The thing with getting surgery abroad, is that the clinic often does not know where you can receive the follow-up Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD) treatment that they recommend and MLD is an important part of recovery following surgery.
What you should do:
Find out if you will need MLD.
Find a certified therapist.
Book well in advance of your planned surgery.
Get on to them when you get back and listen to what they tell you.
What you should remember is that MLD is a specialised treatment, it should only be carried out by certified therapists. In the hands of someone not trained it may make swelling in certain areas worse. Training in MLD takes a long time and has to be constantly revalidated.
Unfortunately, there are also short courses for MLD these are not the same. If you want to check for an MLD practioner then mlduk.org.uk is a good place to check.
When you go through surgery it is obviously a traumatic experience, for you and your body. Having had the operation your body needs to recover. Some people will recover over time without issue, but some will not.
A major factor is to reduce swelling and pain, that is the bit you can see but underneath you need to remove toxins and get nutrients to those areas. When swelling stays, it can become complicated, it may cause a number of problems, MLD is there to reduce the risk. A certified MLD practioner will not only work to lower the risk, but they will also be on the lookout for things that do not look right and advise whether you need to see a doctor.
Surgery will disrupt the normal lymphatic pathways and it may need encouragement to develop new pathways, this is also where MLD plays a part.
Whilst MLD will assist in reducing any scar it may take someone with scar treatment experience. A majority of Certified MLD practioners are also Scar Therapy workers or know someone who is, they will monitor your scars progression and warn of anything that does not look right. When appropriate they will be maybe able to help reduce the visible scar or the impact of the scar underneath.
Just to round up, benefits of MLD:
Improve the healing process
Reduce pain
Reduce oedema
Removal of toxins
Improve the immune response and reduce chance of infection.
Read some more on a MLD from an cosmetic surgery https://www.precisionmdca.com/