Why is it strictly forbidden to smoke before plastic surgery?

Propaganda against smoking has been going on for decades in every developed country in the world. Nicotine negatively affects the functioning of all organs and systems in the human body, provokes the development of chronic diseases of the respiratory system, and is also one of the most well-known carcinogens. However, millions of people cannot and most do not want to get rid of this bad habit. A weighty reason to quit smoking can be the desire to change your appearance, since before any surgical intervention, doctors categorically prohibit smoking. Why is it forbidden to smoke before plastic surgery, and what threatens to violate the ban – read on estet-portal.com.

Why is it forbidden to smoke before plastic surgery

The negative effects of smoking are known to absolutely everyone, but there are situations that include any plastic surgery, smoking before which – means a significant increase in risks to one's own health.

The Medical College of Wisconsin conducted a large-scale study that found that patients who smoked 24 hours before an operation performed under intravenous anesthesia were 20% more likely to receive insufficient oxygen compared to patients who did not use nicotine .

Moreover, surgeons warn that the combination of stress and smoking before surgery can play a trick on the patient. Depending on the type of surgery, smoking patients face different dangers.

It is dangerous to smoke if the operation is:

• mammoplasty: why you can't smoke if you have breast surgery;
• how dangerous is smoking before liposuction;
• rhinoplasty: why you can't smoke if you have nose surgery.

Mammoplasty: why you can’t smoke if you have breast surgery

Any type of breast surgery, be it breast augmentation, reduction or reconstructive surgery, belongs to the category of operations where smoking is especially dangerous. The fact is that scientists have long proven that smoking significantly reduces blood oxygen saturation, resulting in very slow healing processes. Mammoplasty involves making incisions on the skin, which should gradually heal in the postoperative period. The presence of wounds, combined with a lack of oxygen, in some cases can lead to skin necrosis, and necrosis, in turn, will entail the displacement of implants and the formation of rough scars. Therefore, patients should stop smoking a few weeks before surgery.

What is the danger of smoking before liposuction

A characteristic complication of liposuction associated with smoking is an increased risk of bleeding from surgical wounds. Most often, excess fat is removed on the abdomen of patients. The lungs of smokers are in very poor condition. The body protects itself by trying to clear nicotine tar from the lungs through a simple physiological process – cough. During coughing, intra-abdominal pressure rises, the stomach literally swells, and this can lead to the fact that the stitches applied during the operation will open and bleeding will occur.

Rhinoplasty: why you can't smoke if you have nose surgery

It is important to carefully take anamnesis in patients who wish to perform nasal surgery. Rhinoplasty – this is another operation in which smoking is strictly prohibited. As already mentioned, the processes of tissue healing are significantly impaired in smokers. And rhinoplasty is invariably associated with the jewelery work of surgeons and the need for good and fast wound healing, which is primarily necessary to restore nasal breathing.

It is the duty of every plastic surgeon to communicate to their patients the importance of quitting smoking a few weeks before the planned surgery.

Poor wound healing, scarring and bleeding – these are just some of the possible dangerous complications. Until your patient quits smoking – he shouldn't have surgery!