When Can You Start Exercising After Contouring Surgery?

Hello, I’m Dr. Jo Hyun-woo from Inpyeop Plastic Surgery.

These days, I think there are many patients who exercise to manage their own health.

When deciding on surgery, many people ask when they can start exercising again.

In fact, immediately after surgery, there is often a lot of swelling, so many patients are reluctant to go outside.

However, light activities like walking are possible right after surgery and can actually help reduce swelling.

When walking, you use the muscles throughout your body, which improves blood circulation and helps relieve swelling.

We usually tell patients that exercise for body management, such as weight training, Pilates, and yoga, can be started after 2 weeks.

Exercises that put strain on the face are not recommended in the early stage after surgery because there is a possibility that the blood vessels that were tied off during hemostasis could start bleeding again under pressure. Also, if you bend your head down, blood may rush toward the face, and you may feel excessive blood pooling there.

Other relatively light, non-strenuous exercises are possible after one week.

During strength training, blood pressure may rise or strain may be placed on the face, so weight training is possible as long as you do not overdo it.

After cheekbone surgery, we tell patients to avoid opening the mouth too wide or eating hard, tough foods for about a month.

In particular, when lifting heavy weights during weight training, you should be careful not to clench your back teeth tightly.

Even if you do weight training, it would be better to focus on more comfortable exercises.

For exercises like golf or tennis, we usually say they are possible after one week once the major swelling has gone down, as long as you personally do not feel uncomfortable.

The exercises you need to be most careful about are, of course, intense ones.

Exercises that may result in impact to the face are best performed after the bone has become solid.

You need to be very careful with intense sports such as boxing, jiu-jitsu, and judo, as well as sports like soccer where you may be hit by a ball.

It is better to wait until the bone has fully healed, and we advise avoiding intense exercise for at least about 6 months.

People are also often worried about sweating a lot from exercise.

In fact, contouring surgery is performed through the inside of the mouth, so it is not a major concern.

If you sweat a lot, the fluid is expelled outward, which may actually help reduce swelling.

Contour surgery, unlike other cosmetic surgeries, does not require special precautions beyond avoiding intense exercise while the bone is healing. As long as you avoid strenuous activity, you can 충분히 manage yourself through exercise.

A PT trainer who had cheekbone surgery with me said he carefully resumed exercise 5 days after surgery, and a Pilates instructor said she was able to return to exercise well after one week.

Today, although it is a brief discussion, I explained when exercise can be resumed after contouring surgery.

Many people worry that if they have surgery, they won’t be able to exercise and their body will deteriorate.

However, you can return to exercise relatively quickly, so there is no need to worry too much. If you have questions about other types of exercise, please leave a comment and I will reply.

Thank you.