Are Post-Op Massages Really Necessary?

This is the question I hear most from people who haven't booked yet — usually from someone whose friend had the treatment, or whose surgeon mentioned it in passing without saying much more. Here's how I actually answer it when someone asks me directly.

It's not my call to make

Whether lymphatic drainage is necessary after your specific procedure is a decision for your surgeon, not for me — they know the surgery, your history, and what their aftercare protocol is built around. If your surgeon has recommended it, that recommendation is the one to follow. If they haven't mentioned it and you're curious, the person to ask is them, not a therapist who's never seen your notes.

What I notice about who gets referred

Drainage tends to come up most often after tummy tucks, lipo, BBLs and mommy makeovers — that's the pattern across the clients I actually see. Why those specific procedures call for it is between each client and their surgeon; I can tell you the pattern, not the medical reasoning behind it, because that reasoning isn't mine to give.

What I can actually tell you it involves

What I can speak to directly is the treatment itself: a light, rhythmic manual technique, nothing like a deep massage, done in a private room, one-to-one, starting with a health questionnaire every time. If your surgeon has prescribed it, that's the version I run to — the frequency, the areas, the course length all come from their plan, not from a generic protocol I apply to everyone who books.

If your surgeon said "optional"

Some surgeons frame it as optional rather than required — a genuine choice rather than a strict prescription. If that's what you've been told, the decision is still yours and your surgeon's to make together; I'm not going to argue you into or out of an optional recommendation either way. What I'd ask is what your surgeon meant by "optional" in your specific case — worth a follow-up question if it wasn't clear, since "optional but recommended" and "optional and not particularly relevant to your recovery" are different answers that change what you decide.

What a consultation with a straight "no" looks like

If it turns out your surgeon hasn't recommended drainage and you don't have a specific reason of your own for wanting it, I'll say so plainly rather than finding a reason to book you anyway — a consultation that ends without an appointment is a genuine possible outcome here, not a formality I'm working through to get to a sale.

Price & booking

A single session is £80 for 60 minutes — but the value is in following the full course your surgeon has recommended, consistently, rather than one session in isolation, with a consultation first for anyone new to the protocol. Message me on WhatsApp on 07889 809678 with your procedure and what your surgeon has advised, or read more about the protocol before booking through the bookings page.

• Ella Beauty Studio

• Unit 1 & 2 Oak Square, Stockwell Green, London SW9 9JF — inside Beauty Desire

• WhatsApp / phone 07889 809678

• Wednesday and Sunday, by appointment only

• Serving Stockwell, Brixton, Clapham, Vauxhall and Oval