On the day of my surgery, I will be smoke-free for 12 days (cold turkey). Is that long enough for a successful breast implant and breast lift surgery, and good healing? I am a 28-year-old female in good health (if that matters). I’m not going to start smoking afterwards. I QUIT!
A: Smoking and breast implant surgery
In general, it is recommended to quit smoking completely for 2-12 weeks prior to breast surgery, or any plastic surgery procedure. This is an elective procedure, and the longer you can wait prior to surgery, the fewer wound healing complications you will have.
Twelve days is very close to 2 weeks, so this is not completely inappropriate, but if you absolutely want to improve your chances of having a good outcome, waiting longer is best. Also, related to breast implants, the incidence of capsular contracture (hard scar tissue around the implants) is higher in smokers. This is yet another reason to stop smoking several weeks before and several weeks AFTER the surgery.
