The recovery room at Southwest Plastic Surgery does not check where you had your surgery. Dr. Frank Agullo, on who walks in:

“These are patients that have had their procedures done elsewhere. Most commonly they have traveled outside of El Paso. They are locals; they come from and live in the El Paso area or the Southwest. They’ve had their surgeries done throughout the United States, but most commonly in the Florida, Miami area, or in Mexico. After their surgery, they still need aftercare. Whether it is routine or not, they find themselves in a bind because they cannot easily travel back to see their surgeons.”

The Recovery Menu

“We can help patients that have had surgery elsewhere during their post-operative recovery. For a smoother and enhanced recovery, we do offer lymphatic drainage massages after liposuction, LED light therapy with Elixir MD for recovery after facial surgery and body surgeries, IV fluids, IV drips, and peptides. These are all therapies and modalities that can help enhance and speed up recovery after surgery.”

Lymphatic drainage massage with the practice’s certified massage therapist. Elixir MD LED sessions. IV fluids and drips. All in the med spa.

The Medical Side

“We also assist patients with their recovery process, wound healing, and how the scars are developing. We can assess for seromas, and do drain removal, suture removal, and overall post-operative care. For scar care, we offer silicone taping, topicals such as Skinuva, microneedling, and laser resurfacing. Patients can also have access to skincare options.”

“In the early stages, we really cannot revise any of the surgery itself.”

What to Bring

“Documentation of the operative report and drain output, as well as any implant cards, is beneficial, but oftentimes not available immediately. And usually it is shared in a detailed fashion by the patients themselves.”

When to Go to the ER Instead

“In terms of when to go to the ER, this is very clear, and the patient should already have these instructions from their original surgeon. This includes any changes in vital signs, such as low blood pressure, tachycardia, which is a high pulse rate, fever, lightheadedness, or fainting; redness, purulent discharge, changes in the color of the drain output, specifically if it becomes white, yellowish, or creamy; a fluid collection that keeps growing, shortness of breath or chest pain, swelling in the legs or tenderness in the calves, a breast that suddenly gets larger and painful, or uncontrolled bleeding.”

How It Is Priced

“This is priced depending on the situation. More often than not, we do a package of four visits. But sometimes it can be just a single visit if we’re talking about a simple suture removal or drain removal case. Of course, the treatment is not always medical per se, but more about the recovery, such as patients having their lymphatic massage with our certified massage therapist or LED light therapy for faster recovery.”

Revisions, Later

“Some patients do come in unhappy with their results and are looking for a revision surgery. This is not possible in the early stages, and patients are usually told to wait until healing has been achieved, which can vary depending on the procedure from three months to a year. For their own particular reasons, many surgeons do not perform revision surgeries on other doctors’ patients. At Southwest Plastic Surgery, I believe that we are here to help patients, and we do perform revision surgeries on other surgeons’ patients, as long as we believe that the results can be improved and that the patient’s expectations are appropriate.”

Dr. Agullo’s full answers, including what he needs before the first visit, are on the agulloplasticsurgery.com post. Still deciding where to operate? Read flying to El Paso for surgery.

Why Dr. Agullo

Double board-certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery and American Board of Surgery. Mayo Clinic plastic surgery fellowship. Clinical Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Castle Connolly Top Doctor, 13 years running. Surgery, aftercare and the med spa under one roof.

Schedule a Consultation

Back in El Paso with a drain, a splint or a question? Call Southwest Plastic Surgery at (915) 590-7900, text 1-866-814-0038, or book at swplasticsurgery.com. #StayBeautiful

Find Dr. Agullo at @RealDrWorldWide on Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, @Agullo on X, or @AgulloPlasticSurgery on Facebook.