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Everything You Need to Prepare for Recovery

Medically reviewed by Paul Gonzales on April 8, 2024.

The two weeks leading up to surgery can be filled with plenty of emotions: anticipation, excitement, nervousness, and even a bit of overwhelm. It is important that as you navigate these feelings, you take steps to set yourself up for a restful recovery period. To recover fully from surgery, you will need to ensure that you have all the right medications, have a person or people ready to take care of afterwards, avoid ingesting substances that could compromise your results, and more. The more prepared you and your care team are for the first week after surgery, the more you will be able to properly rest and recover.

If you are interested in getting gender-affirming surgery, you can schedule a free, virtual consultation with one of our board-certified surgeons today.

Step 1: Request time off to recover

Once your surgery date is scheduled, you should plan on requesting time off from work or school. You can request a doctor’s note or send any medical leave forms digitally or via fax to our team. We recommend that patients request time off from work 6 weeks prior to their procedure when possible. For more information on taking time off work to recover, click here.

Step 2: Preoperative medical obligations

Medical clearance

• Smoking tobacco and marijuana: We ask that patients refrain from smoking or consuming any form of nicotine (i.e. vape, cigarettes, gum, patches, etc) at least 3 weeks before and 3 weeks after surgery. Cannabis should not be consumed 48 hours before surgery to prevent any interactions with anesthesia during surgery.
• Preoperative medical clearance: Patients will be contacted by one of our physician associates (PA) 4 weeks before surgery for a medical clearance call to determine if further work up or labs are needed. Please note that there may be additional costs for laboratory work, particularly if your medical history warrants additional testing. Surgery cannot be performed without the required laboratory results to ensure your safety during the operation.
• Alcohol: Patients should abstain from consuming alcohol 1 week before and after surgery.
• Additional preparations: Depending on the type of surgery you undergo, you may need to follow other additional instructions. For example, FFS patients should not get laser hair removal on their faces within six weeks before surgery. Top surgery patients who have or have had nipple piercings should inform their surgeon prior. You can read more procedure-specific instructions below:
  • Top surgery
  • Breast augmentation
  • Facial Surgery
  • Body contouring
  • Bottom surgery

Pharmacy

Before surgery, you will need to inform our clinical team which pharmacy you would like us to send your prescription medications to. You will receive your prescriptions about 1 week before surgery. Please make sure to have post-operative prescriptions filled and over-the-counter medications ready. These may include pain medications, prescription mouthwash for mouth incisions (in the case of facial surgery), and stool softener to aid with the side effects of prescription pain medications.

Step 3: Coordinate Your Care Team

Physical recovery

Once you are discharged from the hospital or surgical center, you will likely need around-the-clock care from a loved one. During the first few weeks after surgery, you will need help with basic household chores and, depending on the procedure, bathing yourself, placing ice packs on yourself to reduce inflammation, and more.

We recommend that you read more about recovery from each procedure to get a sense of the kind of support you are going to need post-op:

• Top surgery recovery
• Breast augmentation recovery
• Facial surgery recovery
• Recovery from liposuction and fat grafting
• Recovery from phalloplasty and metoidioplasty 
• Recovery from vaginoplasty/vulvoplasty

Emotional recovery

Remember that recovery is more than just a physical rehabilitation process. Recovery from any surgical procedure can involve its emotional ups and downs. If you can, plan on seeing a therapist and/or having loved ones in your care network check up on how you are feeling. Remember that as pain and inflammation are at its height, it is normal to experience temporary feelings of depression and regret.

Step 4: Set up your recovery space

Two days before surgery, we recommend that you prepare the space you will be recovering in a week after surgery. If you are traveling from out of town to recover from surgery, you can find our recommendations on accommodations and more here. The following is a checklist of our suggestions for setting up your recovery space:

• Keep emergency numbers handy and your phone by your bed. Try to rest and not answer calls or texts if necessary.
• Preventing tripping or falling:
  • Remove anything you might trip over (like charging cables along the floor)
  • Have a night light
  • Wear footwear with traction underneath (i.e., slippers, socks) to prevent slips/falls
• Managing swelling or inflammation:
  • Purchase ice packs or frozen fruits/vegetables beforehand. You will need thin towels to apply the ice to your body to prevent ice burns.
  • Elevate the part of your body that underwent surgery while you are laying down:
    • For facial surgery, top surgery and breast augmentation, you will need several pillows to keep your head and/or chest at an incline.
    • Patients who undergo liposuction in their lower bodies should elevate their knees. We recommend a few pillows under the knees and calves.
• Eating:
  • Most surgeons recommend that patients follow a low-sodium diet after surgery to reduce inflammation. You can read about what foods to have ready for when you leave the hospital here.
  • Especially after facial surgery or top surgery, eating may be more difficult with limited mobility and/or as your jaw/chin heals. The following items can be helpful to have on hand for eating:
    • Flexible straws with a cup or glass (helps when a patient has arm mobility limitations or internal mouth incisions from facial surgery)
    • Bib (to protect your clothing when eating in bed)
    • Baby wipes (to clean up messes)
• Bathing:
  • After surgery, many patients will not be able to submerge themselves in water (i.e., bathe) or even shower after. If you will need a sponge or baby wipes to bathe yourself after surgery, try to get them beforehand.
  • If you get facial surgery, you will only be allowed to cleanse your face with a soft, neutral cleanser like Cetaphil or Cerave. 
• Medications and supplements:
  • About 1 week before surgery, you should get your postoperative prescription medications filled. We recommend placing your prescription medications, over-the-counter medications (for pain, scar care creams, etc.) and supplements so that they are accessible to your bedside.