Once you’ve scheduled your breast implant removal surgery—whether it be because your personal preferences have changed or you’re experiencing symptoms that may demand their removal—you’re probably wondering what you’ll need to make your recovery as smooth as possible. Breast implant removal, also known as explant surgery, is a surgical procedure that removes (or explants) the implants from the breast pocket. It’s done for a number of reasons, from breast implant illness to the end of their natural lifespan (it’s recommended that you replace your breast implants every 10 years to avoid any complications), to capsular contracture or rupture, and even simple just change in your preferences.

What is recovery time for breast implant removal?

You can expect a similar recovery with your breast implant removal surgery as you did with your breast augmentation surgery: three days of solid downtime and relative downtime for at least two weeks. You’ll likely experience soreness, swelling, bruising and sensitivity for a few weeks, but it should subside enough within the first few days to allow you to return to most of your activities without significant discomfort. Most patients can return to light activities within one week and more strenuous exercise after about six weeks. You may also notice you don’t feel mentally like yourself after your explant surgery—don’t worry, it’s completely normal to feel some anxiety and even depression the first week or two following your surgery.

What are the best products to buy for explant recovery?

To ensure you have the best possible outcome, Dr. Barrett has some supplement must-haves he recommends for all his patients. Wild Health CBD, a full spectrum organic CBD that’s formulated with 1500mg of pure, therapeutic cannabidiol per bottle, is really a game-changer for pain management, anxiety and sleep. CBD can also help with post-op swelling by affecting the signals in the body’s endocannabinoid receptors, which are found in the body’s central and peripheral nervous systems.

Magnesium Breakthrough is also essential to control the muscle spasms that may occur as you recover from your breast reduction. It can also help with constipation and sleep. Arnica Recovery Complex contains both arnica and bromelain, and is an effective, holistic way to decrease the inflammation after surgery that occurs in your body without causing a leaky gut that can happen with traditional anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen or aspirin. Formulated to provide the optimal level of nutrient support, for enhanced recovery after surgery, Healfast Post-Op gives your body the necessary nutrients to heal and helps you detox from anesthesia, in addition to also reducing swelling, bruising and inflammation, and aiding in pain control. MassZymes, a digestive enzyme supplement, breaks down the debris created from the wound healing process, improves tissue remodeling and actually reduces the lab markers of inflammation, making it one of the best supplements for healing after surgery. Finally, starting at two weeks post-op, you should start using scar gel. Skinuva® is surgical scar healing cream that’s backed by science and uses highly selective growth factors which are shown to be twice as effective as silicone cream.

Another game-changer: Red light therapy. A key therapeutic treatment for inflammation, it works by penetrating the body at the cellular level with specific wavelengths of light, reducing swelling and supporting tissue repair and regeneration. LightStim in particular, combines this therapeutic light energy with patented technology as an inflammation after surgery treatment in an easy-to-use, at home device. It accelerates the body’s recovery process by increasing circulation and is even FDA cleared to relieve pain. When used right after surgery (and beyond), it can help significantly with swelling, bruising and even with post-surgery scarring.

Dr. Barrett has also curated an ultimate recovery kit to set his breast implant removal patients up for surgical success with the least amount of down time and discomfort possible.

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