Are you planning to get plastic or cosmetic surgery done? Have you already started reading up on the procedure and have done all your research? Are you in a phase where you need to start preparing for your surgery? Do you smoke? If this is the case, then you should quit smoking before cosmetic surgery.
According to experts, regular smokers should stop smoking at least a month prior to getting plastic surgery done. Do you want to know why? Keep reading to find the top 10 reasons to quit smoking before getting plastic surgery and how you can quit smoking.
The Complications Nicotine Causes After Plastic Surgery
If you smoke or vape, then you know that there are several health complications that can arise out of constantly smoking or vaping. But these complications can magnify or even make the recovery from plastic surgery extremely difficult.
One of the main concerns about nicotine while getting plastic surgery is tissue necrosis. It can be defined as an irreversible premature death of living body tissue that occurs when blood doesn’t flow to any part of the body. During plastic surgery procedures, the surgeon often makes lateral incisions that allow effective and accurate repositioning of the tissue. This further allows implants to be placed or tissues to be removed.
But this method ends up severing certain blood vessels. This is generally safe when the blood vessels are healthy. However, if a patient is smoking and putting large amounts of nicotine in the body, then that causes blood vessels to constrict, limiting blood flow, and cutting off circulation to the tissue.
This along with limited vessels can cause the area around the incision to be left without proper blood flow, leading to tissue necrosis. Tissue necrosis must be removed. This means that the patient can end up losing a portion of his or her skin and other tissues around the incision site. If implants were placed, then those will be removed too.
What Are The Other Complications Caused By Nicotine?
Apart from tissue necrosis, smoking or using nicotine products can lead to other complications after getting plastic surgery. These complications are mentioned below.
- Formation of blood clots
- Infection
- Delayed or prolonged healing
- Permanent blood vessel damage
- Fat necrosis which causes hard lumps under the skin
- Increased risk of stroke or heart attack
How To Quit Smoking Before Plastic Surgery?
Now that you understand why it is important to quit smoking before plastic surgery, let’s see how you can quit smoking before plastic surgery. The first thing to remember is that one should stop smoking at least 3-6 weeks before the procedure. The patient should also continue to abstain for up to 6 weeks after the surgery. This means that one cannot indulge in any smoking activity that contains nicotine.
While it is difficult to stop smoking, there are some tips that might help patients quit smoking. These tips are:
- Avoid triggers. For example, if one smokes while drinking alcohol, then the patient must abstain from drinking.
- One should stay busy with hobbies, chores, or activities to keep one’s mind off of smoking.
- Try to spend time in vape and smoke-free zones like going window shopping, seeing a movie, or spending time with non-smoking friends or loved ones.
- Seek help from a mental health professional who can help you quit smoking.
- Consider getting non-nicotine prescription medications from your doctor to help you quit.
Get Plastic Surgeries Done At Divine Cosmetic Surgery
Do you need more help to figure out how you can quit smoking before getting plastic surgery done? If yes, then you should seek the help of Dr. Amit Gupta at Divine Cosmetic Surgery.
Dr. Amit Gupta and his team at Divine Cosmetic Surgery go to great lengths to ensure that all patients receive the best quality treatments and are able to achieve the desired final results. Do you want to learn more about how Dr. Amit Gupta at Divine Cosmetic Surgery can help you? Book your first consultation to find out!
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