or discomfort. The swelling and bruising should begin to go away. Many people can return to normal activities, including potentially light exercise. They will likely need to avoid more strenuous activities during this time.
We recommend that our patients sleep on their back for at least 6-8 weeks. Adherence to this recommendation will ensure that the implants heal well and do not get displaced. It also reduces the risk of capsular contracture, which is a distortion of the breast tissue around the implant.
The goal is to allow the capsule to form in such a way that it is undetectable. Therefore, during the initial four weeks after surgery, breast augmentation patients should avoid overusing their pectoral muscles. Typically, this means lifting nothing heavier than 10 pounds.
General guidance is that you should avoid alcohol for at least 2 weeks after your surgery. In some cases, you will have either fully healed or been through the majority of the recovery process. For others, this may not be enough time.
ALCOHOL SLOWS HEALING
Excessive alcohol consumption is detrimental to wound healing because it significantly interferes with both the inflammatory phase and proliferation phase of the process. A study found that binge alcohol exposure impaired the production of a protein that recruits macrophages to the wound site.
Swelling. Swelling is a natural part of any kind of surgery. Alcohol has the effect of dilating blood vessels and can make your tissues even more prone to swelling. This is not only uncomfortable, it can result in poor fluid balance after surgery as well as poor wound closure.
Whether you undergo facelift surgery, breast augmentation, liposuction, or another procedure, Dr. Zemmel generally advises patients to avoid alcohol for at least one to two weeks after surgery — and only after you have finished taking your pain medications.
Here are other ways alcohol can affect the body: Healthline.com. As previously mentioned, we strongly ask patients do not consume alcohol post-operatively because it may affect the length of your recovery.
When to Avoid Coffee Before and After Surgery. The recommendation is to avoid regular and decaf coffee for 2 weeks before your surgery and no regular or decaf coffee for 1 month after surgery.
Generally speaking, you shouldn't consider going braless for at least six weeks after breast augmentation. Your breasts need to be thoroughly supported during this time to ensure optimal healing. After six weeks, you may occasionally go braless, but try to keep this to special occasions, and don't make it a habit.
Alcohol Dries Out Your Skin
When it comes to stitching you up from a breast augmentation and tummy tuck, dry and cracked skin can make it harder for Dr. Granzow to give you an even scar, resulting in an undesirable looking scar.
Drinking large amounts of alcohol reduces the amount of white blood cells called macrophages that chew up the bacteria and debris. Proteins that aid in closing a wound are also fewer in number with the more alcohol consumed.
Alcohol slows down the repair process of exercise-induced muscle damage by inhibiting the functions of hormones that usually aid this process (such as testosterone). For athletes with a soft tissue injury, it's even worse, as alcohol opens up the blood vessels and encourages swelling at the injury site.
An abundance of alcohol can harm the liver, whose job it is to break down harmful substances in the body. This can lead to hepatitis, jaundice and cirrhosis, which is the buildup of scar tissue that eventually destroys the organ.
Blood: Alcohol is eliminated from the bloodstream at about 0.015 per hour. Alcohol can show up in a blood test for up to 12 hours. Urine: Alcohol can be detected in urine for up 3 to 5 days via the ethyl glucuronide (EtG) test or 10 to 12 hours via the traditional method.
Limiting the amount of alcohol at least 2-8 weeks prior to surgery can help lower the risk of developing complications.
This is done as a precautionary measure. If there is excess water in your system during a surgery, it can lead to pulmonary aspiration. This means if your stomach consists of any water, it will enter your lungs and potentially block the airways and cause major infections such as pneumonia.
While you should wait a few months before wearing an underwire bra, it's fine to switch to certain styles of sports bras after the initial period of healing.
Heavy lifting, straining, and exercise should be avoided for at least 4 – 6 weeks after breast augmentation or until the patient receives clearance from her surgeon. Upper body exercises may be off-limits for even longer.
Lift heavy objects: Lifting heavy objects, even your children, in the 3-4 weeks after your surgery could negatively impact your recovery because of the strain it causes on your implants and incisions.