There’s a cruel irony to breast augmentation recovery in the summer: Just as you’re ready to slip into a swimsuit and enjoy the results, your mind starts racing with questions, like, “Can I get in the pool yet? Is a beach day going to leave me with darker scars? Does the hot tub count as off-limits?”
The good news is that summer itself isn’t going to ruin your results. What matters is where you are in recovery: whether your incisions are fully closed, how mature your scars are and whether your plans involve anything that could jolt or put pressure on your chest. Eugene, OR plastic surgeon Mark Jewell, MD, says most patients are back to their usual routines within several weeks, though that first summer still comes with a few extra precautions.
Ahead, surgeons break them down question by question.
Featured Experts
- Mark Jewell, MD is a board-certified plastic surgeon in Hideout, UT
- Mike Edwards, MD is a board-certified plastic surgeon in Las Vegas
- Dr. Steven Teitelbaum is a board-certified plastic surgeon in Santa Monica, CA
Can I Swim After Breast Augmentation?
Yes, you can swim after breast augmentation, but when it’s safe to get back in the water depends on how you’re healing. “If the [augmentation] was in the spring, say six weeks ago, they are OK for pool and ocean,” Dr. Jewell says.
Still, surgeons don’t follow one universal recovery timeline. Santa Monica, CA plastic surgeon Steven Teitelbaum, MD, allows patients into the pool or ocean after about a week and clears them for unrestricted activity, including surfing, at three weeks—a protocol he says he has used for 25 years without incident. Las Vegas plastic surgeon Mike Edwards, MD, takes a more conservative approach, advising patients to avoid submerging their incisions for about four weeks and stressing that warmer or less clean water can raise the risk further.
Does Sun Exposure Affect Breast Implants or Scars?
Sun exposure won’t affect the implant itself, but Dr. Jewell warns that UV exposure on an immature scar “may create dark scars.” He says scars can take up to 12 months to fade from red to a more natural skin tone, meaning the incision may be closed long before the scar has fully matured. And because he says the benefit of sunscreen on a fresh scar is still unclear, he recommends not relying on it alone: “Avoid UV—cover up entirely and find an SPF bikini top and avoid letting the top creep upwards.”
Dr. Teitelbaum says the standard advice to shield new scars from the sun traces largely to one small study involving 14 men whose punch-biopsy scars were exposed to ultraviolet light and followed for just 12 weeks. “There’s a theoretical reason to keep early scars covered, but it isn’t very compelling,” he says. Dr. Edwards takes the more cautious view, recommending sunscreen and silicone scar sheets, including newer versions with SPF, to help reduce the risk of darker, longer-lasting pigmentation as the scar heals.
Is It Safe to Use a Hot Tub After Breast Augmentation?
Hot tubs and Jacuzzis carry more risk than a backyard pool, so it’s best to wait until your incisions are fully closed before getting in. “Incisions have to [be] completely healed—four weeks minimum,” Dr. Jewell says. “Public hot tubs and jacuzzi spas are filthy—lots of strange bacteria [like] mycobacteria and Pseudomonas folliculitis.” He also reinforces a rule commonly posted, but not always followed, at public spas: “Always shower after being in hot tubs [or] jacuzzi spas.”
Does Numbness After Breast Augmentation Raise Sunburn Risk?
Numbness after breast augmentation is common and usually temporary. But in summer, reduced sensation can make a sunburn harder to notice. Dr. Jewell says the diminished feeling “usually improves over time.” Until it does, even swimsuit color may matter. “Patients can be at risk for burns, especially if wearing a black-colored swimsuit or bikini top,” he says. He recommends wearing an SPF-rated shirt and avoiding long stretches in direct sunlight.
That said, not every surgeon sees numbness as a major sunburn risk. Dr. Teitelbaum says he has never seen a patient burn simply because she couldn’t feel it happening, though he still recommends wearing sunscreen.
Can Breast Implants Melt in the Heat?
No, breast implants won’t melt in summer heat. It’s one of the more persistent warm-weather myths surgeons hear, along with the idea that tanning or high temperatures can somehow damage the implant itself. Dr. Jewell doesn’t hesitate to dismiss those concerns, calling them “urban legends—nothing true here.”
Dr. Teitelbaum adds further context. Implants are steam-sterilized at temperatures above 300 degrees before they’re ever placed in the body, he explains, and temperatures that extreme are closer to an erupting volcano than a summer heat wave. “You’d die long before heat damaged an implant,” he says with memorable bluntness.
What About the Second Summer After Breast Augmentation?
By the following summer, the early precautions should be behind you. Dr. Edwards says the bigger concern during those first weeks is lifting too much too soon, which can contribute to implant malposition. But once healing is complete, “we would hope that at the second post-op summer the patient feels as though her implants are a part of her and should not affect day-to-day activity.” In the best-case scenario, summer number two is just…summer.
