At BEAUTY by BUFORD, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon Gregory A. Buford, MD, FACS, PCEO understands that you have a busy lifestyle and simply do not have time for a lengthy recovery. To help you get back on your feet, he has designed a treatment plan designed for a speedy and uneventful recovery.

Your path to a speedy recovery begins even before you reach the operating room. The night before surgery, you will begin a light, non-sedating pain medication which you will then continue for a week after surgery. The goal is to transition you from standard narcotic medications as early as possible to avoid their undesirable side-effects.

In addition, Dr. Buford also emphasizes the use of local injectable numbing medication at the time of surgery in addition to the use of an Intercostal Nerve Block. This type of block is becoming more commonly used and can be extremely effective in reducing your discomfort for the first 6-8 hours after surgery. He was trained to administer this specific pain block at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and has since performed several thousand. In addition, he is currently the only Plastic Surgeon in Colorado offering this cutting edge technique to his breast enhancement patients.

Because of the effectiveness of his block, Dr. Buford does not use a pain pump. His concern is that it may potentially increase the risk for infection or contamination of the implant. And, considering how effective his pain management regimen is, most patients are completely off of all narcotic medications within 2-3 days of their procedure. In addition, he does not use drains because he does not feel them to be necessary and is also concerned about their potential for increasing the risk of implant infection or contamination.

In addition to discomfort, most patients are concerned about the potential for nausea and vomiting after surgery. To address this, Dr. Buford utilizes a special combination of medications including a light steroid, anti-nausea medication, and a small amount of extra fluids. And for patients at very high risk for nausea, Dr. Buford and the anesthesia team may recommend additional medications just to be extra careful.

Using this specific protocol, Dr. Buford has found that most patients can shower the next day, raise their arms above their head, and ambulate quite comfortably. In addition, many patients will return to work within 1-2 days following their surgery. And many will eventually begin light exercise in a week and full exercise and activities within 4-5 weeks. As with all recommendations, there are patients who require a longer healing period and so these recommendations and your expectations should take into account that everyone is different and that your experience might not be exactly the same as another person.

Ready for a Consultation?

Dr. Buford can address all aspects of the breast enhancement with implants recovery practice in an initial consultation with you at our Denver, Colorado practice. Please contact BEAUTY by BUFORD today.