Medical Surgical Unit of Plastic Surgery
César Edwin Martínez Correa M.D.
Plastic Surgeon
SPECIAL ADVICES
Find out some useful advices that shall help you control more effectively your weight or keep it after the surgery.
Try to lose weight: fat tends to have a poorer blood supply than other tissue. The more fat there is, the less the blood supply and the greater the chance of a complication. However, it is a bad idea to “crash diet” before surgery as your body will need a healthy diet to heal properly afterwards.
Please stop smoking: cigarette smoke contains many different chemicals which can interfere with blood supply and narrow your blood vessels. The operated area needs a very good blood supply to heal and every cigarette smoked reduces the blood supply to the operated area and increases the risk of you developing a complication.
It is important to eat every 3 hours in order to increase metabolism. Some people think it has a better effect to avoid some meals like breakfast but they are achieving to slow down its organism.
Drink plentiful of liquids, ideally 6 to 8 glasses of water per day as this would also increase your metabolism.
Remember fruits are very important in a healthy diet. They provide fiber and vitamins, but also in excess they end accumulating fat. The best is to eat them in the morning.
Metabolism slows down from 5 PM, so food eaten from that hour delays more in metabolizing and has more option to accumulate as fat deposits. For this reason, after this hour, you should avoid carbohydrates.
Night’s meal shall follow the rule of eating every 3 hours. The important matter is to only eat proteins and vegetables or salads. Remember that while you are sleeping your body remains in fasting at least during 6 to 8 hours. If you also add the night period of not eating, your fasting shall be a very long one for your organism and therefore as we mentioned it before, your metabolism slows down. • Increase consumption of fresh vegetables and salads that would allow you to reach more rapidly the feeling of fullness.
In each meal is important to stop before felling “full”. In the moment you feel it and continue eating, you are allowing your stomach to strain a little bit more and you shall need more food to feel fine.
Avoid adding sugar to juices or coffees. If you really need it, use sweeteners.
It is necessary to eat low in salt, as this also retains water and makes difficult to reduce weight. • Avoid soft drinks although there is the option of Light. These are not quite absorbed by the intestine and besides they are related with cellulitis manifestation.
The most important thing you shall remember is to go along with your healthy diet a scheme of exercise to increase calories burning.
Stop smoking; cigarette smoke contains many different chemicals which can interfere with blood supply and narrow your blood vessels. The operated area needs a very good blood supply to heal and every cigarette smoked reduces the blood supply to the operated area and increases the risk of you developing a complication. Complications can be as much as 60 times higher in smokers than non-smokers. The longer you can give up for before surgery the better and the longer you can abstain for after surgery the better.
Avoid aspirin; aspirin is an extremely useful medicine, but it does tend to increase the risk of bleeding, which is not a good thing during surgery. Therefore, you should avoid or stop taking aspirin for 10 days before surgery.
Avoid or certainly limit alcohol on the night before surgery.
Do not have anything to eat or drink after midnight on the night before surgery: if you are having a general anaesthetic, it is important that your stomach is empty by the time you go to theatre. It usually takes about six hours after eating food for your stomach to be empty. If you know you are going to be going to theatre in the afternoon, then it is OK to have a light breakfast at 6:30 am. If you are having your operation done under a local anaesthetic (with you awake) then you do not need to fast and can eat and drink normally right up to your operation.
Do not wear makeup: If you are attending for any facial surgery, it is a good idea not to wear makeup on the day of surgery.
If you have a long-standing medical problem such as diabetes, asthma, thyroid problems, epilepsy or high blood pressure (hypertension) you should go to the doctor´s office for a checkup before you visit your Surgeon.