HOW IT WORKS.
Your surgeon's instructions govern
Every practice sends patients home with its own list of what to stop, what to take and when. That list comes first. Nothing on this page replaces it, and if the two ever disagree, follow your surgeon.
Start when your surgeon clears you
Your surgeon decides when. Nothing here is written for the days before a procedure, and the stop list section on this page sets out why.
The window
Recovery is measured in weeks. The window our formulating physicians describe runs from the hours after surgery out to about four weeks, depending on how big the procedure was. Whether and how far into it you use the stack is your surgeon's call.
Your nutrition intervention needs to happen in this window.
WHAT IS TRUTHE?
Truthe is a physician-led nutrition company. Surgeons formulated the products, and the products are built for the weeks that follow a procedure.
We publish what is in it, how much of it, and why it is there.
WHO THIS IS FOR
Built for patients having facial, breast, and body procedures.
Truthe Plastics is written for people recovering from cosmetic and reconstructive procedures: facelift, neck lift, rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery, brow lift, facial fat grafting, breast augmentation, breast lift, breast reconstruction, tummy tuck, liposuction, body contouring, arm lift, thigh lift, and resurfacing treatments including laser, microneedling and deep peels.
The stack is the same for all of them, because the material tissue rebuilds with is the same. What changes between the face, breast and body families is what dominates each week of the window, how long that window runs, and when your surgeon clears you to start it.
THE STACK.
One protocol, two products together as Core Nutrition, and every amount below is the amount on the label.
CORE NUTRITION
Daily Support and Nutrition Blend, togetherTwo products covering the two jobs the nutrition half of a recovery has to do: supplying the protein new tissue is built out of, and supplying the vitamins and minerals the enzyme work runs on. One stack, not a ladder of tiers, and nothing in it needs a prescription.
Every amount above is read off the label. Each ingredient has its own page, with its amount per serving, in the ingredient library.
WHAT TO EXPECT.
A facelift and a tummy tuck do not share a timeline, so this is split three ways. Each row is what the body is doing in that window and where each nutrient is most involved. It is not a schedule and it is not a prediction. When you start, when you stop and what is normal for you are your surgeon's calls.
The rows follow the four phases of wound healing and their usual order and timing as described by Guo and DiPietro, 2010, PMID 20139336: inflammation in the first days, proliferation over the following weeks, remodeling after that. The day and week labels mark those phases; they are not milestones for your procedure, and your surgeon's timeline governs. The at-home line on each row is a list of things people commonly have ready, not a list of things to do. Your practice sends its own list home with you, and that one governs.
FACE
Facelift, neck lift, rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery, brow lift, facial fat graftingDAYS 1-2
Swelling and bruising are at their highest. Small vessels around the work become leaky on purpose and fluid moves out into the tissue. Chewing is uncomfortable, so most of what goes in is liquid.
At home: A wedge pillow, straws, and soft food that needs no cooking.
DAYS 3-7
The incision edges seal and the first, disorganized collagen goes down. That step draws on protein for material and on vitamin C, which the collagen enzymes need as a cofactor.
At home: A shaker bottle, soup and yogurt, and a water bottle within reach.
WEEKS 2-4
Swelling comes down unevenly, and one side is often ahead of the other. New blood vessels reach the tissue that was moved.
At home: A blender, soft fruit, and a bottle you can take out of the house.
WEEKS 6-8
The early collagen is replaced with better organized collagen. This is slow, and it keeps going long after the face looks settled.
At home: Regular groceries, and the shaker still on the counter.
BREAST
Breast augmentation, breast lift, breast reconstructionDAYS 1-2
Tightness across the chest is the dominant feeling. Fluid gathers around the tissue that was opened, and appetite is usually low while anesthesia clears.
At home: A front-fastening top, a water bottle within reach, and food already in the fridge.
DAYS 3-7
Incisions seal and collagen starts going down around them. Appetite is often still low in this week, at the point the body is drawing on protein hardest.
At home: Small portions in the freezer, a shaker bottle, and snacks on the counter.
WEEKS 2-4
The tissue softens as early swelling drains. Collagen continues to be deposited along every incision line.
At home: A blender, groceries that need little preparation, and a second shaker.
WEEKS 6-8
Scar tissue is remodeling. What a scar looks like at two months is not what it looks like at a year.
At home: Regular groceries, and the shaker somewhere you will see it.
BODY
Tummy tuck, liposuction, body contouring, arm lift, thigh liftDAYS 1-2
This is the largest surface area of the three, so it is the largest demand. Fluid shifts are biggest here and thirst is real.
At home: A large water bottle within reach, a wedge pillow, and soft food that needs no cooking.
DAYS 3-7
A long incision is a long line of tissue to close. Protein and vitamin C are both drawn on hardest in this week, and zinc is a cofactor for enzymes involved in rebuilding the surface.
At home: Meals portioned in the freezer, a shaker bottle, and water where you sit.
WEEKS 2-4
Movement is restricted, and muscle that is not being loaded loses mass. Protein is the material the body rebuilds with either way, and it is drawn on right through this stretch.
At home: A blender, groceries that need little preparation, and a bottle you keep filled.
WEEKS 6-8
Collagen reorganizes along the incision. Deeper tissue is still remodeling after the surface looks finished.
At home: Regular groceries, and the shaker still in the rotation.
FACE
THE WEEK YOU CANNOT CHEW.
After some facial procedures, chewing can make eating difficult in the first week. Buccal fat removal, jaw work and rhinoplasty can all limit what you are able to bite for a while, and your surgeon is the one who tells you what you may have and when.
That is the whole reason the protein in this stack is a powder you mix into a drink rather than a bar you bite. Nutrition Blend is grass-fed whey protein concentrate, 20 g of protein per 30 g scoop, one scoop daily on the label. A drink is what goes in when a plate does not, and it lands in the same week the body is drawing on protein hardest.
It applies to the other two families as well, because appetite is often low in that first week either way. It is only on the face that the mouth itself is the reason. The FAQ answers this one in full.
THE STOP LIST IS YOUR SURGEON'S.
Your practice hands you a list of things to stop before surgery, with a date on it. That list is written for you and for your procedure, and it is the one to follow.
The names that commonly turn up on one are aspirin, ibuprofen, vitamin E, fish oil, turmeric, ginseng and garlic; the American Society of Plastic Surgeons has published its president saying he has patients stop fish oil, vitamin E and turmeric in the weeks before surgery because they can increase bleeding (ASPS, April 18, 2023). Which of them are on yours, and for how long, is your surgeon's call.
Daily Support carries 15 mg of vitamin E. That is why this stack is written for the window after a procedure rather than the days before it.
Take the label to your pre-op appointment. Your surgeon decides what it means for you.
THE RECOVERY GUIDES.
Longer reading, grouped by the family each one is written for. Every one of them ends with its sources.
FACE
Facelift, neck lift, rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery, brow lift, facial fat grafting.Recovery Timeline After Facelift
The stages of facelift recovery in the order they tend to arrive, what belongs to your surgeon's instructions, and what the tissue underneath is doing while you wait.
Managing Swelling After Facial Surgery
Why the face swells the way it does after surgery, what the trials on cooling, elevation, massage and bromelain actually found, and when swelling is a reason to call your surgeon.
BODY
Tummy tuck, liposuction, body contouring, arm lift, thigh lift.Nutrition for Tummy Tuck Recovery
What abdominoplasty asks of the body's nutrition, what the two studies run in abdominoplasty patients actually found, and which questions belong with your surgeon.
Protein Requirements After Body Contouring
Why the body's demand for protein rises after body contouring, what the protein is actually used for during healing, and the questions to take to your surgeon.
ANY OF THE THREE
Written for the recovery window rather than for one family. There is no breast-specific guide yet, so these four are what a breast surgery patient reads.Collagen and Vitamin C for Skin Recovery
What vitamin C actually does inside collagen production, what surgery does to vitamin C levels, and what oral collagen has and has not been shown to do.
Zinc and Wound Healing in Cosmetic Surgery
What zinc does inside wound repair, what the supplementation trials have and have not shown, and the form and amount on the Truthe label.
Sleep and Recovery After Cosmetic Procedures
What sleep does for tissue repair, what the evidence does and does not show, and why sleep gets disrupted after surgery in the first place.
Anti-Inflammatory Nutrition After Surgery
What post-surgical inflammation is for, what the trials on bromelain, quercetin, omega-3 and curcumin actually found, and where the evidence runs out.
These are the physicians who formulated the stack. They are surgeons in a different specialty, and what they built is the formula rather than the procedure you are having.
Who formulated this
Kent Ellington, MD, FAAOS
Orthopaedic Surgery
Award-winning Board Certified Orthopaedic Surgeon in Charlotte, NC with 16 years of experience, 30 patents, international lecturer, researcher, entrepreneur, innovator, physician for many professional and collegiate teams, and designer of over 100 orthopaedic implants.
Chad M. Ferguson, MD, FAAOS
Orthopaedic Surgery
Board Certified, fellowship-trained Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Surgeon with 15 years of surgical training and practice, including complex reconstruction and trauma in Alaska's tribal health system. Published researcher, book chapter author, named inventor on patented orthopaedic implant technology, medical device company founder, and physician executive in healthcare advisory and claims review.
WHAT IS SETTLED AND WHAT IS NOT.
Three tiers, sorted by how much weight the evidence actually carries. The third one is where we say what we cannot support.
SETTLED
Vitamin C is required to build collagen
Ascorbic acid is an essential cofactor for lysyl hydroxylase and prolyl hydroxylase, the enzymes collagen biosynthesis depends on. Pinnell, 1985, PMID 3008449. This is biochemistry rather than a trial result, which is exactly why it sits in this tier.
Nutrition status before surgery tracks with how surgery goes
The perioperative consensus statement from the American Society for Enhanced Recovery and the Perioperative Quality Initiative states that suboptimal nutritional status is a strong independent predictor of poor postoperative outcomes. Wischmeyer, Carli, Evans and colleagues, Anesthesia and Analgesia, 2018, PMID 29369092.
REASONABLE
Zinc in tissue repair
Zinc is a cofactor for enzymes used in cell division and in rebuilding the skin surface, and that biology is well described. The same review that describes it says there are major gaps in what is known about zinc's function in wound healing. Kogan, Sood and Garnick, 2017, PMID 28448263. We publish that sentence because it argues against us.
EXTRAPOLATION
Which nutrient matters most in which week
The timeline on this page maps where each nutrient is most involved across the recovery window. That mapping is drawn from general wound-healing biology, not from trials run in cosmetic surgery patients. We have not seen this stack measured against cosmetic surgery outcomes, so we do not claim it changed any.
PRICING.
Core Nutrition is the two products together; each is also sold on its own. These are the retail prices on the Truthe store, and a partner practice sets its own in-office price.
HSA and FSA eligibility is handled through Truemed at checkout, which carries the substantiation.
DESIGNED FOR COSMETIC SURGERY PATIENTS.
Nutrition for the recovery window, built to work inside the plan your surgeon already gave you.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS.
When do I start?
Your surgeon decides. Most practices give patients a written plan for the days before and after a procedure, and that plan comes first. When your surgeon clears you to start, the stack is ready that day. The window our formulating physicians describe runs from the hours after surgery out to about four weeks, depending on how big the procedure was.
Do I need a prescription?
No. These are dietary supplements. There is no prescription, no consultation and no visit to book.
My surgeon told me to stop vitamin E, fish oil and turmeric before surgery. Does that include this?
Daily Support carries 15 mg of vitamin E. Take the label to your pre-op appointment and let your surgeon make the call.
How long do I stay on it?
Ask your surgeon. The window our formulating physicians describe is the hours after surgery out to about four weeks, and how far into that window you go depends on the procedure and on what your surgeon tells you.
I will not be able to chew much. How does the protein work?
Nutrition Blend is a powder you mix into a drink, at 20 g of protein per 30 g scoop. That is the reason it is a drink rather than a bar or a meal.
Will this change my scar?
We do not have direct trial evidence that this stack changes cosmetic surgery scars. Collagen is a major component of scar tissue. The body builds collagen from amino acids supplied by protein, and vitamin C is required for collagen synthesis. The stack supplies protein and vitamin C. How your scar develops depends on the procedure, your surgeon's technique and your biology.
Does this replace anything my surgeon gave me?
No. Nothing here replaces your surgeon's instructions and nothing here is a medicine. The stack is nutrition, and it is written to sit inside the plan your surgeon already gave you.
What is actually in it?
Each ingredient has its own page in the Truthe ingredient library, with the amount per serving on it. Nothing sits inside a proprietary blend, and no amount is hidden.
Is this the same nutrition you sell on Truthe Ortho?
Yes. The Daily Support and Nutrition Blend formulations are the same here and on Truthe Ortho. Each page discusses different procedures and recovery windows.
Can I use my HSA or FSA?
Yes. Truthe nutrition products qualify through Truemed at checkout, which carries the substantiation. Your plan administrator is the final word on your own account.
My practice wants to carry this. How does that work?
Two ways, and both are live. Your practice can buy at wholesale and sell in the office, or your patients can order on the web and Truthe fulfills to their door as your contracted distribution and fulfillment partner. The partner page lays out both.