So much has been written and said about plastic surgery itself, but in the heat of the emotional excitement foreseeing the surgery, it is often forgotten to mention another important aspect of the surgery: leaving the clinic, and going back home and few first days after the surgery. If our way home is short, we should ask a trusted person to pick us up. Under any circumstances, we should not be driving ourselves after a surgery, no matter if it was eyelids lift, nose correction or breast surgery.
Many of the patients ask mainly about driving. The answer is simple: we absolutely should not be driving for a few days after the surgery, for our own safety. Our body coordination and our movements after the surgery are limited and also the medication we have been given can act as a depressant and slow our reaction time, so driving in that state is very dangerous. It is perfectly safe to be a passenger though: no matter if it is our car, taxi, or a bus. I would like to emphasize that it is an excellent idea to ask someone close to accompany us on our way back home from the clinic. It is worth finding such a companion.
Very often, patients go back home by themselves. In that case, we have to remember not to bring a big heavy bag to the clinic, only the few most essential thing in a very light bag. Very comfortable clothing and comfortable flat shoes are also a must. The best option would be sport footwear. On our way home, we will need to stop by the pharmacy to get our prescription filled, for we will be needing special drugs for a few more days.
And what to do after we are back home? Well, the best thing to do is just to rest. Forget about cleaning up, carrying your children, cooking, doing laundry or ironing (sounds lovely, doesn’t it?). It is always good to ask somebody to help us with with our hygienic routine. It is absolutely necessary to get help with washing and drying our hair.
The information above may seem a bit shocking, but I would like to add that every patient gets back to health at a different pace, hence each person’s healing processes are different and very individual. There are patients who are lucky enough to forget about all the pain as shortly as one week after the surgery. But some people are more sensitive and need more time to recover. It is important to keep in mind that recovery is equally important as the surgery itself. So, it is important to find a moment of solitude and concentrate on giving our body time to rest and when any doubts occur we need to see our doctor or consultant (a person like me) immediately or at least call to make sure our discomfort is just a natural process of recovery and not a call for concern. He who asks never gets lost….