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Care Package After Cosmetic Surgery in Beverly Hills
By admin | October 13, 2009
Care Package After Cosmetic Surgery in Beverly Hills
“Care Package” is a term very familiar to many Americans regardless of interest in cosmetic surgery. The original Care Packages were donations of food and supplies to the poor of war-ravaged Europe, beginning in 1945. Americans, the most generous people in the world, not only helped prop up devastated Europe through the economy-boosting Marshall Plan, but individual Americans sent care packages to share with the less fortunate in England, France, and even to our former enemies, Germany and Italy.
Today, 60 years later, in the world of cosmetic surgery, the term Care Package has now become common parlance for a kit that contains all the supplies and medications necessary for home care after cosmetic plastic surgery. Since cosmetic facial surgery including rhinoplasty, with or without septoplasty and turbinate resection to improve nasal obstruction, face and neck lifting, eyelid surgery, chin augmentation, neck sculpting, liposuction and chemical skin peel, are outpatient procedures – not hospital procedures. It is important that patients have all the needed supplies and medications, at hand, at home.
I have always felt that it is incumbent upon the cosmetic plastic surgeon’s office to provide as much guidance and support for the post-operative care as possible, regardless of where the surgery took place: hospital, outpatient surgery center or office operating facility. I stressed that in both my books, SECRETS OF A BEVERLY HILLS COSMETIC SURGEON and THE ESSENTIAL COSMETIC SURGERY COMPANION. For that reason, our home care package includes pain medication, antibiotics as appropriate, and all routine wound care supplies. Such home care supplies would consist of nose sprays, both decongestant and refreshing saline or salt water. These are important after cosmetic plastic nasal surgery or functional nasal surgery including septoplasty and turbinate resection. The kit has vitamin A&D ointment to be placed inside the nose to prevent crusting as well as small dressing pads placed under the nostrils to collect any drainage from the nose.
Dr. Kotler's post-op care kit given to his patients to take home after surgery
The Care Package for facelifting, eyelid surgery, chin augmentation and neck sculpture would include Q-Tips and ointment for application of the ointment to the incisions. For chemical skin peel patients, there are additional supplies including special eye drops and large amounts of antibiotic ointment to be placed on the healing facial skin.
Procedure-specific written instructions are provided for each operation performed and are also placed in the bag. Further, the patient has a listing of my home telephone and cell phone numbers so they can reach me immediately.
As I have always stressed to the young doctors I teach at UCLA and USC, the care of a surgical patient does not end with placement of the last stitch.
Topics: Chemical Peel, Home, My Books, Rhinoplasty, Septoplasty | No Comments »