What recovery actually involves

This page sits where a patient story used to. We do not publish patient stories - testimonials about regulated health services are prohibited under section 133 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, and one person's account tells you very little about your own case. See patient stories for why.

What is genuinely useful is an honest account of recovery. Most people underestimate it. The consultation tends to focus on the result; the weeks that follow are what you actually live through.

The first 24 to 72 hours

You will feel worse before you feel better. Expect:

• Grogginess from the anaesthetic for the rest of the day. You cannot drive, sign legal documents, or be left alone that night.
• Pain that is usually described as soreness, tightness or pressure rather than sharp pain, and which is worst on days two and three, not day one.
• Swelling and bruising that increase for 48 to 72 hours before they start to settle.
• Nausea in some people after a general anaesthetic.
• Drains or dressings after some procedures, with fluid that is blood-stained at first.

You need an adult to take you home and stay with you for the first night. This is not optional and a procedure will not proceed without it.

Week one

The hardest week. Sleep is usually disturbed - after facial or breast surgery you may need to sleep propped up for several weeks, which many people find harder than the pain. Simple things are awkward: washing hair, reaching overhead, getting out of a low chair, driving.

Plan for it. Cook and freeze meals beforehand. Put what you use daily at waist height. Arrange help with children and pets. Assume you will do nothing productive.

When you can do things again

These are typical ranges. Your surgeon's instructions override anything here.

• Desk work: one to two weeks for most procedures; longer after abdominoplasty or large-volume liposuction
• Driving: when you are off strong pain relief and can perform an emergency stop and full head check without hesitating - usually one to two weeks. Tell your insurer if you are unsure
• Light walking: from day one, and encouraged - it reduces clot risk
• Manual work, lifting, gym: four to six weeks, often longer for abdominal or breast surgery
• Swimming or spas: not until wounds are fully closed, usually three to four weeks
• Flying: discuss with your surgeon; there is an increased clot risk in the early weeks

Swelling takes far longer than people expect

Most of the obvious swelling settles in two to six weeks. But residual swelling continues to resolve for months - commonly six to twelve months, and up to two years after rhinoplasty, where the nasal tip is the last area to settle.

This means the face or body you see at six weeks is not your result. People who judge their outcome too early often judge it wrongly.

Scars

Every surgical procedure leaves a permanent scar. The surgeon controls where it sits and how carefully it is closed; your own healing controls much of how it ends up looking.

A normal scar course: flat and pink for a few weeks, then raised, firm and red at around six to eight weeks - this is when people become alarmed - then slowly flattening and fading over twelve to eighteen months. Darker skin types and areas under tension (chest, shoulders, back) carry a higher risk of hypertrophic or keloid scarring.

Sun on a new scar causes permanent darkening. Keep scars covered or under high-SPF sunscreen for at least twelve months.

The emotional part nobody warns you about

A low mood in the first week or two after surgery is extremely common. A combination of anaesthetic after-effects, disturbed sleep, pain relief, restricted activity and looking swollen and bruised produces a stretch where many people regret having done it. It usually passes as the swelling does.

Knowing it is normal helps. If low mood persists beyond a few weeks, deepens, or you have thoughts of harming yourself, contact your GP. In a crisis call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or 000 if life is at risk.

When to call us rather than wait

Contact the clinic promptly for:

• Fever, spreading redness, increasing pain after day three, or discharge with odour
• One-sided swelling, or sudden swelling in a breast or limb
• A wound edge opening
• Numbness or weakness that is new or worsening

Call 000 for chest pain, shortness of breath, or calf pain and swelling - these can indicate a clot in the lung or leg. Also call 000 for any change in vision after an injectable treatment.

More detail: risks and complications.

Follow-up

Your aftercare is included and happens here, with the practitioner who operated. Reviews are typically at one week, six weeks, three months and twelve months, plus any extra visit you need. Aftercare is one of the strongest arguments for having surgery where you live - see surgery overseas.

Questions before you decide: Me Clinic, 4 Burke Road, Malvern East VIC 3145. Phone 1300 852 050 or (03) 9569 3511. Consultations as at September 2024, including GST: Specialist Plastic Surgeon $350, Cosmetic Doctor $150.

Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner. Individual results may vary.