While your labiaplasty surgery in Chicago itself is certainly important, post labiaplasty care is also an essential part of your vaginal rejuvenation surgery experience. Caring for your treatment area appropriately will help you avoid complications and optimize your results.
Here’s what to know about caring for yourself during your labiaplasty recovery.
What to Know for Your Labiaplasty Recovery
When it comes to post operative labiaplasty care, there’s really little to do other than rest, sleep, and eat right. This is a routine surgical procedure with consistently successful outcomes. It is extremely rare to experience any type of complication during the recovery period.
With that said, it’s important that patients follow their labiaplasty surgeon’s instructions carefully. After any type of plastic surgery, your body needs time and rest to heal properly. So, here’s what you should know:
Rest and Sleep
Again, these are some of the most important elements of healing. You’ll naturally need to take some time away from school or work. Every patient is different, so discuss this timeframe with your surgeon.
Once you’re out of surgery, take it easy. Don’t plan a lot of events or take part in any type of strenuous activity. Lifting anything heavy and exercising are off-limits for a while, as is sexual intercourse, tampon use, smoking, drinking, and staying up late. Rest plenty during the day, and get a good night’s sleep each night.
Pain and Discomfort
For most patients, pain and discomfort will be worst over the first few days of recovery. During this time, you can relieve pain with prescription pain medication from your surgeon. You may also find pain relief using cold compresses or ice packs. A 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off approach is recommended.
Patients are generally able to manage pain after the first few days with over-the-counter pain medications. Any pain that doesn’t go away after this point (or worsening pain) should be reported to your surgeon.
Antibiotics
Your surgeon may prescribe topical or oral prescription medication antibiotics to prevent infection post surgery. If you have a history of having an allergic reaction to any antibiotics, make sure to notify your surgeon or healthcare provider as soon as possible.
What to Eat
A healthy diet is basically what’s recommended for patients undergoing this cosmetic surgery. You want to avoid alcohol as you heal, and do not smoke as this, in particular, may lead to recovery complications.
Get plenty of protein in your meals. This will help your body heal better and faster. An adequate amount of fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, and whole grains are also recommended after you undergo labiaplasty. Sticking with a balanced diet is a great way to maintain your health even after you heal.
Lastly, try to avoid too much sodium as this can lead to excessive swelling. On the other hand, do drink plenty of water to reduce swelling.
How to Dress
During the healing process, you’ll want to rest, relax, and make yourself comfortable. To help avoid physical discomfort around the labia minora, try to avoid wearing tight clothing. Instead, opt for comfortable, loose fitting clothes that are easy to get on and off.
Pubic Area Grooming
To wash your labial area after surgery, simply use gentle warm water rinses, pat dry, and apply clean dressings. Do this every day and also rinse, pat dry, and apply clean dressings after using the restroom. Do not agitate your labia minora or labia majora by scrubbing or rubbing as this may cause wound breakdown or excessive bleeding.
Some patients may also want to know about when they can trim, shave, or otherwise groom their pubic hair. For many patients, you’ll want to wait around one month before doing these things.
Exercise
Right after your surgery, you should not exercise as this can cause problems with healing or even mar your results. On the other hand, prolonged periods of not moving can cause other issues such as blood clots.
For this reason, do try to take short walks at least one to two times a day. Regular physical activity can typically resume after around four weeks of recovery.
Sexual Activity
Most patients are cleared to resume sexual intercourse, as well as tampon use, about four weeks after surgery. However, go at your own pace. If you are cleared but still don’t feel comfortable, definitely wait until you do before having sex after labiaplasty.
Scarring
Surgical scars following labiaplasty are typically very hard (if not impossible) to see. The scar tissue that does form will usually blend very well with the labia minora skin. And the natural folds and wrinkles surrounding the surgical site will also help to camouflage any labiaplasty scars.
FAQ: Labiaplasty Post Op Care
When will I see my final results after labiaplasty?
Your labial appearance should be improved immediately after surgery, but the swelling and dressings may cover this for a while. After about six weeks, swelling should be down, and you’ll likely see more of your results. It may take four to six weeks to see your complete results.
What not to do after labiaplasty?
Following your labiaplasty surgery, do not lift anything heavy, perform strenuous exercise, smoke, drink alcohol, use tampons, engage in sexual activity, or groom your pubic area (shaving, waxing, etc.).
Set Up a Personal Consultation Appointment
If you are interested in altering or reducing the size of your labia minora with labiaplasty, please give our office a call to book your one-on-one labiaplasty consultation with board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Dahlia Rice.
References
https://www.plasticsurgery.org/news/blog/what-to-expect-at-every-stage-of-your-labiaplasty