You may feel sore for 2 to 3 weeks. You also may feel pulling or stretching in your breast area. Although you may need pain medicine for a week or two, you can expect to feel better and stronger each day. For several weeks, you may get tired easily or have less energy than usual.
Is the breast reduction procedure painful? Anesthesia will be given during the procedure, but you should expect to feel sore for two to three days after surgery. You will be prescribed pain medication, and your surgeon may advise placing wrapped ice packs gently over sore areas to help with pain and swelling.
Because a breast lift is typically less invasive than a breast reduction, it is generally less painful and has a shorter recovery. Loss of sensation to the nipple area is a risk with either procedure but is pretty rare with a lift.
The pain from the surgery will be highest during the first few days after surgery. However, you will most likely be on pain medications so the pain should be moderate at worst. During week one the pain will reduce and should be mild to moderate.
Your surgeon will tell you what to do with these dressings, like when to change them and when you can shower. In general, the first week after surgery you will have moderate pain in your breasts and around the sides of your chest. Some people mainly feel sore.
There is risk of infection in every surgical procedure, but breast reduction patients run the risk of losing feeling in their nipples, bruising, and developing scars in particular. I still have feeling in my nipples, but it's important to know that losing it is a possibility.
Pozner believes it's important to resume light activity as soon as you feel up to it. Whether you undergo breast augmentation, a breast lift or breast reduction, you should engage in light walking as soon as possible. This can generally occur the night of surgery or the following day, depending on how you feel.
The amount of weight you'll lose depends on how much tissue you remove with surgery. However, you shouldn't expect your operation to tip the scales. Even the largest breasts only weigh only a few pounds per breast.
Most surgeons do not dictate or require a particular size to qualify you as a candidate for breast reduction. The most vital factor they consider is if the breast size causes you mental and physical health problems.
Breast reduction recovery time is similar to that of a tummy tuck – and remarkably less than for a Brazilian butt lift, which usually requires about a month of downtime. If you're having a simple reduction mammoplasty, most of the healing will take place within the first two weeks post-op.
You may have one or more drains near your incisions. Your doctor will tell you how to take care of them. Drains are usually removed in the first week after surgery.
Breast reduction surgery can feel like having a weight lifted off your chest. It can relieve years of back, shoulder and neck pain, and improve your self-esteem and body image. While the outpatient procedure only takes a few hours, it may be several weeks before you can resume activities that require physical exertion.
You may shower 24 to 48 hours after your drains are removed. Your healthcare provider will let you know when you can shower. When you begin showering, take a shower every day to help keep your incision clean. Before entering the shower, remove your bra and the gauze pad covering your incision.
It can happen after any type of breast surgery, including a lumpectomy (wide local excision), mastectomy, lymph node removal and breast reconstruction. The pain is usually caused by bruising, stretching or damage to nerves during surgery or when scar tissue forms.
It is certainly possible to reduce your breast size, regardless of size.
At your current weight, many insurers would require removal of over 550 grams of tissue from each breast. Weight loss will reduce the size of your breast, so it is much better to lose weight before embarking on breast reduction.
Depending on a variety of factors, some females may qualify as breast reduction candidates when they are as young as 15, although some insurance providers require patients to be at least 16 years old to receive coverage. However, there are no official age restrictions currently set in place for breast reduction.
While it is common after breast augmentation for patients to look slimmer, many ask, “Does a breast reduction make you look thinner?” In some patients, yes, a breast reduction can make them look leaner. Some patients have slim bodies, but larger breasts.
The short answer is yes.
One systematic review estimated that around 18% of breast reduction surgery patients reported regrowth of their breast tissue after the procedure. However, the breasts didn't get bigger by much, and some breast reduction patients were as young as 12 years old.
In general, the surgery takes about three to four hours. Removing excess breast volume (fat and glandular tissue), creating an aesthetic contour and closing the wound to minimize scarring can take additional time in some patients.
The excess pressure may also cause swelling and discomfort that can interfere with sleep. It's important you get the rest you need after surgery as this is when your body recovers. Simply put, sleeping on your back keeps your breasts in an optimal position for healing.
Swelling occurs in the body as the lymphatics have been surgically disrupted. However, it is important to remember that swelling is an important part of the recovery process and is essential for healing! The swollen areas actually contain white blood cells and proteins that are needed to heal the surgical area.