Taking Care of Your Skin After Undergoing Cosmetic Surgery
There are times that you might not feel confident enough with your physical appearance. You feel like there is a need to permanently enhance some features on certain parts of your body. And with the several advancements in technology today, people are given opportunities and options to choose from to satisfy themselves with their personal desires.
Cosmetic surgery is now seen as a positive solution for people to feel better with their physical features. When you choose to undergo this type of permanent enhancement, you take a step toward boosting your confidence in areas you feel less proud of. Results you gain in this kind of surgery can last longer than you can think of, especially if you maintain them properly.
When you decide to go through cosmetic surgery, you will think of it as an investment. You are investing your money, time, and energy into your appearance, making sure that its results can be seen and your efforts will pay off. Of course you need to maintain them to keep long-lasting results.
Taking care of your skin after going through a cosmetic surgery is vital to guarantee a healthy recovery of your skin, and avoid complications. Things you can actually do include stepping up your skin care routine through cleansing and moisturizing, being extra vigilant when it comes to the protection of your skin, coming in for water therapy and a healthy diet, minimizing activity for a while, and letting the wound heal for a speedy recovery. Read on to learn more.
Cleanse and Moisturize
After the surgery, your skin will be very vulnerable and needs to be treated with extra care. It may be sensitive, but it still needs to be hydrated and soothed.
You may feel pain and discomfort around the incisions. You have to wash these with mild antibacterial cleansers and warm water regularly to avoid bacteria and infections. Cleansers without any active ingredients like glycolic products and vitamin C are highly recommended. You have to be very gentle as you wash your face. Moisturizing your face with fragrance-free moisturizers is essential as well so your skin and the incisions would not feel dry. It will reduce the scarring as well.
Be Extra Vigilant With Protecting Your Skin
Since your skin is sensitive at this time, you need to be extra cautious to avoid further complications. Treat the area where you had your surgery done as if it were a baby’s to optimize the post-surgical results.
For the first few days after the surgery, it is best to entirely avoid exposing your skin directly from the sun. You need to protect them so if you have to go out, you need to make sure to apply sunblocks and sunscreens with high SPF to block harmful UV rays. This also helps to prevent skin damage and skin discoloration in the future. In addition, the incisions themselves must not be exposed to direct sunlight for a long period of time. This can cause certain areas to be darker.
You should also avoid applying makeup and other topical medicines on your skin for a while after the surgery. This is to let them breathe and heal on their own. Keep your hands off the area as well as it may cause infection and affect the healing progress of your surgical wound.
Water Therapy and a Healthy Diet
Since our entire body, including our skin, needs to be regularly hydrated and must obtain sufficient nutrients, water therapy and maintaining a healthy diet would be effective.
It is important to drink plenty of fluids, not just after the surgery, but on a daily basis as well. Drinking about eight glasses of water everyday is a huge help for the body to heal. It is also ideal for the skin to rejuvenate and flush any toxins out from the system. You can also be able to recover all the fluids you have lost during the surgical procedure. Moreover, water therapy can help your skin to look refreshed and elastic. It is actually the most recommended solution by dermatologists as well to help ease the dryness of your skin.
Maintaining a healthy diet is also essential to keep your body nourished. One of the recommended post-surgery tips is to include a nutritious, high-calorie and protein diet in your routine to help speed your recovery. The nutrients you get from these will help your skin look young, apart from the outcome of your cosmetic surgery itself.
Minimize Activity
After the surgery, your body requires an adequate rest for a fast and proper recovery. It may let you feel pain and numbness from time to time around the area you had your surgery on. However, it is not something to be alarmed of. Everything will be back to normal after a few months or so.
With this, you must not strain yourself especially on the first few days because it is still in its vulnerable and sensitive state. Take everything easy and not overwork your body.
Let the Wounds Heal
Wounds after the surgery often dry out so it has a tendency to peel. But no matter how tempted you are to pick at the peeling skin or scabs, try to leave them alone. It interferes with the entire healing process of the surgery. The wounds might take much longer to heal, and might increase the possibility of infection and deep scarring. Scarring can be a natural effect of the post-surgery. But still it would still be healed over time — just follow your surgeon’s instructions for the aftercare.
Key Takeaway
After the surgery, the healing process would most likely be on your hands. You have to take care of yourself to avoid further complications.
Although the recovery process differs from patient to patient and from the type of cosmetic surgery they went through, the aftercare procedure is similar. You need to cleanse and moisturize your skin, be extra vigilant while protecting your skin, hydrate and nourish yourself with water therapy and a healthy diet, avoid straining yourself on the first few days after surgery by minimizing your activity, and letting the surgery wounds heal for a faster recovery.
However, apart from all of these, it is alright to not rush the healing process. This will allow your body to heal properly and see better results from the surgery done.