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There\u2019s a cruel irony to breast augmentation recovery in the summer: Just as you\u2019re 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?”<\/em><\/p>\n The good news is that summer itself isn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ahead, surgeons break them down question by question.<\/p>\n Yes, you can swim after breast augmentation, but when<\/em> it\u2019s safe to get back in the water depends on how you\u2019re healing. \u201cIf the [augmentation] was in the spring, say six weeks ago, they are OK for pool and ocean,\u201d Dr. Jewell says. <\/p>\n Still, surgeons don\u2019t 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\u2014a 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.<\/p>\n Sun exposure won\u2019t affect the implant itself, but Dr. Jewell warns that UV exposure on an immature scar \u201cmay create dark scars.\u201d 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: \u201cAvoid UV\u2014cover up entirely and find an SPF bikini top and avoid letting the top creep upwards.\u201d<\/p>\n 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. \u201cThere\u2019s a theoretical reason to keep early scars covered, but it isn\u2019t very compelling,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n Hot tubs and Jacuzzis carry more risk than a backyard pool, so it\u2019s best to wait until your incisions are fully closed before getting in. \u201cIncisions have to [be] completely healed\u2014four weeks minimum,\u201d Dr. Jewell says. \u201cPublic hot tubs and jacuzzi spas are filthy\u2014lots of strange bacteria [like] mycobacteria and Pseudomonas folliculitis.\u201d He also reinforces a rule commonly posted, but not always followed, at public spas: \u201cAlways shower after being in hot tubs [or] jacuzzi spas.\u201d<\/p>\n 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 \u201cusually improves over time.\u201d Until it does, even swimsuit color may matter. \u201cPatients can be at risk for burns, especially if wearing a black-colored swimsuit or bikini top,\u201d he says. He recommends wearing an SPF-rated shirt and avoiding long stretches in direct sunlight.<\/p>\n 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\u2019t feel it happening, though he still recommends wearing sunscreen.<\/p>\n No, breast implants won\u2019t melt in summer heat. It\u2019s 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\u2019t hesitate to dismiss those concerns, calling them \u201curban legends\u2014nothing true here.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Teitelbaum adds further context. Implants are steam-sterilized at temperatures above 300 degrees before they\u2019re ever placed in the body, he explains, and temperatures that extreme are closer to an erupting volcano than a summer heat wave. \u201cYou\u2019d die long before heat damaged an implant,\u201d he says with memorable bluntness.<\/p>\n 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, \u201cwe 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.\u201d In the best-case scenario, summer number two is just\u2026summer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There\u2019s a cruel irony to breast augmentation recovery i […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2392"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Featured Experts<\/h2>\n
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Can I Swim After Breast Augmentation?<\/h2>\n
Does Sun Exposure Affect Breast Implants or Scars?<\/h2>\n
Is It Safe to Use a Hot Tub After Breast Augmentation?<\/h2>\n
Does Numbness After Breast Augmentation Raise Sunburn Risk?<\/h2>\n
Can Breast Implants Melt in the Heat?<\/h2>\n
What About the Second Summer After Breast Augmentation?<\/h2>\n