Once you’ve decided to have plastic surgery and scheduled your procedure, the weeks leading up to surgery can bring a mix of excitement, anticipation, and plenty of questions. What should you have ready at home? When should you stop certain medications? Who will you need to help during recovery?
Preparing ahead of time can make the experience feel much more manageable. While your surgeon will give you specific preoperative instructions based on your procedure and health history, these 10 steps can help you get organized and ready for surgery and recovery.
1. Complete Any Required Medical Clearance
Depending on your health history, age, and procedure, you may need medical clearance or additional testing before surgery. Your surgical team will tell you exactly what is required and when it needs to be completed.
Take care of these appointments early enough that your surgeon has the necessary information well before your procedure. If you have questions about a medical condition or previous surgery, bring them up rather than assuming they aren’t relevant.
2. Review Your Medications and Supplements
Make sure your surgeon has a complete, current list of everything you take, including prescription medications, over-the-counter medications, vitamins, herbs, and supplements.
Some medications and supplements can affect bleeding or interact with anesthesia and may need to be stopped or adjusted before surgery. Synergy’s preoperative guidance, for example, instructs patients to stop aspirin and ibuprofen two weeks before surgery and notes that other medications, herbs, and supplements may also need to be avoided.
Always follow your surgeon’s instructions about what to stop, continue, or adjust. If anything is unclear, call the office before making a change.
3. Stop Smoking and Using Nicotine
If you smoke or use nicotine products, be upfront with your surgeon. Nicotine constricts blood vessels and can interfere with the blood flow your tissues need for healing.
Synergy’s preoperative instructions require patients to stop nicotine use before surgery, including cigarettes, nicotine gum, and patches. Your surgeon will provide specific guidance about when you need to stop and when it may be safe to resume.
4. Arrange Transportation
You won’t be able to drive yourself home after anesthesia, so arrange for a responsible adult to take you home from the hospital or surgical center.
Depending on your procedure, you may also need help getting to postoperative appointments until you’re cleared to drive again. Making these arrangements ahead of time means you won’t have to coordinate transportation while you’re recovering.
5. Plan for Help at Home
Recovery is easier when you aren’t trying to handle your usual responsibilities right away. Think through what you normally do in a typical day and decide where you’ll need some backup.
That may include childcare, pet care, meal preparation, errands, household chores, or simply having someone nearby during the early part of your recovery. This is particularly important after procedures that temporarily restrict lifting or other physical activity.
6. Prepare Your Recovery Space
Set up a comfortable place to recover before leaving for surgery. Keep water, your phone charger, medications, tissues, entertainment, and other essentials within easy reach. Loose, comfortable clothing and supportive pillows may also come in handy.
If your procedure requires compression garments, drains, or other postoperative supplies, follow the instructions provided by your surgical team about what you’ll need and how to use it.
7. Fill Prescriptions in Advance
The last thing you’ll want to do on the way home from surgery is wait at a pharmacy. Synergy recommends purchasing prescribed medications and necessary supplies in advance so they’re already waiting for you at home.
Keep your surgeon’s postoperative instructions with your medications so you and anyone helping with your recovery can refer to them easily.
8. Plan for Time Away From Work and Exercise
Recovery varies considerably depending on the procedure and the individual. A breast augmentation, eyelid surgery, tummy tuck, and combination procedure such as a Mommy Makeover will not necessarily have the same recovery timeline.
Ask your surgeon when you can reasonably expect to return to work, drive, exercise, lift children, and resume other regular activities. Then give yourself enough room in your schedule to recover without feeling pressured to rush the process.
9. Follow Your Eating and Drinking Instructions Carefully
Your surgical team will give you specific instructions about eating and drinking before your procedure. These guidelines are important for anesthesia safety and need to be followed exactly.
Synergy’s preoperative checklist instructs patients not to eat or drink after midnight before surgery, except for prescribed medications taken as directed with a small sip of water. Your instructions may be individualized, so follow the directions you receive from your own surgical team.
10. Ask Your Remaining Questions
It’s normal to have new questions as surgery gets closer. Use your preoperative appointment to make sure you understand what will happen on surgery day, what the first few days of recovery may look like, how to care for your incisions, when your follow-up visits are scheduled, and who to contact if you have a concern.
There’s no need to feel embarrassed about asking something that seems small. Feeling informed and prepared is an important part of going into surgery with confidence.
Preparing for Plastic Surgery at Synergy
Good preparation can remove a lot of unnecessary stress from the days before and after plastic surgery. More importantly, following your surgeon’s preoperative and postoperative instructions supports a safer, smoother recovery.
At Synergy Plastic Surgery, our team of board-certified plastic surgeons provides individualized guidance throughout the surgical process, from your initial consultation through your postoperative care. We encourage patients to ask questions, understand their options, and take the time they need to feel comfortable with their treatment plan.
If you’re considering plastic surgery in Austin, Round Rock, West Lake Hills, or Lakeway, request a consultation with Synergy Plastic Surgery to get started.
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