What aftercare actually includes
Specific commitments on a schedule, rather than an assurance that we are "always here for you".
- Scheduled check-ins at set intervals for twelve months. We contact you; you do not have to remember to ask.
- Surgeon photograph reviews at three, six and twelve months. The clinician who treated you looks at the images personally and writes back.
- A direct aftercare number that reaches a person, given to you on discharge and valid for the full twelve months.
- Written instructions specific to your procedure, in your language, covering wound care, medication, activity, sleeping position and what to avoid.
- Full records: operation note, discharge summary, histology where tissue was removed, and the implant passport where a device was placed.
- Liaison with your own doctor, clinician to clinician, so you are not left explaining a procedure you do not fully understand.
- Escalation to the medical board if something is not resolving, rather than a coordinator telling you it is normal.
Why it is structured rather than reactive
Reactive aftercare means the patient has to decide whether something is worth bothering anyone about. People consistently get that judgement wrong in the same direction: they wait. A scheduled check-in catches the problem the patient was not going to mention, which is the one that matters.
The twelve-month schedule
Dates are set before you fly home, and you get them in writing on discharge.
| When | What happens | By whom |
|---|---|---|
| Day of discharge | Written instructions, medication, records, aftercare number, and the dates below | Your coordinator and the treating clinician |
| 48 hours after you land | Check that the journey went well, wound looks as expected, pain is controlled | Coordinator |
| Day 7 | Wound or graft check from photographs; stitch removal arranged locally where needed | Clinical team |
| Day 14 | Activity and return-to-work review; medication finished or continuing as planned | Coordinator |
| Week 6 | Progress check; the point where swelling has usually settled enough to be reassuring | Clinical team |
| Month 3 | Surgeon reviews photographs and writes back with an assessment | Treating surgeon or dentist |
| Month 6 | Second surgeon review; for hair transplants the first point where density is meaningfully visible | Treating surgeon |
| Month 12 | Final review and written outcome summary; revision discussion if appropriate | Treating surgeon and the medical board |
How to send photographs
- Daylight, near a window, no direct lamp and no flash.
- The same angles each time — we send you the specific list for your procedure.
- A plain background, and the same distance from the camera.
- No filters, no beauty mode. Most phones apply skin smoothing by default; turn it off.
- Send through the channel you agreed with us. If you would rather not use WhatsApp, ask for a secure upload link instead.
The first two weeks, which matter most
The window where good results are protected or undone. Generic here; your written instructions are specific to your procedure.
Days 1–3
- Rest, but get up and walk short distances every hour or two while awake. Lying still is how clots form.
- Take pain relief on schedule rather than waiting for pain to return. Chasing pain works badly.
- Keep dressings dry and intact unless you were told otherwise.
- Sleep in the position you were told to — elevated after facial or breast surgery, on your back after a hair transplant.
- Drink more water than feels necessary, and eat something even if your appetite is gone.
Days 4–14
- Short walks, building gradually. No lifting, straining, or anything that makes you hold your breath.
- No smoking, and no nicotine in any form. It constricts the blood supply that healing depends on, and the effect is not small.
- No alcohol while on painkillers or antibiotics.
- Avoid direct sun on scars and on a transplanted area. Sun exposure early is why some scars stay dark for years.
- Wear the compression garment for the hours you were told, even when it is uncomfortable. It is doing something.
- No swimming pools, sea, saunas or hot tubs until cleared.
Working with your own doctor
Your GP or dentist at home is an asset, not a problem to be avoided. Tell them.
Patients sometimes do not tell their own doctor they had treatment abroad, usually expecting disapproval. It is a bad idea: if something needs attention, the clinician in front of you is working blind, and the goodwill you were protecting is worth less than the information you withheld.
What we send them
- The operation note, describing exactly what was done.
- The discharge summary, including medication given and planned.
- Histology results where tissue was removed.
- The implant passport — manufacturer, model, size, serial number — where a device was placed. Keep your own copy of this permanently.
- A named contact at Valentmedica and the treating clinician, so your doctor can speak to someone rather than to a form.
If you need something done locally
Stitch removal, a dressing change or a wound check can usually be arranged with a practice nurse. We tell you before you travel when this will be needed, so you can book it rather than discover it. Where a procedure would need frequent in-person follow-up — orthodontics is the clearest example — we say before you book that having it abroad is the wrong choice.
If a local clinician disagrees with the treatment
That happens, and it is worth taking seriously rather than dismissing. Ask us for whatever records would help them assess it properly. If they are right, we would rather know.
Warning signs, and what to do about each
Read this before you travel, not when you are worried at two in the morning.
| Sign | What it may mean | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Calf pain, swelling, warmth or redness, usually one leg | Possible deep vein thrombosis | Emergency department now. Do not wait to contact us |
| Breathlessness or chest pain | Possible pulmonary embolism | Emergency services immediately |
| Fever above 38°C, or feeling increasingly unwell | Possible infection | Local medical attention same day, and tell us |
| Spreading redness, heat or pus from a wound | Wound infection | Local medical attention within 24 hours, and send us photographs |
| Bleeding that soaks through a dressing | Active bleeding | Press firmly, do not remove the dressing, local attention now |
| Sudden swelling on one side only | Possible haematoma | Contact us immediately and seek local attention |
| Pain increasing after day three rather than decreasing | Something is wrong | Contact us the same day |
| Numbness that is spreading rather than shrinking | Needs assessment | Contact us within a few days |
Things that are usually normal
- Bruising that spreads downwards and changes colour over two to three weeks.
- Swelling that is worse in the evening than the morning, for several weeks.
- Numbness or tingling around incisions, improving slowly over months.
- Asymmetry in the early weeks. Sides swell and settle at different rates and almost always converge.
- Shedding of transplanted hair between weeks two and six. It is expected, it is not failure, and regrowth starts around month three.
- Feeling low around day five to ten. It is common after surgery, it passes, and it is worth mentioning anyway.
Judging your result, and when
Most unnecessary distress comes from assessing a result months before there is one.
| Procedure | Early impression | Final result |
|---|---|---|
| Hair transplant | Month 4–6, patchy and uneven | 12–18 months |
| Rhinoplasty | Month 3, still swollen | 12–18 months, longer at the tip |
| Facelift | Week 6 | 6–12 months |
| Breast surgery | Month 3, implants still settling | 6–9 months |
| Body contouring | Month 3 | 6–12 months, with stable weight |
| Veneers and crowns | Immediately | Within 2–4 weeks, once the gums settle |
| Bariatric surgery | Month 6 | 18–24 months |
If you are unhappy
- Tell us, with photographs taken to the same standard as your review images.
- The treating surgeon reviews them, and if needed the medical board gives a second opinion independent of the surgeon.
- You receive a written assessment: what is still settling, what is a genuine shortcoming, and what could be improved.
- Where a revision is clinically appropriate, your quote determines what is covered and for how long — which is why that section is worth reading before you pay a deposit.
- If the honest answer is that a revision would not improve things, you will be told that rather than sold one.
A revision corrects a technical shortcoming of the original procedure. It does not cover changing your mind about the result you asked for — which is why the consultation spends as long as it does on what you actually want.
Aftercare: frequently asked questions
Twelve months from discharge, with scheduled check-ins throughout and surgeon photograph reviews at three, six and twelve months. The dates are given to you in writing before you fly home.
No. It is in the package price, which is part of why our prices are not the lowest you will see. Aftercare is the first thing cut when a quote gets cheap.
A person on the patient team, who escalates clinical questions to the treating clinician or the medical board the same day. Not a form, and not a chatbot.
If it is urgent — heavy bleeding, breathlessness, chest pain, a hot swollen calf — contact local emergency services first and tell us afterwards. For anything else, message us and we will respond in the morning.
We contact you, on a schedule set before you leave. Reactive aftercare relies on the patient deciding whether something is worth mentioning, and people consistently get that wrong in the same direction.
The same angles each time, in daylight, no flash, no filters and no beauty mode. We send you the specific list for your procedure, and most phones apply skin smoothing by default — turn it off.
Yes, always. If something needs attention, a clinician working without your records is working blind. We send them the operation note, discharge summary and anything else they need.
Yes, clinician to clinician, so you are not left relaying a procedure you do not fully understand. Just tell us who they are and that you want us to.
A record of the manufacturer, model, size and serial number of any device placed in you. Keep your copy permanently — any future surgeon will need it, possibly decades later.
Common, usually around day five to ten, and it passes. It is still worth mentioning at a check-in, because it is easier to say it out loud than to sit with it.
No. Shedding between weeks two and six is expected and happens to almost everyone. Regrowth starts around month three and the result builds through to 12–18 months.
Send photographs; the surgeon reviews them and the medical board can give a second opinion independent of them. You get a written assessment, and your quote determines what is covered. If a revision would not genuinely improve things, we will say so.
