Collection: Dr. Piazza's Surgical Recovery Protocol

N1O1 nitric oxide supports circulation, and circulation is what carries everything else to the tissue that needs it. Stamets 7 supports immune function through a period when your body is spending heavily on repair.

Both are worth starting in the weeks before your procedure rather than the day after. You cannot cram recovery.

This is the phase patients find hardest, and the one where doing less is usually right. Follow your post-op instructions first — they override anything on this page.

Red light enters here, and the reason we like the full-body mat specifically is that it is zero-contact: it can be positioned over a recovering body without anything touching an incision. That is the practical problem with most at-home devices after surgery.

Nothing goes directly on an incision at this stage unless your care team has told you to.

This is the step with the best evidence behind it and the one most people start too late. Silicone is the most studied non-invasive scar intervention there is, and it works best on fresh scars — once your surgeon confirms the incision is fully closed, usually a few weeks out.

Silagen 100% Silicone Scar Gel is the workhorse. It needs to be used consistently for months, not weeks — scar remodelling runs for up to a year, and the gel only works on the days you actually apply it.

Note: silicone gel is for raised surgical and hypertrophic scars. It is not the answer for pitted acne scarring.

Sun is what turns a good scar into a visible one. New scar tissue hyperpigments readily, and a tummy tuck scar in particular is long, low and far more sun-exposed than people expect.

Silagen Scar Gel SPF 30 combines both jobs in one step. For the face and anywhere else exposed, Pavise Dynamic Age Defense SPF 30 covers visible light as well as UV — and visible light drives pigment too.

Pavise ECM Restore supports the matrix as skin rebuilds, once you are cleared for topicals.

The Piazza Center is a board-certified plastic surgery practice in Austin, Texas, led by Dr. Rocco Piazza, MD, FACS. We see the same recoveries week after week, which is why this is four things with timing attached rather than a shelf of everything we sell.

Your surgical plan is specific to you. Your post-op instructions come first, always.