Recovering After Cosmetic Surgery
Recovering After Cosmetic Surgery
From being pregnant to chasing babies, your body has been through so much. Now it’s your time to feel like yourself again. You have been dreaming about what your life would look like after finally making the decision to have cosmetic surgery and here you are.
My friend, that is a huge decision and one that I know you did your research on. From reviewing before and after pictures to scheduling consultations, you made sure that you were making the right choice for you when choosing a surgeon, am I right? Feeling confident in your body again is huge and I am so excited for your transformational journey!
When we see the before and after pictures, it’s easy to visualize what your results will look like. What we don’t talk about often enough is the recovery process. Yes, your surgeon is going to have recommendations on protocol he or she wants you to follow. Yes, you can go on TicToc or other social media platforms to see what other women have done. Yes, you can talk to your friends about their journey for advice. There is some great information out there. Equally, there is a lot of not-so-great- information out there as well.
When it comes to recovery, your lymphatic system is the star of the show. It determines how well your healing process goes. In fact, you may have even seen some videos or read some content about Manual Lymphatic Drainage and are aware of its benefits. What you may not know is that there is a lack of regulation when it comes to providers that perform this modality and there are a lot of people out there getting hurt by so-called providers after their surgery. It has been such an issue that I actually wrote a book called “Your Post Mommy Makeover Survival Guide” to provide women with information to make an informed decision when choosing a provider.
As a post-surgery specialist and a massage therapist of almost 30 years, I am passionate about helping women like yourself receive proper care. There are incisions and sometimes open wounds that we need to work around with extreme caution to make sure we are helping you and not hurting you. This is one of the main reasons why I do not believe in cavitation machines. The second reason is that there is no license needed and very minimal training required to provide this service. My friend, that is terrifying, and I do not want you in that situation. Besides the risk of infection, those things can hurt. Your body has been through enough trauma after surgery, and we need to work on replacing those areas of trauma with positive touch (yes, that’s a thing and a major part of recovery).
Although I have been trained in other Manual Lymphatic Drainage modalities, the method I prefer is Brazilian Lymphatic Massage. As long as your provider is a Certified Massage Therapist, has an additional certification in manual lymphatic drainage, and specializes in post-surgery care, you are most likely in good hands. Neither of these techniques should ever hurt, not even for a moment. That is one of the reasons I love my Brazilian technique. It is extremely soothing for your nervous system and my clients can’t believe how good the techniques feels, even when it hurt for them to touch their own body after surgery. My additional goals with lymphatic massage are to prevent fibrosis, prevent infection, smooth out any areas that feel “lumpy”, decrease swelling, and to help you have more consistent, easier bowel movements.
