More people take some sort of multi-vitamin or herbal supplement but very few think to disclose their vitamins to their doctor and anesthesiologist prior to their surgery. After all, they’re just vitamins, they don’t count as a medication right? Wrong!
You may not have given much thought to this but herbs, and products that contain them, are packaged as nutritional supplements and will not provide warnings, dosage information or suggested usage instructions. As a result, many people incorrectly assume that a “natural” medicines are inherently safer than a pharmaceutical drug.
This is not only untrue; it’s an assumption that can be dangerous if a person is facing any surgery, whether it’s plastic surgery or not. Many people planning plastic surgery surgery fail to disclose their herbal supplement use out of fear of being ridiculed by their doctor. (Who would think that licorice could be dangerous?)The fact is, your doctors want and need to know what you are taking to ensure your safe recovery.
Below is a list of some commonly taken supplements that can interfere with your plastic surgery. How? Some cause post-surgical bleeding, worsen Inflammation, raise blood pressure or alter your sugar levels. The best advice is to quit all herbal supplements three weeks prior to your plastic surgery procedure. If in doubt, don’t take it.
Herbs and Vitamins That Can Interfere with Plastic Surgery (and all other surgeries too!)
Any Diet Pills or herb blends designed to control appetite
Aspirin, Motrin, Advil or other blood thinners
Vitamin E
Chromium
Garlic
Ginger
Ginkgo
Goldenseal
Flaxseed
Fish oil
Echinacea
Licorice
Saw Palmetto
Ephedra
Ginseng
Feverfew
Kava-Kava
St. John’s Wort
Valerian Root
There are some recommended vitamins for plastic surgery as well as some herbal supplements that can aid post-surgical healing and reduce bruising. This is what we prescribe.
Vitamins for Plastic Surgery: Start three weeks before your procedure
Medical-Grade Probiotics help minimize constipation, which is one of the most common side-effects from taking pain medication after surgery. New research is showing that not only do Probiotics improve intestinal health but they also may help boost the immune system. We are now recommending that our patients start on medical-grade probiotics at the same time they start their clinical vitamins. $40Buy Now
Arnica or Bromelain, depending on the procedure, to help minimize bruising, swelling, muscle aches and soreness. (One is included in your surgical recovery kit which you get at your pre-op appointment. Don’t take if you are lactose intolerant.) Buy Now
Body lift patients start Vitron C to address nutritional deficiencies after gastric bypass surgery. (This is available in our office for your convenience.)
Medical Vitamins for Plastic Surgery
All the vitamins we carry in our store are from Vitamedica, a company that only uses pharmaceutical grade ingredients, as opposed to the “dietary supplement” ingredients and labs you find on the shelves of your grocery store. These drug standards have a higher level of scrutiny compared with those used in the dietary supplement industry. Each of their facilities is routinely inspected by the FDA. If you are interested, we have a document on file which certifies their authenticity.
Since inception, all of their products including the vitamins for plastic surgery, have been made in two facilities that are licensed to produce drugs, using manufacturing practices that parallel those adopted by the drug industry. That’s why we offer their products to our patients.
Many of our patients liked their surgical vitamins so much that they asked us how to get more of Vitamedica’s vitamins after their surgery. So we decided to carry their line of everyday vitamins. In our online store, we also have:
Download our new eBook with 40-pages of everything you need to know about planning your plastic surgery and recovery.
In the Plastic Surgery Planner, we drill down into the nitty gritty of how to prepare for your plastic surgery, and what to do to recover well and quickly. These are best practices that we have learned throughout the years, mainly by listening to our patients, but also in some cases by having the procedures done ourselves. Plastic Surgery PlannerTips to Manage a Speedy RecoveryDownload Now
Whether you are having your surgery with Dr. Reath or another Board-certified plastic surgeon, you’ll find these pages super-helpful.
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