Jogging or Running After Breast Surgery – Tips and Timeline

Top Tips for Running and Jogging with New Breast Implants

As Breast Augmentation does not affect your long-term exercise routine, it does limit your running in the first few weeks. After your breast implant surgery, you will need time to let your body heal so that your breast implants will settle into their desired position. However, physically active individuals are more concerned about returning to their exercise routines as soon as possible.

To better prepare yourself for any strenuous activity or running after breast surgery, the following tips can be of great help:

1. Start Gently – When You are Ready

After undergoing breast surgery, it is essential that you give your body enough time to heal to achieve the best possible outcome. If you force yourself to run or attempt any highly demanding physical activity, it may cause profuse bleeding, scarring, excruciating pain, infection, as well as discomfort at the incision site. You should listen to your body and know when to stop.

There is no standard time to resume your running again. Your body has its unique way of healing. Most surgeons recommend that you should wait at least 2-3 weeks before engaging in any physical activities or other work-related routines to allow your body to heal. Do not strain yourself or push your body to get back to your routine. After such time, you can slowly return to your exercise routine.

Why do you need a good recovery before resuming running?

• Ensuring that your surgical incisions have healed
• You need to allow time to ensure the new tissues around the implant can support your implant pocket.
• Sweating can increase the risk of infection.

Talk to your surgeon or nurses regarding your recovery time before your hospital discharge. Also, you should follow up with your surgeon to give you the cue to start running again.

2. Watch Out for Any Discomfort

While most patients can engage in running 2-3 weeks after breast implant surgery, it is important to keep in mind that recovery time varies from person to person. For some, this time frame is enough for them to perform their exercise routine as usual. However, some patients may still experience discomfort while exercising, so it is essential to be vigilant and watch out for any untoward signs and symptoms. If you experience any discomfort while running, do not force yourself to continue. Stop and consult your physician immediately for further medical management. After breast augmentation, warning signs can overlap with normal signs developed by the surgery. As these signs normally start after discharge, you should comprehend well when to reach out to your surgeons. Here are some tips:

• It is normal to experience a mild fever after surgery as your immune system tries to introduce itself to the foreign implants. Usually, your doctor will prescribe you antibiotics that help with your fever.
• It is common to experience pain after breast augmentation. Swelling and soreness are natural signs after any surgical procedure. The physical intervention and the healing process can cause you pain that will subside with pain medications. Your doctor will give you a prescription for it. You should watch out for increased pain and swelling.
• Your surgeon will place surgical bandages on your incisions. These bandages help keep your incisions clean and aid in absorbing any minor bleeding and discharge. It is vital to change your surgical dressing as directed to prevent any source of infection around your incisions. Oozing and drainage are your alerts that something is going wrong.

3. You’ll need a Good Support Bra

After your breast augmentation surgery, you start to feel the weight of your new breasts caused by your implants and the swelling from the surgery. Your surgeon will support this new weight with surgical bandages and a surgical bra. Wearing a good support bra whenever you run protects your new breast implants by maintaining their shape and position. By doing so, you can prevent breast asymmetry and other breast implant complications. Make sure that your sports bra is snug-fit and comfortable. The right bra will help you to maintain your implants’ success results.

You’ll have to wear the compression garment for at least six to eight weeks after the completion of any type of breast surgery. This garment is known to accelerate recovery after surgical procedures. It is an essential part of postoperative care following plastic surgical procedures of the breast. Not only does it keep the breast in its new place, but it also reduces pain and swelling.

Things to consider while choosing the right type of sports bra after breast surgery

• It should help maintain the weight under your breasts.
• It should not rub against your surgical incisions.
• It should be comfortable.
• It should be easy to take off.

The right bra size is crucial after breast augmentation. A tight sports bra may impair blood circulation within your breasts. Talk to your surgeon or the nurses regarding the best sports bra brands to ensure your implants are adequately stabilised when running.

4. Make a staged plan

When your surgeon tells you to rest from your active life after surgery, it might be a tough period for you, especially if you are quite dedicated to your health and fitness routine. If this is important to you, consider making a plan to get your body ready to go back to your vigorous routine. With your surgeon’s approval, this plan may include a precise timeline and the types of activities you can do according to your healing progress. Scaling up your physical workout only depends on your skin healing and overall recovery.

A possible plan for your workout routine can include:

• In the first week: After breast augmentation, you should not strain yourself. Resting and responding to your basic needs are the only acceptable activities you can do in the first few days. In the following days, you can gently move around your house to increase your blood circulation. In the second two weeks: You can prepare your body for getting back to your active routine by introducing gentle cardio exercise. Walking is a big step in this stage. You can start walking in cool weather to avoid raising your heart rate and body temperature. With passing time, you can increase the duration of your exercise.
• After a month: You can scale up the intensity of your workout. You can combine a couple of normal-paced exercises along with a longer walking routine. After your follow-up, your surgeon may allow adding some leg-based exercises like indoor cycling. With time and healing, you can add some core workouts while avoiding upper-body routines.
• After six weeks: You may take less or more time to heal, however, most surgeons expect you to be fully recovered by six weeks. Your breast surgeon will allow exercises like running, swimming, and cross-fit workouts. The golden rule is to know your limits. Always plan and go along with your body’s recovery.

5. Massage Your New Breasts Before Running After Breast Surgery

Home care is an essential step at this point. Taking care of yourself can increase your chances of becoming healthier and preserving your aesthetic results longer. When it comes to taking care of breast implants, your surgeon will include breast massage in the list. Your surgeon usually recommends you to do so to:

• Reduce the probability of capsular contraction: After your surgeon places your breast implants, scar tissues start to surround your implant, forming what are called capsules. These capsules, with time, may harden and contract causing severe pain in your chest.
• Prevent a reduction in the size of the implant pocket.
• Maintain the soft feeling of your new breasts.

Regular breast massage in the first 6 to 12 months after your breast implant surgery will prepare your new breasts to engage in any vigorous activities. After the healing of your surgical incisions, you can start doing your breast massage. The rule of thumb for breast massage is to initiate massaging three times a day in the first month and reduce its frequency over time till reaching a five-minute massage daily through the life of your implants. Before discharge, your physician or nurse will teach you the proper breast massage techniques as well as when to perform them.

6. Always Plan ahead for best results

After you consult with Dr Turner, with his help and approval, you should build up a plan that should include a precise timeline and the permitted activities you are allowed to resume according to your recovery progress. Increasing the intensity of your physical workout will depend on the healing of your skin and your overall recovery.