Usually 3-5 days is a safe amount of time to be sure to be out of the office after breast augmentation. If the job requires using the arms a fair amount, ie nurse, police, construction, flight attendant, it may be better to take off more time from work. The time away from work is usually directly proportional to the amount of exertional activities that a job requires. Some office based careers allow for the women to return to work as soon as three days. We typically recommend surgery later in the week, recover over the weekend, then return to work on Tuesday or Wednesday. While more strenous careers need about two weeks for 80% return of strength. Most return to limited duty within a week. Women that work mostly at desk jobs, computers, etc return within 5 days.