Mentally Recovering from Plastic Surgery

​Having a cosmetic procedure is unlike any other surgical experience. It’s
important to note that it will take some time before you feel like yourself again
after surgery. For reasons that we can only guess, cosmetic surgery causes a
roller coaster of emotional experiences in the immediate postoperative period. So
many of our hopes, desires, and expectations are associated with the way we
feel about our looks, therefore plastic surgery can cause emotional turmoil as we
go through the stages of healing.

Not Feeling Like Yourself

For example, many people report a feeling of depression after surgery.
Sometimes, patients come into my office and tell me they’re crying every day and
don’t know why. They say they are happy with how everything is going, but their
brain is stuck in an emotional state that they cannot shake. The depression,
anxiety, restlessness, and other feelings that many patients experience don’t
necessarily have anything to do with the plastic surgery itself.

After every surgical procedure, you are going to experience huge changes in
activity and lifestyle, especially for the first few weeks. One day you’re running
around and doing all sorts of things, and the next, you’re mostly confined to your
bed. When you can’t do the things you want and end up spending a lot of time in
one place, it can lead to depression.

Also, remember that your body doesn’t know the difference between a surgical
procedure and being hit by a truck. Your stress hormones act as though you got
into a major accident, and your body does what it is genetically programmed to
do, which is to go into a “shock” state. You have a huge outpouring of stress
hormones from the glands in your brain.

These hormone changes that all people experience after surgery is a big reason that you end up having psychological experiences that you have never felt before. Things start normalizing about two to four weeks after surgery, depending on what type of procedure you had done. It could be four to six weeks before you really feel like yourself again.

To learn more about being emotionally prepared for cosmetic procedures, I invite you to get your own copy of my book, “Making the Cut” available for purchase on Amazon.

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