Find all kinds of information about Breast Implantation to make your decision easier.

Preparing For Your Breast Augmentation Surgery

You've scheduled your breast augmentation surgery date! Now what?
Now is the time for you to have second thoughts, run around looking for bras, get anxious, and generally have your life in an emotional upheaval. For many, this is a very stressful time, but it doesn't have to be. It is perfectly natural for you to be freaking out now that your breast implant surgery is a few weeks away. Just follow the advice we have here that was compiled with the help of real breast augmentation patients and preparing for your breast augmentation surgery will go more smoothly.

The Appointment Before Your Breast Implant Surgery
When you schedule you surgery date, you will probably schedule an appointment for a preoperative visit as well. This visit will be another trip to the surgeon's office and may include blood being drawn.

Most surgeons will take one or two vials of blood from you a week or so before surgery. One test is the complete blood count or CBC. The CBC is actually several tests that check out how healthy your blood is. The cells being counted include red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. A CBC can determine if you are anemic, have an elevated number of white blood cells (a sign of infection), or might have problems with blood clotting. Your blood sugar levels may also be evaluated, in which case, the surgeon may ask you not to eat before having your blood drawn.

At the preoperative appointment, you will also decide upon a size for your implants. You may have up until the day of your breast augmentation surgery top make a decision so do not stress on this. You will go over with the surgeon your instructions and what medications you shouldn't be taking before your surgery and what medications you should take.

While you’re preparing for your breast augmentation surgery, your surgeon may instruct you get a mammogram. You will usually be instructed to get one if you are 35 or over, but some surgeons instruct their younger patients to get a mammogram, so be prepared. Please read our special section on Mammograms and Self Breast Exam for more information.

You may be given a list of medications to avoid taking starting at least a few days before your surgery. These medications will mostly be products containing aspirin or ibuprofen and any herbal supplements that may inhibit clot formation or cause problems with anesthesia. Check out the Medication and Supplement List page for more information.

You may also be given a list of things to buy or have around you in your healing room. Things like cold compresses (or you can use bags of frozen peas, raspberries or blueberries as cold compresses) to ease the swelling and bruising. You may be asked to buy an antibacterial soap (Dial or Hibiclens) to kill staph and other bacteria that are normally on the surface of your skin.

You may get a list from your surgeon of gauze and other types of bandages to use on your incisions. We have provided a list for your convenience below and a printable version to have on hand.

This is the time to quit smoking. Quitting is one of the best things you can do while preparing for your breast augmentation because it will greatly reduce your risk of poor wound healing. Smoking can make your scars huge and ugly and not heal well at all. Think about it this way. You are having breast augmentation surgery to improve your appearance. Smoking can create ugly scars and in general speeds up aging and causes wrinkles. What is beautiful about that?

Preoperative Proofing Your Breast Augmentation Recovery Area
You've probably heard of child-proofing your house, but preoperative proofing? We mean preparing your home for your recovery. Please check our section on getting ready for tips to better help you prepare for a more comfortable and unfrazzled recovery.

Breast Augmentation Preoperative Shopping List
All of the above suggestions and need to buy or may want to buy may be overwhelming at first, so print out our Shopping List.

You don’t need to buy everything on the list. You may already have some of it, you may not need some things, and some things you can probably borrow from friends or family. The list is only provided to give you some ideas and for your general convenience.