Dr. Gary Lawton Yale-Trained Plastic Surgeon: New Non-Opioid Pain Medication for Recovery Protocols

After more than 25 years in practice and tens of thousands of breast and body procedures, Dr. Gary Lawton reports encouraging early clinical experience using JOURNAVX® as part of an advanced multimodal recovery protocol for his cosmetic surgery patients.

SAN ANTONIO, July 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- For patients considering breast augmentation, breast lift or reduction, implant revision surgery, tummy tuck, liposuction, or a combined mommy makeover, postoperative recovery has long been one of the biggest concerns. Dr. Gary Lawton, a board-certified plastic surgeon in San Antonio who has devoted more than 25 years exclusively to cosmetic surgery of the breast and body and has performed tens of thousands of procedures during that time, believes that this is starting to change.

Dr. Lawton has incorporated JOURNAVX® (suzetrigine) — the first FDA-approved medication in a new, non-opioid drug class — into his postoperative pain management protocol for tummy tuck patients, including those undergoing tummy tucks as part of a combined mommy makeover with breast augmentation, breast lift, breast reduction, or implant revision surgery.

Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in January 2025, JOURNAVX is the first approved medication that selectively targets NaV1.8 pain-signaling sodium channels in the peripheral nervous system. Unlike opioids, it does not activate opioid receptors and was developed to treat moderate-to-severe acute pain while reducing reliance on narcotic medications. JOURNAVX was evaluated in randomized clinical trials involving patients undergoing full abdominoplasty, the procedure at the core of both standalone tummy tucks and most mommy makeovers.

"During more than two decades performing cosmetic surgery of the breast and body, I have evaluated virtually every advancement in postoperative pain management," said Dr. Lawton. "Many improvements have been incremental. The introduction of an entirely new mechanism for treating acute postoperative pain is genuinely different — and it matters most for our bigger cases, like tummy tuck and full mommy makeover, where recovery comfort has always been the top question patients ask me."

Dr. Lawton reports that patients receiving JOURNAVX as part of a comprehensive multimodal recovery protocol have experienced excellent postoperative comfort, requiring fewer rescue narcotic medications than historically expected, along with smoother early recovery and a more rapid return to normal postoperative milestones.

"Patients consistently tell us they are surprised by how little pain they feel after surgery," Dr. Lawton said. "Anything that allows us to decrease reliance on opioids while maintaining excellent pain control represents meaningful progress — for breast augmentation recovery, tummy tuck recovery, liposuction recovery, and especially for mommy makeover patients managing both surgery of the breast and body at once."

At Lawton Plastic Surgery, one of the nation's high-volume cosmetic breast and body surgery practices, Dr. Lawton believes real-world clinical outcomes from experienced surgeons will play an important role in defining how this new class of medication is incorporated into modern recovery protocols across the full range of body-contouring and breast procedures.

"Our philosophy has always been continuous improvement," Dr. Lawton said. "Every refinement, whether surgical, anesthetic, or advanced postoperative wound healing protocol, is made for one reason: to improve the patient experience. We are excited to continue evaluating how first-in-class non-opioid therapies can further advance recovery after cosmetic surgery."

Dr. Lawton plans to prospectively evaluate patient-reported outcomes, postoperative pain scores, opioid rescue medication use, and recovery milestones as additional patients are treated using the updated protocol.

With opioid stewardship becoming an increasingly important priority across medicine, the adoption of innovative non-opioid therapies may help reshape postoperative recovery for cosmetic surgery patients, whether they are undergoing breast augmentation, breast lift, breast reduction, implant revision surgery, tummy tuck, liposuction, or a combined breast and body mommy makeover, while maintaining the highest standards of comfort patients expect.

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Contact

Dr. Gary Lawton

Lawton Plastic Surgery

525 Oak Centre Drive, Suite 260

San Antonio, Texas

(210) 496-2639

https://www.plasticsurgery-sanantonio.com/contact-us/map-and-directions

About Dr. Gary Lawton

Dr. Gary Lawton is a Board-Certified, American Society of Plastic Surgeons 25-Year Milestone-Recognized Cosmetic Plastic Surgeon in San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Lawton is fully Yale-trained in both General and Plastic Surgery, and spent an additional two years completing a Yale Wound Healing Laboratory Fellowship where he performed bench-level scientific research on the biology of wound healing. Dr. Lawton is a Scene in SA Top SA Surgeon, and a RealSelf TOP 100 Hall of Fame Distinguished Inductee who has devoted more than 25 years exclusively to cosmetic surgery of the breast and body, including breast augmentation, breast lift, breast reduction, tummy tuck, liposuction, and mommy makeover. He has performed tens of thousands of procedures in his own private QUAD A Accredited Class C certified outpatient surgery facility in the Stone Oak area of San Antonio. Dr. Lawton has spent more than twenty-five years refining every aspect of cosmetic breast and body surgery through evidence-based innovation, meticulous surgical technique, advanced wound-healing principles, and the continual refinement of patient recovery protocols.

SOURCE LAWTON PLASTIC SURGERY