In short
- 🔑 What decides the plan is not the kilometres: it is how many times you have to come. From Castellón you can come and go in a morning; from the Balearics, you cannot.
- There is one visit nothing can replace: the first consultation, in person. It is where the chest is measured, the tissue examined and what can be done decided — and no photograph replaces that.
- The anaesthetic consultation and the surgery itself are in person, obviously.
- The preoperative tests can usually be done close to home and brought with you.
- ⚠️ The first post-operative review is in person and it is the most important one: it is when early complications appear.
- The later reviews allow more flexibility, and some can be dealt with remotely if there have been no problems.
- ⚠️ And what has to be settled before booking a ticket: what is done if a complication appears while you are far away. It is the important question and the one almost nobody asks.
- 🔑 Here that point has a concrete answer, and it is the reason having surgery far from home is workable: all our patients leave with the direct contact number of their surgeon —no intermediaries, no nursing bleep and at any hour. Three hundred kilometres away, being able to describe something over the phone to the person who operated on you is the difference between an unnecessary journey and an essential one.
- The calendar is concrete too, and it fits with the journey: the first review is at one week and at one week you can already fly — you have the surgery, you attend the review and you go back. After that, 2 weeks, one month, 3, 6 and 12 months.
- 🔑 And two things that save journeys: visits are grouped for patients from out of town if you say so when booking, and if something has to be assessed remotely it is done by video call — not from a photograph.
- ⚠️ All the dates are a guide and may vary slightly according to how each case progresses.
Living two hundred kilometres away is no obstacle to having surgery in Valencia. What it does require is planning three things that someone living in the city does not have to think about: how many times you have to come, how many days you have to stay and what happens if something comes up once you are back home.
This page organises the process from that point of view.
First of all: what can be dealt with remotely and what cannot
| Phase | In person? |
|---|---|
| First contact and questions | No. Phone or video call |
| First assessment consultation | 🔑 Yes, always |
| Preoperative tests | Not necessarily. They can usually be done close to home |
| Pre-anaesthetic assessment | Yes, it is always done — and it can be grouped on the same day as another visit: say so when booking |
| Surgery | Yes |
| First review — at one week | ⚠️ Yes, and it is the critical one |
| Later reviews (2 weeks, 1, 3, 6 and 12 months) | In person, and with more room to reorganise if there have been no problems |
Why the first consultation cannot be done by video
It is the part most people try to skip and the one that can least be skipped.
At that visit things are measured that cannot be seen in a photograph: the width of the breast base, the thickness and elasticity of the skin, the amount of your own tissue available to cover an implant, the position of the nipple relative to the inframammary fold, the asymmetry you start from and the shape of the chest wall.
🔑 Those measurements are where the ceiling on volume for your case comes from. Without them, any figure anyone gives you over the phone is a guess.
And that examination also produces the answer to the question that decides the surgery: if the breast has descended, an implant does not lift it. It is in the comparison between a breast lift and a simple augmentation.
Exactly what is done at that visit is in the page on the first consultation.
⚠️ A video call beforehand is useful for answering questions, understanding the process and deciding whether the journey is worth making. What it does not replace is the assessment.
How many days you have to stay
It is the practical question and it depends on three things: the discharge arrangement, when the first review is and how far you have to travel to get back.
What we know about the procedure: the operation lasts between 60 and 90 minutes, it is normally done under general anaesthesia and most patients go home the same day, although in some cases a night under observation is recommended.
⚠️ But “going home” is not the same thing if home is twenty minutes away or three hours.
What is worth being clear about before booking:
- Whether you are going to stay the night and where.
- When the first review is, because that sets how many days you need to be nearby.
- Who is coming with you. You will not be able to drive, and you need someone with you to get home after a general anaesthetic.
- And if the journey back is a long one, how it is going to be made.
The calendar rules over the logistics, and the two dates that decide it are these:
| When | |
|---|---|
| First review | At one week |
| You can fly | One week after surgery |
🔑 The two coincide, and that settles the journey in one piece: you have the surgery, you stay the week, you attend the first review and you fly back. Without having to come back earlier or guess at the interval.
⚠️ They are indicative dates and they depend on the case: they may vary slightly according to how things progress. And if the journey back is by road, there is no need to wait that long — what you cannot do is drive.
After that first week the reviews are at 2 weeks, at one month and at 3, 6 and 12 months. And yes, visits can be grouped so as not to multiply journeys: it is a matter of saying so when booking.
On going back by car or by plane
The journey back is worth thinking about.
- By car: not as the driver. And with stops if the journey is a long one, because sitting still for many hours after surgery is not ideal.
- By plane: from one week after surgery, which is exactly when the first review falls. ⚠️ It is the interval for a standard case and it may vary slightly according to how you progress, so it is confirmed at that review — but you can already buy the return ticket with that reference rather than blindly.
⚠️ The reason it matters is not the implant —implants are not affected by cabin pressure, as the page on living with implants explains—: it is prolonged immobility after surgery, which is a general consideration of any recovery.
🚨 What has to be settled first: what happens if something comes up
It is the important question on this page and the one almost nobody asks before booking.
Early complications appear soon, and some call for prompt attention:
- Haematoma, whose sign is a breast that grows, hardens and hurts more than the other within hours, almost always in the first 24 to 48.
- Infection, which usually shows itself between a few days and a week afterwards — and which, if it does not respond to antibiotics, may force the implant to be removed.
All of that is in the page on warning signs, and it is compulsory reading if you are having surgery far from home.
The questions to ask before booking a ticket:
- What number do I call and at what hours?
- What counts as a reason to call?
- If something urgent appears and I am three hundred kilometres away, what do I do?
- Is there a quick way of getting in touch —a photo, a video call— to assess whether something means coming back?
- And if I do have to come back, how is it organised?
And this is how they are answered here, so that you can compare with what you are told elsewhere:
| ICPM’s answer | |
|---|---|
| 1. What number do I call and at what hours? | Your surgeon’s direct number. No intermediaries, no nursing bleep and at any hour |
| 2. What counts as a reason to call? | A temperature of 38 °C or more, pain that is rising or not responding to the painkillers, a breast that grows within hours, discharge, an open wound, pain in a calf or shortness of breath |
| 3. If something urgent appears and I am 300 km away, what do I do? | Call your surgeon, who is the person who can tell you whether that is to be expected or not — and if it is genuinely urgent, the emergency department of the nearest hospital, without waiting |
| 4. Is there a quick way of assessing remotely whether something means coming back? | Yes: a video call. The direct phone line covers the first assessment and, if something has to be seen, it is done by video call. ⚠️ Not from a photograph: a photo is not enough to assess a recovery |
| 5. And if I do have to come back, how is it organised? | It is organised with your surgeon on that same call |
The full list of reasons to call, with what is normal and what is not, is in the page on warning signs.
🔑 The first answer is the one that really changes the arithmetic of having surgery far from home, and it is worth saying why: whoever picks up the phone knows which implant you have, which plane it is in and how your surgery went. It is information no emergency department has at three in the morning.
⚠️ And a rule that applies in any case: if something genuinely urgent appears —a high temperature, bleeding that does not stop, difficulty breathing— the right answer is the emergency department of the nearest hospital, not a three-hour journey.
What to take back with you
If you have surgery far from home, the paperwork matters more than it does to anyone else, because whoever sees you if something comes up will not be the person who operated on you.
Ask for and keep:
- 🔑 The operation note. What was done, with which implant, in which plane and by which approach. It is the first thing any professional attending you will ask for.
- 🔑 The implant card. It is compulsory by law for breast implants, it is issued in triplicate and one of the copies is yours. It contains the model, the manufacturer and the batch number. It is explained in the page on consent and documentation.
- The discharge summary and the care instructions.
- The medication schedule.
- And the contact number, with its hours.
Where people come from
Valencia is well connected by road and by rail with much of the east of the peninsula, and it is usual to see patients from Castellón, Alicante, Albacete, Murcia, Teruel and Cuenca, as well as from the Balearic Islands.
🔑 And the practical difference is not the mileage: it is whether the journey can be made in a day or not. From Castellón or from Alicante you can come to a consultation and go back; from the Balearics an overnight stay has to be allowed for, and that changes how many in-person visits are worth grouping together.
🔑 And here is the answer that saves most journeys: yes, visits are grouped for patients from out of town. Putting the pre-anaesthetic assessment on the same day as another appointment, for example, can save you a whole journey.
All that is needed is to say so when booking, not on arrival: it is a matter of how the diary is organised, and with notice there is room.
Book an appointment
You can book your own appointment. Pick the day and time from the free slots in the diary, in a panel that opens right here, without leaving this page.
Frequently asked questions
Can I have the first consultation by video call?
A video call is useful for answering questions and deciding whether the journey is worth making, but it does not replace the assessment: at the in-person consultation the breast base, the thickness and elasticity of the skin, the covering tissue and the position of the nipple are measured, and the volume your case allows comes out of that.
How many times do I have to come to Valencia?
At the very least, for the first consultation, for the surgery and for the first review. The preoperative tests can usually be done close to home. The exact number and the calendar depend on the team’s protocol.
How many days do I have to stay after surgery?
It depends on whether a night under observation is indicated and on when the first review is. The operation lasts between 60 and 90 minutes and most patients go home the same day, but that does not mean the same thing if the journey is twenty minutes or three hours.
Can I go back by car?
Not as the driver: after a general anaesthetic you need someone with you. And if the journey is a long one, it is best made with stops.
Can I take a plane afterwards?
It is a question to be put expressly to the medical team. The reason is not the implant —cabin pressure does not affect it— but prolonged immobility after surgery.
And if I have a complication while I am at home?
That is what has to be settled before booking: what number to call, at what hours and what is done if you have to come back. And if something is genuinely urgent —a high temperature, bleeding that does not stop, difficulty breathing—, the answer is the emergency department of the nearest hospital.
What paperwork do I have to take with me?
The operation note, the implant card —which is compulsory by law for breast implants and of which one copy is yours—, the discharge summary with the instructions and the medication schedule.
Sources
- Spanish Royal Decree 1591/2009, of 16 October, regulating medical devices. Consolidated text, BOE. boe.es. — Article 33: breast implants are among the implants that must be accompanied by an implant card, issued in triplicate with the name and model of the product, the batch or serial number, the manufacturer, the centre and the date of implantation and the identification of the patient, and with one copy intended for the patient.
- Risks and Complications of Breast Implants. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, updated 14 December 2023. fda.gov. — Haematoma usually occurs shortly after surgery and large ones require surgical drainage; most infections appear between a few days and a week after the operation, and if they do not respond to antibiotics the implant may need to be removed.
Book your consultation
If you live elsewhere and are considering having surgery here, the most useful conversation you can have before travelling is how many in-person visits are needed and what is done if something comes up while you are at home. It can be settled on a phone call beforehand, before you get in the car.
Clinical confirmation by the surgeon
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Registration no. 46/4624503
