When is the Best Time to Have Plastic Surgery and Why is it Winter?

Monique Ramsey (00:03):
Welcome everyone to The La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast. I'm your hostess, Monique Ramsey. Today we're going to talk about very interesting topic because you might not think that surgery might be seasonal, but it can be. So people turn to cosmetic surgery to lots of different reasons to boost your confidence to feel better in a bathing suit, or you've got an upcoming wedding or reunion season. And so we're going to talk a little bit about why certain kinds of procedures and certain types of times of year like winter that we're just rolling right into might be more popular to have certain kinds of surgeries. So I'm welcoming back to the podcast, Dr. Diana Breister. Welcome.

Dr. Breister (00:47):
Hi, welcome. Well, thank you.

Monique Ramsey (00:49):
Yeah, so you do a lot of body contouring and you also do a lot of facial surgery, so facelifts and eyelid lifts and body makeovers and all the fat transfers. So I think you're the perfect person to speak about this because depending on the surgery you're having, certain times a year might be easier than others.

Dr. Breister (01:11):
Absolutely, yeah.

Monique Ramsey (01:12):
And let's start with maybe some body contouring type of thing. The motivations might be you want to feel better in your clothes or in a swimsuit or just get your body back after being a mom. But is terms of planning ahead, is it important to give yourself the time so that by the time summer rolls around again, you're ready?

Dr. Breister (01:37):
Well, yes. The obvious answer to that question with body contouring, and I'm speaking mostly on a tummy tuck or liposuction with those procedures, there's garments that are very critical to the success of the procedure, the garments that are required to be worn for about eight weeks after any kind of extensive liposuction. And as we know, the summer months get pretty warm, pretty hot, you're sweating. It's much harder to wear those garments throughout the summer. You're getting your body ready for summer. You're not spending the summer recuperating, you're spending the summer having fun with your new body. But yes, I would say in that instance, it's really, I think, easier to get through when it's winter.

Monique Ramsey (02:33):
Well, and I think also, not just how hot the garments could be in that, you've got to be in 'em all the time, but it's sort of hard to camouflage them in the summer because how do you camouflage

Dr. Breister (02:45):
Shorts.

Monique Ramsey (02:46):
Yeah, the girdle or the whatever. So it's sort of like, at least in the winter, we can, even as San Diego isn't that cold, we can be in our sweatpants or we can be in a turtleneck or whatever we're trying to camouflage. And so leading into that surgery for facial things, what kinds of procedures do you find that people want to do now in planning for wedding season or the summer or that they might want to get done now for later?

Dr. Breister (03:18):
Well, I mean, the facial procedures are going to be really, people are going to try to schedule those, obviously, when they have the time to recover, that time to recover, depending if they work or they're teachers or whatnot, can a lot of times be structured around holidays. And you think, well, I don't want to be down for the holidays. But you'd be surprised, many, many people take that opportunity between Christmas week and New Years to get something done. So there's traditionally, historically, been one of the busiest times of the year for me, and I think a lot of plastic surgeons as well. And a lot of times people don't want to use that summertime vacation because they want to go on a trip in the summertime. So there's so many different factors of timing of surgery, and obviously you got to choose it when you have the most backup, the most help with your kids. If you have kids or the most help around the house, it's kind of going to be the number one factor is when can someone help me out or be available for me? After that consideration, you can say, when do I have the time? And that time, a lot of, oftentimes is during the holiday season,

Monique Ramsey (04:42):
And we have a lot of patients who are teachers or have a time of break off. And that's just to your point, that you know, have a couple weeks off, or even in some marketing and PR agencies, they take off two full weeks radio. Some of our

Dr. Breister (04:58):
Places shut down,

Monique Ramsey (05:00):
Right. Some of our radio patients that we've had before, one of them is yours, Tammy, from KSON. They stop recording the first week of December, and it's all pre-recorded. So the listeners think they're live, but they're on vacation. And so that does give a lot of people time off, or we have college students too who you might want to breast aug or trim the waist or something, and that you have that time off. And then to your point, you can have the summer to enjoy the results. And I think on the facial surgery, again, you've got scarves maybe or turtlenecks or certain things that you can.

Dr. Breister (05:43):
It's more, yes, it's more, it's easier to wear a turtleneck in the middle of winter than it is in the middle of summer if you're trying to hide a bruise or a little scar here and there. So yes, that's absolutely, the attire that wear during the winter is a lot more camouflaging.

Monique Ramsey (06:01):
And what about sunlight? So we have less direct sunlight, it's always sunny in San Diego, but we had, I remember a patient who was at the pool day two after her breast aug, and I'm like, oh, no, don't put that on Instagram, because its like, okay, even though she wasn't topless, but still, you have to be really careful. So how do you advise people with the sun and maybe new scars, and how long should they be careful with their incision lines?

Dr. Breister (06:33):
Yeah, so in general, we discourage tanning sunlight after any procedure. Sunlight can make scarring worse. That scar or that incision line is fresh and the sunlight, it can become more red, which we definitely want to avoid, especially if women are getting any kind of laser resurfacing, that is absolutely a no-no, you don't even want to get a glimmer of sun walking from your car into your house. It's so critical. The other procedures, if you're walking into the house, it's fine. But in general, yeah, the sunlight exposure is not helpful really.

Monique Ramsey (07:17):
So what you were saying, December tends to be one of your busiest times. Which procedures have you found kind of annually tend to be the things that people want done during the holidays?

Dr. Breister (07:32):
I see a lot of tummy tucks and breast work in the winter. Also, liposuction, as I mentioned earlier, it's a really good time that you can be wearing the garments, wearing the abdominal binder covered up with your clothes. So I would say the body work, but once again, sometimes people are getting ready for a wedding or in fact, I just had a patient yesterday, a patient who I did already, a tummy tuck and an explant lift, and now she wants some more liposuction, and her son is getting married in July. So she is like, I want December 26th. I know I have time off and I want to be ready in July. So here we go, a body procedure that is going to perfectly lend itself to healing during the holidays and then ready by summer. So I see it all the time.

Monique Ramsey (08:27):
Now, do you have any, I don't want to say requirements, but do they need to have things on hand for that recovery or are they like compression garments or chin straps or, I don't know how you dress everybody up right after surgery and send them home, but do they need to have anything on hand or?

Dr. Breister (08:49):
We really are good about guiding patients and providing them with garments. So in the immediate postoperative period, they're going to go home in a garment or they're going to be wrapped up in a certain way. And when they come back to see us, we're going to provide them with a garment. Many times we can provide them with two garments, and if for some reason those girdles or garments aren't fitting them properly, we absolutely guide them on what they can or instruct them what they can get or what's going to be best for them. So yes, the answer is it's always great to have a garment, a girdle, a compression that feels good and fits properly, but we can help along that way to advise exactly what they're going to need and how many should they get, and when they're going to go from a stage one to a stage two garment, there's different stages of compression. So as far as the patient goes, they can feel comfortable that we're going to provide them with those things initially, so they don't need to buy anything before the procedure. And we don't really recommend that because we don't know what size they might be or which area hurts them a little more. So we can actually guide them on that so they can rely on us to help them in that process.

Monique Ramsey (10:15):
Yeah, I think back in the day, I mean, really back in the day, it was hard to find anything at all.

Dr. Breister (10:23):
Yeah.

Monique Ramsey (10:24):
In the mid nineties.

Dr. Breister (10:24):
It had to be ordered.

Monique Ramsey (10:27):
These things like Spanx didn't exist. There was a lot of things that you were kind of out on your own if you didn't want whatever they sent you home with that garment that's like post-surgical, step down tightness. And now there's so much that I could see patients being tempted to start going crazy

Dr. Breister (10:47):
Collecting and stuff.

Monique Ramsey (10:48):
But no, not necessarily.

Dr. Breister (10:51):
Yeah, I mean, most women have some sort of compression garments already just to feel better, give them a little contouring, some type of compression garment. And yes, sometimes we can transition into those, but as I said, yes, they're easy to find. You can find these things in Macy's, some degree of compression. And what I tell my patients also, if they're like, look, I have all these bras at home and I think they'd be perfect. I'm like, well bring 'em in so that we can assess the level of stretchiness or compression they have. You'd be surprised. Patients will say, oh, I have these great tights that are good. I say, well, bring 'em in. And it's like, no, no, no. This is way too loose. This is not doing what we need to do. So yeah.

Monique Ramsey (11:40):
So going into seeing the final results, that's probably a big question that you get at consultation. When will I see my final results? And I'm sure it's very dependent on what surgery are you having, but if somebody is sort of aiming for, let's say, oh, their son is getting married in June and they want their body to look great, or they want their face to look great, having surgery in December, January, February, how long?

Dr. Breister (12:08):
Where should that be?

Monique Ramsey (12:09):
Yeah, where should that be?

Dr. Breister (12:10):
So with body contouring, so the tummy tuck, liposuction things, I think you need a minimum of three months. Okay. The first six weeks, you're swollen, you're just kind of getting around, you're getting by. Things are not where they are going to wind up. But after, I would say about three months, 98% of the swelling should be resolved by then. Any bruising should be resolved by then. Any potential issues, sometimes people have little issues, we call that a seroma. It's a little collection of fluid that sometimes into six weeks we have to drain something. So I like to advise my patients to be, I want them to be relaxed and really enjoy that event, obviously, and we don't want to have any sort of bandaids or dressings or anything to worry about. So I think three months would be an excellent time that we could almost guarantee you a hundred percent you're going to be looking good.

(13:18):
You're going to be feeling good. There's no chance that there's something we're still treating or looking at. So three months for the body is going to be great. Now the face tends to heal faster than that, honestly. And facelift surgeries, eye surgeries, people by about, I would say six weeks I think would be good to go. Like I said, the face heals very, very fast. Now, six weeks is different than four months. At four months. I tell people all of the little lumps and bumps should be gone by then, but six weeks, a little bruise here and there, or a little scar lump can be camouflaged. It's really not a big deal. Some people look amazing at two weeks, honestly, it just depends on you. But makeup can cover up a lot of things. But I think six weeks for face is going to be perfect. And I would say about three months for body, for body work to be, you can do anything you want, jump in a pool, you're going to look good. You're going to feel good by that time.

Monique Ramsey (14:30):
That's really good to know because I think obviously the more time the better, but giving yourself at least that much time to really then, like you say, relax and enjoy the event and have your energy back up too, cuz that's the other thing.

Dr. Breister (14:46):
Absolutely. Yeah.

Monique Ramsey (14:47):
These surgeries, even though you might feel like, oh, yeah, healed, but it takes some time,

Dr. Breister (14:53):
Your body is still acclimating. Yep. The sleep cycles are a little thrown off. Definitely.

Monique Ramsey (14:59):
Yeah. Or even just getting comfortable in your bed, sometimes you're like, why is this bothering me? And you might toss and turn a little bit more. And so what are some, I'm going to say, okay, Dr. Breister, if you were laid up in bed for a three week period, what would be some of the things that you would enjoy doing while you're having your winter recovery or that you might recommend to your patients to do?

Dr. Breister (15:24):
Well, this is a good question because many of my patients are very much into exercise, and I love exercise myself. I get it. It's kind of necessary for a lot of us just to get through our lives. It's a good stress relief, everything like that. So that's going to be a big sacrifice for people to not have that exercise in their life and to be actually now home bound and not do that. So I like to warn my patients of that, how important it is to not exercise. You would be amazed at how people are like, well, I can just get on the treadmill can't I? And I'm like, no, you can't.

Monique Ramsey (16:04):
Slow walking? No slow walking.

Dr. Breister (16:07):
I certainly can go for a walk. And I'm like, no, no, no, you can't. During whatever period that is. The face is different from the body and things like that.

(16:16):
So the point is, we going to have to figure out how to occupy your mind because you're not going to be able to physically use the body. So the first couple days to a week, there's going to be, you may be taking pain pills, you're going to be maybe in some pain. So those days kind of take care of themselves. You're sleeping, you're relaxing, you're kind of just relaxing. You're trying to get through the hardest part of the surgery. So I think the harder part comes when you're about seven to 10 days out and you're starting to feel a little better, and now you're starting to get extremely bored. You're feeling extremely house bound. You are starting to go a little nutty. So that's the time that I advise people. You've got to have some projects that you can occupy your mind that aren't physical.

(17:10):
I'm going to go through that stack of photos that's been sitting in my closet for the last 10 years. Go through the photos, start a project. Is it a scrapbook? Is it photos? Oh my gosh, these books I wanted to read. All of us have probably stacks of books that we want to read that we never do. So that's an excellent time to get your reading in or even just binge watching some of those shows that are on our list. We all have, I think we all do numerous shows that, oh, have I missed that? Seasons of things that you can get into help occupy yourself, and that's good. But even if you want to get outside, set up somewhere in your backyard or on your porch that doesn't have a lot of direct sunlight, you can sit in a chair, you can get some fresh air.

(18:00):
That's important too, is just getting outside of your house at some point. Yes, get in the car, go have your husband take you on a drive by the beach. Get out of the house at some point. And in an activity that is just sitting in the car is fine, and we're not going to be taking a long walk on the beach, but you certainly could get there just to get that mind, get an outing a day. I start telling people, for the ones who start getting really cabin fever, and it's a real thing. Most people getting plastic surgery are highly motivated individuals who are wanting this because they want to feel better and look better. And trust me, they have busy lives and they're used to that. So having four weeks of no exercise can be a real challenge. But I think with some of these tools and enough mental preparation beforehand, you can get through it. I also like to tell people, look, I know you can't exercise, you can't control that right now, but you can control what you eat. So like, hey, maybe good smoothies and focus on what you're eating, not in a sense to, because you need to lose weight or not eat, but just maybe it's an opportunity that you have the time to have really good, fresh, raw food, some of the smoothies you wanted to eat or certain things that, so there's a lot of other places that people can put their focus into.

Monique Ramsey (19:32):
Sort of a reset, using it as a reset.

Dr. Breister (19:34):
Exactly.

Monique Ramsey (19:36):
To incorporate maybe a few new recipes.

Dr. Breister (19:40):
And then some people, yeah, they look forward to a time where they have to rest. It's mandatory. You need to sit in bed for hours because a lot of us type A people are go, go, go. So even myself, I had some foot surgery and I'm like, okay, I got to lay in this bed. I'm going to elevate my foot and I'm going to go through all those photos in my phone that need to be deleted. So there's a lot of things, and I think it works well as long as you're mentally prepared for it.

Monique Ramsey (20:13):
Well and I love your idea of after a certain amount of time, go on with your best friend on a drive, go to Julian and see a little snow on the ground.

Dr. Breister (20:22):
Or even go to a movie. I mean, no one goes to movies anymore, but just getting out of the house for a small, non-athletic outing. It can do wonders, wonders for people.

Monique Ramsey (20:34):
And the other thing I was thinking is also getting maybe some lymphatic drainage massage because sometimes you might be a couple weeks out, but you're still not feeling super great and surprisingly just moving some of that extra fluid you might have very carefully. And I know you guys have lists of people who are approved, you want to just go to anybody, but don't you agree that that's sort of one of those things that will help them?

Dr. Breister (21:05):
Absolutely. It's such an amazing tool to have an appointment with someone who specializes in dealing with the after of cosmetic surgery, whether it be face, breast, body, especially lipo. There are amazing people out there who are healers. They focus on healing. They know how to touch the body. They know how to stimulate the drainage so that swelling goes down easier. I have now a great, great gal who does some light therapy for healing,

(21:41):
And it's amazing how quickly it helps the body to heal. I had a patient who had a breast surgery and a tummy tuck, and she somehow started going to this gal and was getting some light treatments in addition to lymphatic massage. The point is, at eight weeks, she looked like she was a three or four month patient because her healing was that dramatically better that I said, I need to meet this gal. I need to see what she's all about. And I have done that. And so I mean, every kind of healing I believe can be have a benefit from the light therapy. I think it's a great, great tool. So that is wonderful. Yet you can't go right away. That should be, we can guide you in when you're healed enough that you can go and they can do that. And usually on average, maybe by 10 days or so, most people are going to be ready to have some sort of therapy or something like that. But that's a wonderful, wonderful way to actively help your healing.

Monique Ramsey (22:49):
Well, thank you, Dr. Breister. This was so fun to talk about what we can do in the winter to get ourselves fabulous for the summer.

Dr. Breister (22:56):
Well, I hope it was informative. I mean, I hope there's some little tricks and tools and things that, for anyone out there who is considering plastic surgery, yeah, it's about finding the right surgeon. It's about having the perfect surgery, but it's about more than that and healing and what are you going to do after. Because yeah, we need to have a really well scripted routine for how you're going to heal the best, because an integral part of having the surgery be a success. So I hope that this little chitchat gave some people some ideas or just thinking about the whole process of plastic surgery.

Monique Ramsey (23:33):
Yeah. Well, thank you. And if you're interested out there, whoever's out there listening, if you want to see Dr. Breister with a consultation, you can just give us a call. We'll have links in the show notes. You can see her before and after photos. You can read about her, see videos that she's been in, see other podcasts, and we're here all the time so we can set that consultation up. There's no charge for that. And if you live out of town and this is where you want to have your rejuvenation vacation, then we can do a Zoom consult too. So don't hesitate to ask for that. But we'll have all those links in the show notes. And thank you again, Dr. Breister.

Dr. Breister (24:11):
My pleasure, Monique, always good to see you.

Monique Ramsey (24:13):
Good to see you too. Thanks.

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