Brachioplasty

Conveniently located to serve Seattle and Bellevue

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ITEMS TO PURCHASE BEFORE SURGERY

You may bathe the night or morning before surgery and use Dial antimicrobial bar soap. Please do not wear any lotions, makeup, or products afterwards. Please remove jewelry and nail polish.
Stop taking NSAIDs (Ibuprofen, Motrin, Aleve, Aspirin) and Vitamin E, fish oil, and Omega vitamins two weeks before your surgery as these may increase your risk bruising and blood loss.
Please fill your prescriptions and bring all medications with you to your surgery.
Do not eat or drink anything 8 hours prior to your procedure.
Set up your vehicle and home before surgery. Expect that you will be draining/leaking fluid afterwards for up to 72 hours. Make sure you cover your car (for the drive home), your bed, chairs/furniture with absorbent mats, towels, or plastic.
Wear slip-on shoes and loose-fitting clothing. Clothing with front closures like zippers or buttons and sweatpants are preferred.
Please make arrangements for time off of work for at least 1 week

You may shower after 72 hours IF you do not have drains in place. If you do have drains please wait until they are removed to shower.
Start walking as soon as possible, as this helps to reduce swelling and lowers the chance of blood clots.
Do not drive until you are no longer taking any pain medications (narcotics).
Avoid strenuous exercise and activities for 4 weeks or until released by Dr Parikh.

If drainage tube(s) have been placed, we will teach you how to care for them. You will need to track the output with the log we give you. To have them removed the output needs to be 15cc or less in a 24-hour period. Please bring this log with you to your post op appointments, this is how we determine to remove your drains. See separate instructions for more details.
Keep incisions clean and inspect daily for signs of infection.
Your sutures are absorbable and do not need to be removed. They may take several weeks to fully absorb.
After about 3-4 weeks, your incisions are beginning to close and heal. Once the skin is closed, we recommend using silicone-based scar cream or sheeting to improve the appearance of scars. We carry Silagen as a gel and sheeting which is 100% medical grade silicone available in our office.
Please make sure to wear sunscreen with an SPF greater than 30 for long-term scar care. This is a lifelong recommendation.

Postoperative pain is minimal.
Your arms will be wrapped with ace wraps for compression immediately after surgery. You will also be wearing a compression garment. For the first 4 weeks it needs to be worn for 24 hours a day and the next two weeks for 12 hours a day.
There will be swelling and discoloration.
There may be numbness around the operative areas. This is temporary and will go away within the next couple of months.

The antibiotic should be taken until it is completed as prescribed.
The pain medicine is a narcotic and should be taken as prescribed. Do not exceed more than 8 tablets per day. Remember to take Colace stool softener as soon as you begin taking pain medication to prevent constipation.
Do not make any legal decisions while under the influence of an anesthetic or medication that may cause drowsiness.
Do not drink alcohol, drive, or operate machinery while you are taking pain medication.
The pain medicine can cause nausea and should be taken with food at each dose. Zofran (Ondansetron) can be taken to prevent or resolve nausea and vomiting. Remember to dissolve this tablet in your mouth without chewing (do not swallow). This is a prescribed medication that is included with your preoperative medications.
You may resume your regular medication after your surgery except for NSAIDs (wait at least 5 days post-op).
If you take aspirin, Coumadin, or any other blood thinning medication, check with Dr. Parikh as to when you can resume.

When you go home from surgery you will have ace wrap around your arms, after 72 hours (IF you do not have drains) you may remove this ace wrap and shower.
You must wear the recommended support garments for a minimum of 4 weeks, 24 hours a day unless otherwise instructed. continue wearing for an additional 2 weeks for 12 hours per day.

You can expect to have a lot of swelling and bruising to last up to 6 weeks, depending on your surgery, sometimes it will look like you did not have the procedure done.
At about 10-14 days you may start to urinate more frequently and see a dramatic decrease in the swelling. If you have drains in place at this time, you may notice an increase in drain output. This is normal.
Swelling and bruising are normal parts of the recovery process and will begin to subside one or two weeks after surgery. It is expected that your clothes will be tight for the first week or two after surgery. Intermittent swelling may persist for several months and may move down into the ankles.
You should see a general decrease in your size and shape approximately 1-2 weeks after surgery. Your size and shape will continue to decrease each week.
Swelling following liposuction recedes rather slowly. It will take some time before the contour finalizes; it could take 6-9 months to see your result.
Pain and aches are normal especially the first week; this will decrease as bruising subsides.

Starting 2 week after your procedure you should begin massaging all areas that we performed liposuction contouring on. This will be discussed further at your first follow-up appointment.

Do NOT apply ice packs or a heating pad to skin overlying the areas treated by liposuction.
Do NOT apply hydrogen peroxide or plastic Band-Aids to incision sites. Liposuction incision sites heal faster and better without topical antibiotics.
Do NOT soak in a bath, Jacuzzi, swimming pool, lake, pond, or the ocean for at least 14 days after surgery to minimize the risk of infection.

It is normal to have an itching sensation and/or numbness in the areas that underwent liposuction. This gradually resolves over the next 3 months
You may notice that your swelling varies from day to day. This is normal and subsides within 6 months.
You may notice areas of firmness in the liposuctioned areas that develop after surgery. Make sure to wear your compression garments to prevent this. If you do have notable areas of firmness, massage these areas to smooth the texture. Be consistent and massage liposuctioned areas for 10 minutes, three times per day until firmness resolves. This may take several weeks to months to fully resolve.

You may contact Dr. Parikh directly if you experience an urgent question or concern after hours.