Recovery after Cosmetic Surgery

Stages of Recovery After Surgery

Every procedure has its own timeline, and the guides above give the detail for yours; you can also browse all our plastic surgery recovery guides in one place. Most recoveries after cosmetic surgery follow the same broad pattern, though, shaped by how extensive the surgery is, whether procedures are combined and your general health. For typical timings procedure by procedure, see how long recovery takes after cosmetic surgery.

Underneath the timeline, every wound heals in three overlapping phases. In the first few days the body sends blood, fluid and repair cells to the area, which is why swelling, warmth and tenderness are normal. Over the next few weeks new tissue and collagen form and the wound gains strength. Remodelling then carries on for a year or more as the scar matures and residual swelling settles, which is why the final result takes months to show.

The first 24 to 48 hours

Most of our procedures are day cases under TIVA (total intravenous anaesthesia) or local anaesthetic, so you go home the same day. A responsible adult needs to take you home and stay with you for the first 24 hours. Expect to feel tired, sore and swollen. Rest, take your pain relief as prescribed and get up for a short walk around the house every few hours to keep your circulation moving.

Days three to seven

Swelling and bruising usually peak around the second or third day and then begin to ease. Discomfort becomes easier to manage, and most people can move around the house normally and manage light tasks. Your first check-up with our nursing team is around five to seven days after surgery.

Weeks two to six

Most people return to desk-based work within one to two weeks. Walking can build up gradually, but strenuous exercise, heavy lifting and the gym usually wait until four to six weeks: see exercising after cosmetic surgery. Itching is common as nerves recover, and there are simple ways to soothe it. Your surgeon reviews your progress at around six weeks.

Three to twelve months

Residual swelling keeps settling for months, so your final result takes time to show: usually three to six months, and up to a year or more after procedures such as rhinoplasty. Scars mature over 12 to 18 months, fading from pink to pale; see scar care after surgery below.

Why Recovery Time Differs Between Procedures

Plastic surgery recovery time depends mostly on how much tissue is moved or removed, where on the body the surgery is and whether more than one procedure is done at once. As a rough guide:

• Face and nose surgery. Smaller operations such as eyelid surgery and ear pinning usually mean one to two weeks of visible bruising and swelling. Rhinoplasty and facelift recoveries are longer, because swelling takes months to settle completely. See all face and nose recovery guides.
• Breast surgery. Most people are back at a desk within one to two weeks after breast augmentation, or one to three weeks after breast reduction, with a supportive bra worn as advised and strenuous and upper body exercise held back for around six weeks or longer.
• Body contouring. Recovery ranges from a few days of desk rest after small-area liposuction to the longer, staged recoveries of a tummy tuck, BBL or mummy makeover, where compression garments and activity limits last several weeks.
• Surgery after weight loss. Skin removal operations such as a body lift involve long incisions and usually need the longest recovery: often two to three weeks off desk work and six to eight weeks before strenuous exercise.
• Cosmetic gynaecology, male and gender-affirming surgery. Labiaplasty, gynaecomastia surgery and FTM top surgery each have their own restrictions, set out in their guides.

Combining procedures shortens your total time off compared with two separate operations, but it makes the single recovery bigger and raises the risk of complications. In a large US database of 25,478 tummy tucks, complications rose from 3.1% for a tummy tuck alone to 10.4% when it was combined with liposuction and another body contouring procedure^[1]. Your surgeon will talk through whether combining is sensible for you. Day-case surgery helps many people recover at home in comfort: see the benefits of day case cosmetic surgery.

How to Reduce Swelling and Bruising After Surgery

Swelling and bruising are a normal part of healing. Surgery disrupts small blood vessels, so blood collects under the skin as a bruise, turning from purple to green and yellow as it is reabsorbed. Swelling is the body bringing extra fluid to the area to repair it. How much you get depends on the procedure, the extent of surgery and how you heal.

• Keep the area raised. After face and nose surgery, sleep with your head raised on two or three pillows for the first week or two. See how to sleep after cosmetic surgery.
• Wear your compression garment exactly as advised, usually day and night for the first few weeks. It limits fluid build-up and supports the tissues as they settle: read about the benefits of wearing a compression garment.
• Use cold compresses if your surgeon recommends them, wrapped in a cloth and never directly on the skin, particularly in the first 48 to 72 hours after face and nose surgery.
• Keep moving gently. Short, regular walks help circulation and drainage, and lower the risk of blood clots.
• Cut down on salt, which makes your body hold on to fluid, and drink plenty of water.
• Ask about lymphatic massage. After liposuction and body contouring, lymphatic drainage massage can help once the early healing phase has passed.
• Check your medicines and supplements. Some thin the blood and increase bruising, including aspirin, fish oil and vitamin E. Your surgeon will tell you which to stop before surgery and when you can restart them. Never stop a prescribed medicine without checking first.

Bloating is also common in the first days, particularly after abdominal procedures: see bloating after cosmetic surgery. Swelling that suddenly increases, is much worse on one side or comes with severe pain is not normal; check the warning signs below.

What to Eat After Surgery

Your body needs more protein and energy than usual to repair tissue. You do not need a special diet, but a few habits help:

• Protein at every meal. Chicken, fish, eggs, dairy, beans and lentils provide the building blocks for wound healing.
• Fruit and vegetables for vitamin C, which your body needs to make collagen, and zinc-rich foods such as meat, shellfish, seeds and wholegrains.
• Plenty of water. Aim for around two litres a day unless you have been told otherwise.
• Fibre from wholegrains, fruit and vegetables, because painkillers and being less active can cause constipation.
• Less salt and fewer processed foods, which make swelling worse.

On the day of surgery, start with light, easily digested food, as some people feel a little queasy after an anaesthetic, then return to normal balanced meals. Eating well in the weeks before surgery helps too: see what to eat before cosmetic surgery.

How to Prevent Blood Clots After Surgery

Any operation raises the risk of a blood clot in a deep vein of the leg (deep vein thrombosis, or DVT), which can travel to the lungs (pulmonary embolism). The risk is low after most cosmetic surgery, but it is higher after longer operations, combined procedures, body contouring and in people who are overweight, take the contraceptive pill or HRT, or have had a clot before.

Before surgery we assess your personal clot risk, in line with the NICE guideline on reducing the risk of blood clots ↗. Depending on that assessment and your procedure, your surgeon may advise compression stockings, calf compression during the operation or injections of a blood thinner for a period afterwards. Whatever your risk, the most important things you can do are to get up and walk little and often from the day of surgery, drink plenty of fluids and avoid sitting still for long periods.

The risk does not end when you leave hospital. A 2011 multicentre study of 1,126 plastic surgery patients in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons ↗ found that, among the higher-risk patients who were not given blood thinners, more than half of clots were diagnosed between day 15 and day 60 after surgery^[2]. So keep moving through your whole recovery, and plan long journeys carefully if you are travelling to us for surgery. The NHS guide to DVT symptoms ↗ lists what to look out for, and the warning signs below explain when to call us or 999.

Smoking and Vaping After Surgery

Smoking is the habit that most affects how well you heal. Nicotine narrows blood vessels and carbon monoxide reduces the oxygen your blood can carry, so less oxygen reaches healing tissue. A review of the evidence in plastic surgery found that the low oxygen, poor blood supply and immune changes caused by smoking directly impair wound healing, and that some of these effects reverse when you stop. It recommends stopping completely at least four weeks before surgery and staying stopped until the wounds have healed^[3]. We ask you to stop smoking and all nicotine for four weeks before and four weeks after surgery.

The difference is measurable. When one plastic surgery team began testing tummy tuck patients for cotinine, a breakdown product of nicotine, and postponing surgery if the test was positive, a 2018 study of 235 patients in Annales de Chirurgie Plastique et Esthétique ↗ found that delayed wound healing fell from 41.5% to 20.3% and overall complications from 42.3% to 18.1%^[4]. Of the 80 patients tested, 21.3% had a positive result.

If you find it hard to stop, tell us rather than keeping it to yourself, so your surgeon can plan around it, and use the free NHS help to quit smoking ↗. Nicotine replacement may be an option: in a study of 613 breast operations, patients who used nicotine replacement to stop smoking before surgery had no more complications than those who did not^[5]. Ask your surgeon before using it, and remember that vapes and nicotine pouches contain nicotine too: see does vaping affect cosmetic surgery results? Our guide to preparing for plastic surgery covers the other changes worth making beforehand, and our cosmetic surgery planning and safety guides help with choosing a clinic, checking you are a suitable candidate and understanding your anaesthetic.

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS)

Enhanced recovery after surgery, or ERAS, is an evidence-based approach to care before, during and after an operation. First developed in bowel surgery in the 1990s, it is now used across most surgical specialties. Its core elements are avoiding long periods without food and drink, combining different types of pain relief rather than relying on opioids, preventing nausea, getting up and moving early, and going home rather than staying in a hospital bed.

The evidence in cosmetic surgery is encouraging but limited. In a 2018 prospective study in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal ↗, cosmetic surgery patients on an ERAS pathway had less pain over the first three days, less nausea, tiredness and constipation, and used fewer opioids than patients given traditional opioid-based pain relief, with no increase in complications^[6]. It was a small study, with 10 patients on the ERAS pathway and 12 in the comparison group, so it points the way rather than proves the case.

Our pathway follows the same principles: TIVA rather than anaesthetic gases, day-case surgery with same-day discharge, getting up and walking on the day of surgery, and pain relief built around paracetamol and anti-inflammatory medicines, with stronger painkillers prescribed when they are genuinely needed rather than by default. Read more about what TIVA anaesthesia is and why we use it.

What to Avoid After Plastic Surgery

Until your surgeon or nurse tells you otherwise:

• Do not remove your dressings or touch your incisions.
• Do not lift anything heavy, including shopping, children and pets.
• Do not drive until you can wear a seatbelt comfortably and make an emergency stop: usually one week, or two weeks after a tummy tuck. Check your insurer’s terms too.
• Do not go back to work too soon: usually one to two weeks for desk-based work, and longer for physical jobs.
• Avoid alcohol for at least five days, and for as long as you are taking prescribed medicines. See when you can drink alcohol after cosmetic surgery.
• Do not smoke or vape.
• Avoid strenuous exercise, the gym and anything that raises your heart rate or blood pressure, typically for four to six weeks.
• Do not soak in a bath, hot tub or swimming pool until your wounds have fully healed, usually several weeks after surgery. Your nurse will tell you when you can shower: see when can I shower after plastic surgery?
• Choose front-fastening clothes, so you do not have to lift your arms over your head.

Returning to activity is gradual: walking from day one, light daily tasks within the first week or two, then a stepped return to exercise once your surgeon is happy. Our guide to returning to exercise after cosmetic surgery sets out each stage, and the recovery timeline for each procedure gives typical return-to-work times.

Scar Care After Surgery

Every incision leaves a scar, but good care helps it settle flat and pale. Scars are usually pink and slightly raised for the first few months, then soften and fade over 12 to 18 months. Our guide to scar management after cosmetic surgery explains each step in detail.

• Keep scars out of the sun for at least 12 months, with clothing or a high-factor sunscreen once the wounds have healed, because sunlight can darken a healing scar permanently. See the effects of tanning on surgery scars.
• Consider silicone gel or sheets once the wound has fully closed. A Cochrane review found weak evidence that silicone gel sheeting helps prevent raised scars in people prone to them, and that it improved the thickness and colour of existing raised scars, although the trials were of poor quality^[7]. See do silicone strips help scars heal better?
• Massage the scar gently once your surgeon says it is safe, usually a few weeks after surgery: see massage after cosmetic surgery.
• Do not smoke, and avoid tension on the scar from heavy lifting or stretching in the early weeks.

For more practical tips, read how to minimise scars after cosmetic surgery.

Your Emotional Recovery After Surgery

Recovery is not only physical. Many people feel low, tearful, anxious or impatient in the first week or two, sometimes called the post-op blues. Tiredness, pain, disturbed sleep, being less active and swelling that hides your result all play a part, and some people worry they have made the wrong decision before the result has had time to show.

These feelings usually lift as you heal. It helps to plan for them: keep a simple daily routine, get outside for short walks, stay in touch with friends and family, and try not to judge your result in the mirror while you are still swollen. A partner, friend or relative can make a real difference; our guide for caregivers explains how they can help. Read more about common feelings and emotions after cosmetic surgery.

Talk to us or your GP if low mood lasts more than two weeks, stops you managing day to day, or you are worried about how you feel. If you ever have thoughts of harming yourself, call NHS 111 or 999 straight away.

Warning Signs After Surgery: When to Get Help

Some pain, swelling and bruising is expected. The symptoms below are not. Read both lists carefully: the first needs emergency help, the second needs a call to us.

Our guide to the risks and complications of cosmetic surgery explains these in more detail, and how to reduce complications after plastic surgery covers what you can do to lower your risk.

Your First Check-Up After Surgery

Before you leave, your nurse books your first check-up for around five to seven days after surgery. Your dressings are removed, your wounds are checked and cleaned, and any stitches that need to come out are removed, although our surgeons rarely use stitches that need removing. You get advice on caring for your wounds over the following weeks, and your next appointments are booked, including a review with your surgeon at around six weeks.

Between appointments, our nursing team contacts you regularly through the first two weeks, and you can contact us with a question during clinic hours. Your follow-up appointments are included in your quotation. For the questions patients ask most in the first days, see our post-operative FAQs and post-surgery top tips.

References

1. Winocour J, Gupta V, Ramirez JR, et al. Abdominoplasty: risk factors, complication rates, and safety of combined procedures. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2015;136(5):597e–606e. doi:10.1097/PRS.0000000000001700 ↗
2. Pannucci CJ, Bailey SH, Dreszer G, et al. Validation of the Caprini risk assessment model in plastic and reconstructive surgery patients. J Am Coll Surg. 2011;212(1):105–112. doi:10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2010.08.018 ↗
3. Pluvy I, Garrido I, Pauchot J, et al. Smoking and plastic surgery, part I. Pathophysiological aspects: update and proposed recommendations. Ann Chir Plast Esthet. 2015;60(1):e3–e13. doi:10.1016/j.anplas.2014.06.011 ↗
4. Delaunay F, Coquerel-Beghin D, Magalon G, et al. A preoperative cotininury test for abdominoplasty reduces peri-operative complications. Ann Chir Plast Esthet. 2018;63(4):307–315. doi:10.1016/j.anplas.2018.03.004 ↗
5. Patel SM, Junn A, Sasson D, et al. Impact of nicotine replacement therapy on breast surgery outcomes. J Reconstr Microsurg. 2024;40(3):239–244. doi:10.1055/a-2133-1130 ↗
6. Bartlett EL, Zavlin D, Friedman JD, et al. Enhanced recovery after surgery: the plastic surgery paradigm shift. Aesthet Surg J. 2018;38(6):676–685. doi:10.1093/asj/sjx217 ↗
7. O’Brien L, Jones DJ. Silicone gel sheeting for preventing and treating hypertrophic and keloid scars. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013;(9):CD003826. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD003826.pub3 ↗