Plastic Surgery & Non-Surgical Treatment Timelines
When planning to transform your body with surgical or non-surgical treatments, one of the first questions patients often have is “What’s the timeline”? Understanding the cadence between consultations, procedures, recovery/downtime, and when they will be able to see their full results is one of the most important elements of planning your cosmetic treatments. Here at Cape & Islands Plastic Surgery, we would recommend setting up a consultation to get started because specific patients will likely have specific goals and treatment plans that will impact their timeline. However, in the interest of setting expectations, we wanted to provide some general timelines that patients can expect for some of the most requested treatments. If you are interested in working with one of our offices in Massachusetts, please give us a call to discuss a personal consultation.
Recovery Timelines For Plastic Surgery & Non-Surgical Treatments
Surgical Liposuction Timeline
One of the most popular surgical procedures for body contouring is liposuction. Like with other surgical procedures, the first step is to set up a consultation with your surgeons to discuss your goals and determine if liposuction is the best option for you. Once this is complete, your surgeon and their team will schedule the surgical appointment. After the liposuction procedure, recovery can take around six weeks, with many people returning to work around the second or third week of their recovery.
Tummy Tuck (Abdominoplasty) Timeline
An abdominoplasty is a more intensive body contouring treatment that often leads to more dramatic results. It can also be combined with liposuction as well. Like with liposuction, after your initial consultation, your surgery appointment will be planned. Recovery from an abdominoplasty can take up to six months, but the initial recovery period is around three weeks. If your job does not require a lot of movement or straining yourself, many patients can return to work around two weeks after their surgery.
Breast Augmentation Timeline
There are many different types of breast surgeries including lifts, reductions, and implants. On average recovery from breast surgery can take 6-8 weeks. Similarly to the other surgeries we have covered, there is an initial recovery where you will need to stay home and rest. After about a week, patients are often well enough to return to work.
BodyTite Assisted Liposuction Timeline
One of the benefits of non-surgical treatments is that they tend to have quicker timelines. For example, Bodytite is a minimally invasive treatment that we can do in our office under local anesthesia. Patients who receive BodyTite treatments often return to work about a week after their treatment, with the full recovery taking around four weeks.
Which Cosmetic Treatments Have No Downtime?
If you are interested in treatments that do not require any recovery time, there are a handful of non-surgical treatments that can help. For example, CoolSculpting is known for being a no-downtime treatment. That said, it is important to understand that CoolSculpting is often done in a series of treatments that are spaced out over time. So while you will not need to spend weeks recovering, you will not see your full results after the first treatment. Similarly, EMSCULPT is a treatment that helps contour the body by strengthening the muscles. Like CoolSculpting it is often done in a series where the number of treatments can vary based on a patient’s goals.
