Postoperative Instructions

After Botox Instructions

You may have bruising, swelling, mild discomfort, and/or a headache following the injection. You may use an ice pack to the treated area and take Tylenol for the discomfort.

Do not massage the injected area. This may diffuse the Botox into the surrounding muscles, causing unwanted effects.

Call our office with any rashes or persistent abnormal swelling (3 or more days)

Botox typically has its effect in 3 to 7 days following the injection. Effectiveness increases during the first week. The effect lasts approximately 3 to 6 months.

After Liposuction Instructions

Don’t expect to look or feel great right after your surgery. The suctioned areas will be swollen and bruised, and you may feel a burning sensation. The discomfort can be assisted by taking regular pain medication as prescribed. You may still feel stiff and sore for a few days. You may temporarily lose all feeling in the suctioned area. Don’t worry - it will return.
Try to drink plenty of water to assist flushing the anesthetic from your system. There may be ‘leaking’ from your incision site which will stop after approximately 24hrs. This fluid will be blood stained; please don’t worry the actual blood content is about 1%.
A soft diet for first day may help as the lower jaw and neck may be tender.

No bending over or heavy lifting for 72 hours.
Elevate the head when lying down and resting.
Sleep in upright position, use extra pillows for 72 hours if able to keep swelling to a minimum.
Keep dressings dry 24 hours.
The first 24 hours may be uncomfortable, please take prescribed medication as directed by the nurse. DO NOT TAKE Aspirin based or anti-inflammatory medications, unless otherwise indicated and clarified with your surgeon.
Please keep garment in place until your day seven appointment, or otherwise advised. You may remove to shower.
You will return to the clinic on day 1 for a wound check and day 7 to have your stitches removed.
Rigorous activity is to be avoided for approx 4 weeks. But moderate lower body exercise can be resumed within a two week period.
Daily activities can be resumed after 2 days or as you feel able.
Any excessive swelling, formations of a painful lump, and/ or bleeding through the dressing please apply pressure to the area with a clean towel for 15mins. If bleeding or lump persists contact the clinic.
Please do not massage the area until directed to do so by your surgeon.

After Laser Peel Instructions

General Cleaning Instructions for the First 5 Days

Remove ointment with a damp, soft cloth; ensure that all ointment is removed.
Wash gently in a circular motion with a damp cloth using a mixture of ½ tablespoon of white vinegar and 1 cup of distilled water.
Rinse off with distilled water by gently splashing the face over the sink or squeezing a soft, damp cloth over the area.
Dry area gently by patting off the water with a soft cloth.
Apply Aquaphor ointment evenly over the entire peeled area using a Q-tip. We recommend applying ointment at least twice daily, or more frequently to avoid drying out your skin. Be generous in your application. A thick coating ensures that all your skin is well moisturized.
Initially for the first day, cleansing should be done twice daily. You may then begin cleaning up to four times per day as tolerated. Wash your face less often if it causes too much discomfort.

General Cleaning Instructions for Days 6 through 8

Remove ointment with a damp, soft cloth; ensure that all ointment is removed.
Wash gently in a circular motion with a damp cloth using Cetaphil cleanser (instead of the vinegar and water). If the Cetaphil cleanser feels too astringent on your skin, then continue use of the vinegar and water until you are better able to tolerate the Cetaphil cleanser.
Rinse off with distilled water by gently splashing the face over the sink or squeezing a soft, damp cloth over the area.
Dry area gently by patting off the water with a soft cloth.
Apply Aquaphor ointment evenly over the entire peeled area using a Q-tip. We recommend applying ointment at least twice daily, or more frequently, to avoid drying out your skin. Be generous in your application. A thick coating ensures that all your skin is well moisturized.

Showering

For the first 3 days, you may clean your hair in the sink and your body in the shower or bath, but try to keep water from the area of your face that has undergone a laser peel. Your skin is usually too sensitive to tolerate direct exposure to water at this point. After the first 3 days, you may rinse your face in the shower by letting water gently hit your forehead and run down your face. You should avoid any extremely hot water because this may cause a significant burn. The goal it to have your skin peel off easily. Sometimes you may see yellowish build-up or crusting. Gently remove this build-up with a wet Q-tip. It is strongly advised that you apply or remove ointment, crusting, etc. with Q-tips and not your fingers because you may contaminate your open wounds with bacteria. Listen to your skin. You don’t need to be aggressive.

General Postoperative Instructions

Postoperative Anesthesia

After anesthesia, you may feel nauseated and may even experience vomiting for the first 24 hours. You may take the prescribed anti-nausea medication to alleviate your symptoms. Please contact us immediately if your vomiting persists despite medication. You should feel much better by the next day. Please let us know if you are still suffering nausea and vomiting after the first 2 days. If you were sedated or underwent general anesthesia, do not drive or operate any machinery because you may injure yourself or others. Sometimes, the narcotic pain medications you are taking may also cause some upset stomach and/or nausea. Try taking these medications with food, or abstain from taking them if they cause undue nausea and vomiting. It is also natural for you to feel a bit of fatigue for the first 2 to 3 days after surgery as your body recovers from the combined effects of surgery and anesthesia.

Showering and Water Exposure

Please do not get your wound area wet until all bandages have been removed. If you do not have bandages, please do not shower or get your wound wet for the first 24 hours. After this period of time and after your bandages are off, you may shower and gently dry your wounds. After the first day, you may gently wash your face with mild soap and water. Try to avoid any vigorous cleaning of the suture line.

Antibiotics

If we prescribed antibiotics, please take them as directed. It is recommended that you take your antibiotics with food to minimize any chance of an upset stomach. If you are nauseated, please wait until the nausea has subsided before resuming your antibiotics. If you develop diarrhea, please stop taking your antibiotics. If your diarrhea should persist, please contact us regarding this matter. If you should develop a fever (>100.5) after the first 2 days, please let us know as well.

Pain Management

Please take the prescribed pain medication if you have significant discomfort after surgery. Please be sure to not take your pain medication more frequently than prescribed. Also, because this medication is a narcotic, you are advised against driving or operating any machinery while taking it. Further, you should not partake of any alcohol when using narcotic pain medications. If you have only mild pain, you may take plain Tylenol to alleviate your symptoms. However, if you take plain Tylenol, you should wait 4 hours before resuming your other pain medications because they frequently already have

Tylenol in them and you do not want to overdose on Tylenol. You should also avoid taking any other pain medications, especially aspirin or aspirin-related products (See the Preoperative Instruction Sheet for a partial list of aspirin and aspirin-related medications). You should report any unexplained pain to us immediately.

Bruising and Swelling

It is normal that you have moderate or even significant bruising and swelling after surgery for the first 2 weeks. You will notice every day that the bruising and swelling are diminishing. However, if you develop any new-onset swelling, especially in the first 2 or 3 days, please let us know immediately.

Sun Exposure

Excessive exposure to sun in the first 3 weeks after surgery may result in prolonged facial swelling and injury to the skin. Also, excessive sun exposure to your wound area may cause your wound to darken (hyperpigment) in relation to the surrounding skin. If you must go into the sunlight, wear a wide-brimmed hat and apply the high SPF sun-block preparations, preferably with titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, available at your pharmacy or our clinic.

General Postoperative Instructions

Wound Care

The suture line should be cleaned two to three times daily with a Q-tip or cotton ball soaked in hydrogen peroxide. (Be careful near the hairline if you have dark hair to avoid bleaching the hair.) Again, care should be taken because the sutures are delicate and can be broken if vigorously cleaned. Blot dry and apply an antibiotic ointment, such as Neosporin, to the wound edges with a clean Q-tip so that a crust (scab) does not have a chance to form. If you develop a red, itchy, blistery area after you apply the antibiotic ointment, stop applying it because a small percentage of patients may develop an allergic reaction to it. Also, you may refrain from applying any ointment at night so as not to soil your bed sheets. Try to use a Q-tip or cotton ball instead of your fingers when applying ointment, because your fingers may be dirty and cause an infection in your suture line.

Apply ice packs over the wound for the first 24 to 48 hours because it will significantly reduce your postoperative swelling and cut down on your recovery time. You may do so every 20 minutes to 1 hour as convenient. After the first 2 days, ice packing will not lessen any swelling.

Sleeping at night with your head elevated with a couple of pillows will also help reduce the amount of swelling and reduce your recovery time. Sleep on your back or side only. Avoid any hot packs to your face because you may unknowingly burn yourself. After your surgery, your wound area will be numb for several weeks, and you may burn yourself if you apply too hot an object (such as a curling iron to your hair, or even if you blow dry your hair) near or on your operated skin.

If you routinely wear makeup, please refrain from doing so for at least one week after surgery. Makeup may cause significant irritation to the skin and also adversely affect your wound healing. Further, perfumes and colognes may irritate your wounds, so try to minimize or abstain from using these kinds of products near your wounds during the first week as well. If you had a brow lift or facelift, or any surgery near the hairline, please postpone any planned permanent waves or hair coloring for 4 weeks following surgery.

You may stop applying topical antibiotic ointment when your sutures have been removed. You may then start to apply vitamin E ointment to the suture line, which will also help with wound healing. Application of vitamin E prior to this time may cause undue irritation and should be avoided. You may continue to apply vitamin E for the next 2 weeks once or twice a day. If your skin becomes irritated please stop using vitamin E. (As advised in your Preoperative Instructions, taking vitamin E pills, however, is prohibited so as to minimize any chance of bleeding.)

Avoid any excessive rubbing or scratching of the wound area because this may disrupt the suture line or cause darkening of your skin. If you should have severe itchiness around the wound area, contact us immediately so that we may prescribe medications to alleviate your symptoms.

Exercise and Activity

For the first 2 weeks, please refrain from bending over or straining very hard. If you are constipated, please inform us so that we may prescribe a laxative. It is acceptable to begin light walking 24 hours after surgery. Jogging and light non contact exercise should not be resumed until 2 weeks, whereas strenuous sports require 6 weeks of healing before being safely resumed. If you feel that you are too weak to perform a given activity, then you should listen to your body and rest appropriately. Remember your body is healing and some of your energy is expended in the healing process.

Other Things to Avoid

Please reread the Preoperative Instruction Sheet carefully and review all the medications, vitamins, and herbal supplements that you should avoid before and after surgery, including the advice about smoking and drinking. If you should have any questions about your surgery or any of the instructions written above, please do not hesitate to contact us.