LASER RESURFACING POST OPERATIVE INSTRUCTIONS

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Precautions to take following your surgery:

· You will need someone with you for the first 1-2 days following surgery.

· Keep your head elevated above heart level, either in a recliner or with two pillows under head while lying in bed or on the sofa. You can also use a neck pillow for support.

· Place ice packs on the surgical area 20-30 minutes out of every hour while you are awake for the first 48 hours after surgery.

· Begin eating and drinking after surgery to prevent dehydration and promote healing. Start with clear liquids, if no nausea, progress to your regular diet as tolerated.

· Continue Valtrex daily to prevent fever blisters.

· Take pain medication as needed every 4-6 hours. Do not take pain medications on an empty stomach. Constipation is common with pain medication. You may need a stool softener or laxative. Milk of magnesia or Colace work well.

· Motrin/Ibuprofen can be taken in place of narcotic pain medication.

· Resume home medications after surgery unless otherwise instructed by your physician.

· Do not drive or operate machinery, drink alcohol or make legal decisions in the first 24 hours following surgery or while taking narcotic pain medication.

· No driving until permitted to do so by your physician.

· Activity restrictions for the first 3 weeks after surgery.

o No lifting greater than 10 lbs or working out for 2 weeks after surgery

o Starting 2 weeks after surgery, you can begin walking on a flat plane treadmill, using an elliptical conservatively and light hand weights (10lbs or less), unless instructed otherwise by your physician.

o No yoga or exercises that cause your head to be inverted below heart level for at least three weeks after surgery.

· Call your physician for obvious bleeding, redness, swelling, pus at the incision site, fever over 101.5, persistent vomiting, or any other concerns or questions.

Care of the surgical area:

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Day of Surgery

· Keep head elevated. Apply ice packs to face while awake.

· Use Refresh PM ointment to moisturize around the eye area (from brow bone to cheek bone, everything inside the eye orbit area).

· Apply Aquaphor moisturizer to the face often to keep face looking shiny wet at all times. You will use Aquaphor for the first three days after surgery.

· DO NOT allow face to become dry as it will feel like a bad windburn.

· Use Refresh PM ointment to moisturize around the eye area.

· Refresh eye drops can be used as needed for dry eyes. Refresh PM ointment can be placed directly in the eye if needed for moisture. Take care not to touch or scratch the eye with the Refresh PM tip. Most people use the Refresh drops in the eyes during the day and the Refresh PM ointment in the eyes at night as it can cause blurry vision.

· Ambulate around the inside of your home at least once today.

· What to expect:

o Discomfort/burning of the lasered areas.

o Swelling, redness and pinpoint bleeding of the lasered areas.

o Some dizziness or nausea the day of surgery is normal. Be sure to have someone assist you when getting up and moving around until this resolves.

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DAY 1-7 after surgery

· Keep head elevated; continue ice packs while awake.

· Gently wash your face twice daily with Cetaphil facewash using finger tips only, rinse and gently pat dry. Do not use a cloth or anything abrasive to try to remove the peeling/flaky skin of the face.

· DO NOT RUB or try to force any of the facial skin off during or after washing.

· Begin chilled, diluted vinegar soaks after your first face wash of the day. You will do these soaks 4-6 times throughout the day, every day until your 7 day post op visit.

o Dilution instructions: ¼ cup distilled white vinegar mixed in 1 quart water, keep chilled in refrigerator. It is OK to mix this the night before your procedure.

o Use soft, white cloths for your soaks. An old white t-shirt cut into strips works great, or you can use baby wash cloths, or regular wash cloths.

o Place 3 cloths into the chilled mixture. Pull out one cloth and place/press over your face allowing it to go from cold to warm. Once warm, remove the cloth and repeat with the 2 remaining cloths.

o After 3rd cloth is removed, apply moisturizer to keep face shiny wet at all times.

o You will repeat this entire process 4-6 times throughout the day.

· After your first vinegar soak on day 1 before you apply moisturizer, you will apply the Bio Cellulose masque that is in your care package and leave on for 10-15 minutes. This is a cooling/restorative mask. You can purchase additional masks to be used once daily if you wish.

o After you remove the mask, apply moisturizer to keep face shiny wet at all times.

o You will use Aquaphor moisturizer for the first three days after surgery, then switch to the lighter Elta MD ointment for the rest of the first week.

· Use Refresh PM ointment to moisturize around the eye area (from brow bone to cheek bone, everything inside the eye orbit area).

· Refresh eye drops can be used as needed for dry eyes. Refresh PM ointment can be placed directly in the eye if needed for moisture. Take care not to touch or scratch the eye with the Refresh PM tip. Most people use the Refresh drops in the eyes during the day and the Refresh PM ointment in the eyes at night as it can cause blurry vision.

· DO NOT allow face to become dry as it will feel like a bad windburn.

· You should be ambulating at least three times throughout the day starting the day after surgery. More walking and deep breathing exercises will hasten recovery.

· What to expect:

o Discomfort/burning of the lasered areas. This generally begins to resolve after 2 days.

o Swelling, redness and pinpoint bleeding of the lasered areas. This generally gets worse through day 3 and starts to resolve moving into day 4-7.

o Eyes may become irritated. A steroid eye drop may be needed and will be called in to pharmacy if needed.

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DAY 7 after surgery and beyond

· At your 7 day post op visit your physician will:

o Discuss activity restrictions going forward

o Have you meet with one of our medical aestheticians for a complimentary facial and to discuss skin care and for make-up consult to disguise redness, if present.

· You can resume sleeping per your usual routine. However, if you have residual swelling, keeping your head elevated will help to resolve this.

· You can continue to apply Refresh PM eye ointment or Refresh eye drops as needed for dry eyes.

· Continue ambulating and begin getting back into your normal daily routines.

· Your physician will schedule follow up appointments as he feels necessary from this point on.

· IT IS IMPORTANT TO ALWAYS WEAR SUNSCREEN AND PROTECTION WHEN OUTSIDE OR IN SUNEXPOSED AREAS.

· What to expect:

o Discomfort/burning of the lasered areas should be resolved.

o Swelling and redness are beginning to resolving, able to cover with make-up if needed.

o Final results can take up to 6 months and sometimes require a touch up laser session.

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