Holiday Plastic Surgery Guide: When to Schedule Your Procedure
The decision to have cosmetic surgery is a deeply personal one that often takes a lot of consideration, research, and time to make. During the process, you may have asked yourself, “When is the best time to have cosmetic surgery?” Though there isn’t necessarily a right answer, many of our patients find that scheduling a procedure during the winter holiday season provides some great conveniences.
3 Reasons to Schedule Your Procedure During the Holidays
The winter months bring cooler weather, the presence of family and friends, delicious meals, and time away from work. All of these factors make the next couple of months ideal for scheduling cosmetic surgery. If you’re wanting to update your look before the holidays with non-surgical treatments, or if you’re wanting to show off that great bikini body come summer, now is a great time to explore your options and set a date.
1. You can take advantage of paid time off
Has the fear of missing work kept you from scheduling your procedure? The holidays often come bundled with time off from work, so planning a procedure this season can help you avoid taking additional time off. If you prepare well in advance, you can be back in the office looking like you simply had a very restful break!
Additionally, your significant other, friends, or family also likely have time off, so you shouldn’t have trouble finding a post-surgery designated driver or at-home helper during your initial recovery period.
2. It’s a great opportunity to gift yourself…or make a special request
Whether BOTOX® is at the top of your wish list, or you’ve been saving up for a procedure such as breast augmentation, cosmetic enhancement is a great gift to request from a loved one—or better yet, a gift to yourself!
Speaking of gifts, they come in all shapes and sizes. Having family and friends volunteer their time to help out with basic chores around the house, babysit your children, and help with any personal needs during recovery is a perfect, cost-free gift request, and they’ll likely be happy to help!
3. Winter clothes can help you keep your results a secret
Even in sunny Las Vegas, winter temperatures mean bulkier clothing. This is great news if you’re not wanting to advertise your visit to the cosmetic surgeon! Wearing more layers during the winter makes hiding any incisions and swelling much easier during the initial postoperative recovery period. It also means that you can keep your new shape somewhat under wraps for awhile and gradually reveal the new you as spring weather arrives. People won’t easily spot the fact that you’ve enhanced your shape over the winter, and if they marvel at your great shape come spring, you can always just say your new fitness program has been amazing!
Perfectly Planning Your Procedure
When considering cosmetic surgery, it’s important to think ahead. If you’re hoping to slim down or enhance your curves in time for summer, you’ll need a few months before you’ll be ready to hit the swimming pool. For many procedures, it can take up to six months to see final results, though you’ll likely be thrilled with your improvements before then!
Wondering about your recovery time? Here’s what to expect with some of the most popular procedures.
Expect around five to six months for final breast enhancement results
Procedures that lift or reshape your breasts—such as breast augmentation, breast lift, and breast reduction—will require a little patience while you’re waiting for final results. For instance, depending on which breast implants you choose, you may not see your final breast augmentation results until about the six month mark.
Keep in mind that you’ll be back on your feet much sooner than that, and you’ll probably be very pleased with your breasts months before your final results have taken shape. But if you want to be sure your implants have completely settled and look totally natural in time for summer, have the procedure in the winter months!
Looking for specific dates? The American Board of Cosmetic Surgery created a helpful infographic that will tell you when you should schedule your breast augmentation surgery.
Body contouring results can take two to six months to be bikini-ready
Considering slimming down or improving your body contour? Liposuction and tummy tuck surgery are two of the most popular body procedures. With both procedures, you will likely be thrilled with your results just a week or two after surgery, but if you’re wanting to don a bikini without any sign of surgery visible, it’s good to plan well in advance.
For liposuction, you’ll notice positive results as soon as postoperative swelling and bruising recedes, but it’ll take about two to three months to see your final results. Tummy tuck final results, on the other hand, can take up to six months to be bikini ready. So, if you have surgery now, you should be more than ready to slip into something more revealing when the weather heats up.
Facelift results need about four months to fully heal
It will only take a couple of weeks to get back to your daily activities after facelift surgery, but you won’t be portrait-ready quite yet. As long as you don’t need to be in front of a camera over the holidays, this is a great time for this procedure, as the fountain-of-youth payoff from facelift surgery requires taking about 10 days off work. The good news is, if you have the procedure now, you’ll be looking your best in time for spring and summer events such as weddings and class reunions.
Winter’s turtlenecks, scarves, and hats are also a great way to help hide any post-facelift bruising and stitches you might want to conceal. (Luckily we need sunglasses, the classic post-facelift accessory, year-round in Vegas.) Facelift swelling and bruising will subside within the month, allowing you to shed the winter accessories in stages. It can take around four to six months for your final results to appear, but 96% of patients say it was worth the wait!
The Best Prep Includes Consulting with a Professional
If you are considering cosmetic surgery and are curious to find out the benefits to having your procedure over the holidays, contact us to set up a consultation with Dr. Pancholi. We would love to talk to you about your options, overview scheduling considerations, and explore your procedures of interest.
