Quit Smoking, Or Face Some Serious Post-Surgery Risks

It's common knowledge that smoking kills, but did you know that it can also make your nipples fall off?

Yes, you read correctly. Smoking can cause you to lose your nipples and other precious body parts due to plastic surgery complications.

Although most good plastic surgeons properly inform patients about quitting smoking before surgery, many have a hard time doing so, and then surgeons have to face a scary situation in the operating room.

Dr. Anthony Youn recalls his experience in a recent CNN story. In the article, he recalled one breast lift patient, whose nipples actually started to turn purple during her operation.

Dr. Youn wrote, “Purple is the precursor to black. Black is the precursor to falling off. To save the patient – and her nipples – we turned to the only treatment available. We went medieval. We used leeches.”

Luckily he saved the patient, but that hasn't deterred other patients from lighting up before surgery. 

Today Dr. Youn takes a different approach to warning patients, i.e. scare tactics. He wrote, “I’ve changed my policy. In addition to the Surgeon General’s Warning that appears on cigarette packages, I now offer the Plastic Surgeon’s Warning to all my patients who smoke: If you are having a breast lift or reduction and you smoke, your nipples could turn black and fall off. If you are having a tummy tuck and you smoke, you may get an infection resulting in a big gross open wound that will take three months to heal. If you are having a facelift and you smoke, the skin of your cheek could turn black and slough off, leaving exposed fat. Imagine yourself looking like “Two-Face” from “Batman: The Dark Knight.” And do you really want me to reach for the jar of leeches?”

To learn more about plastic surgery risks and smoking, read the full article: Smokers Beware of Bizarre Plastic Surgery Risks