Returning to the Gym After Cosmetic Surgery: Tips for a Safe and Successful Workout

One of the major concerns many people have when they undergo plastic surgery is at what point they can return to their regular exercise routine during the healing process. Patients with active lifestyles need to be aware that it depends on the type of plastic surgery they had, where that surgical procedure was performed and the severity of the surgery.

In the following post, to help you understand the potential recovery process for various cosmetic surgery procedures, we will discuss the most common and highlight when you could go to the gym after cosmetic surgery. We hope this brief guide helps you understand the importance of proper rest and proper healing after cosmetic surgery before beginning demanding workouts and physical activity.

Breast Augmentation Surgery

The main issue with exercise following breast augmentation surgery is the potential to overuse your pectoral muscles. Most breast implants are placed below the large pectoralis major muscle. As a result, it will need to properly heal before you start participating in resistance training to protect the safe and healthy development of the capsule that forms.

Therefore, you must avoid strenuous exercise and work with anything heavier than approximately 10 pounds. You should avoid pushing or pulling things like car doors or holding heavy bags and purses and do nothing involving weights.

Within four weeks of successful breast augmentation surgery, you may be able to start lower-body workouts only. Surprisingly, you should be able to start core strengthening exercises carefully after two weeks of recovery. This means squats, leg presses, and lunges, as long as no weights are incorporated. You can also perform light to moderate cardio workouts involving elliptical machines, stationary cycling, and walking. After four weeks of recovery, you may be allowed to start exercising your arms and gradually working up to use your pec muscles again. It all depends on how quickly and well you recover, though.

Liposuction

Most liposuction patients need to wait before they can begin physical activity again. As a general rule of thumb, you should know this when you sign up for this kind of surgery.

Regardless of where you have had your liposuction, just as with any other form of plastic surgery or cosmetic surgery, you should avoid exercise during the first two weeks of recovery. By the time you reach the third week, though, you may be allowed to start light cardio exercises such as stationary cycling or walking if you recover steadily.

After you have completed around two weeks of light cardio, you may be able to start more challenging workouts involving running and weight training. Once you pass the four weeks mark, you must wear a unique compression accessory on the treated areas to reduce swelling and guide the natural skin retraction. You will also need to wear this during workouts. It’s important to note, though, that the amount of exercise you can do after four weeks of recovery will depend on how many areas and where those areas of the body were treated with liposuction.

Tummy Tuck Surgery

When you have a tummy tuck procedure, your recovery is more extended than after liposuction. This is because of the degree of muscle repair involved in recovery from tummy tucks. The last thing you should consider following tummy tuck surgery is vigorous exercise.

As most training routines and sports involve the activation of your core musculature, including your rectus muscles, you should wait until you have completed four weeks before you even begin the lightest of cardio workouts. When you start light cardio, you must take things slowly and wait another four weeks before starting anything more intense.

It’s important to realize that it could take at least 8 to 10 weeks following your tummy tuck plastic surgery before you can perform twisting movements, crunches, and sit-ups.

In most situations, it is best to listen to your surgeon or general practitioner and wait until they have given you the okay before beginning your normal exercise routines.

Rhinoplasty

Rhinoplasty corrective surgery can be very deceptive, especially if was not a particularly extensive or significant procedure. You can feel perfectly alright following this surgery, or at least a week after it.

However good you may look and feel, you must be careful before entering any physical fitness activity. You definitely should avoid strenuous physical activity and anything approaching your routine.

It can take approximately six weeks for the structures in your nose to glue themselves together again, so after this period, you can start working out as you usually did. At the three to four weeks of recovery mark, though, you may be able to resume non-contact exercises like road cycling and swimming. Be careful to start slowly, though, and be cautious if anything involves lots of bouncing or other types of motion, like jumping rope or high-impact aerobics.

Any strenuous activities or more than usual activity can hinder your smooth recovery. They can lengthen the amount of time for the excessive swelling and excessive scarring to lessen and for you to feel fully recovered.

It is also best to avoid jogging or running for three to four weeks and stick to light walking if necessary.

Forms of contact sports like baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and anything else where you could get hit by another person, a stick, a ball, or a puck, you should wait until you have been recovering for six weeks. You may need to use protective equipment like helmets or face visors until you have recovered and ask your surgeon or general practitioner for advice.

Injectables

For injectables like Botox or dermal filler treatments, a much shorter recovery period d required. This means that you can, in theory, start your exercise routine again after just 24 to 48 hours as long as there have been no complications. It might be a good idea to avoid heavy lifting, including weight lifting, and stick to light cardio activities, particularly if you have had a lot of dermal fillers or Botox injections.

While you may want to take a slow, gradual, and cautious approach, working out usually is unlikely to cause severe problems unless your plastic surgeon advises otherwise.

Summary of when you can visit the gym after cosmetic surgery

Hopefully, you now have a better idea of what you should and shouldn’t do when following different types of plastic surgery. As you have seen, you should wait many weeks for many kinds of surgery before returning to a regular exercise routine. By far, the easiest and quickest recovery period is the one that follows injectables, but if you have anything more involved or intensive, there will be a longer recovery period.

It all depends on the type of surgery you had, where you had it, how extensive it was, and how well your recovery period continues. It is best to stay in close contact with your plastic surgeon. Here at Linia Cosmetic Clinic, we can advise you when you can start various forms of exercise after plastic surgery based on the type of treatment or procedure you have had and the kind of workout routine you had before your cosmetic surgery or, especially during the first few weeks after surgery. Even then, getting checked out may be best, and asking your surgeon or general practitioner for advice.

Posted In: General Blogs

Written By: Dr Azhar Aslam