Rest is essential to the healing process. While it is natural to want to begin taking steps to maintain and enhance your surgical results right away, it is important to remember that those results can take months to finalize and too much or overly vigorous activity will delay or alter the desirability of those results. This makes taking time to allow your body to heal one of the best ways to ensure your results are in-line with your desires.
If you are considering plastic surgery in Scottsdale or surrounding areas of Arizona, please contact John J. Corey, MD online or by calling 480-767-7700 today to schedule your initial consultation.
An Exercise Timeline
Recovery from plastic surgery depends on a myriad of factors including the type of procedure you have had, your body’s natural healing response, and how well you follow our pre and postoperative instructions. This makes it very difficult to create a timeline that is applicable to everyone. Dr. Corey will work directly with you before and after your procedure to ensure you are only resuming actives when your body is ready, but as a general rule you should plan on resting for at least one to two days after surgery before beginning even the most modest of exercise routines.
After a few days of rest, resuming exercise following plastic surgery may look something like:
- Days 3-5 – light activity such as gentle walks.
- Days 7-14 – longer walks and some stationary cardio, but no bouncing.
- Weeks 2-4 – a gradual return to more progressive forms of exercise in areas of the body that did not undergo surgery. Maintain walking and light cardio, but continue to refrain from jostling the surgical area.
- Weeks 4-6 – continue building on more progressive forms of exercise, but limit weight training and intense activities to those areas that did not undergo surgery.
- Weeks 6-8 – by this time, it is often okay to resume all normal forms of exercise.
- Weeks 8 and beyond – here is where enhancement comes in. If you would like to begin a more rigorous exercise regimen to bolster your surgical results, you can typically begin it around week 8.
Again, recovery from plastic surgery is very personal and your experience may necessitate alterations to the above timeline. Dr. Corey cares deeply about the safety and comfort of each patient he sees and will work individually with you during your recovery period to help ensure your ultimate satisfaction.
For more information about exercising after plastic surgery, please call our board-certified Scottsdale plastic surgeon at 480-767-7700 today. Dr. Corey serves men and women living in all areas of Arizona.