While you won't lose much weight from a breast reduction surgery, your appearance will change, and you will look slimmer. Large breasts tend to change the proportion of your figure and make you appear bigger. When the breast size is altered, it has a slimming effect.
A benefit of reducing breast size is that it seems like you've lost a lot of weight, even when you haven't. This effect is especially marked in women who have a smaller frame and a bigger bust. Many women report others commenting on how much slimmer and taller they look after reduction surgery.
Designed to remove excess fat, tissue, and skin from heavy and pendulous breasts, reduction surgery improves physical comfort and brings the chest into ideal contour with the chest, ribs, and hips. By removing excess fat and skin from the breast mound, reduction surgery may assist with: Weight Loss.
Breast reduction isn't a weight loss procedure, per se, but the amount of tissue removed may range from as little as two pounds to as much as seven or eight pounds. I would not, however, expect to see a change in the number on the scale.
The breast shape will not look quite right for several weeks because of the breast lift that is done as part of the reduction procedure. It leaves the breast looking a little flat on the bottom and a little wide and these changes resolve in a few weeks.
After your reduction surgery, your breasts will be swollen and appear larger. As the swelling resolves, they will settle into their new size. It's normal for one breast to look bigger during recovery if it's more swollen than the other.
Breast reduction directly impacts a woman's overall proportions and it can appear as though women have gained weight following surgery. With larger breasts, a woman's torso and hips actually appear smaller. When breasts are reduced, it can actually make the hips and torso appear larger.
Friend-to-Friend: Weight Loss First
After significant weight loss, 86% of the women who had undergone a previous breast reduction thought their breasts looked worse. “If giving advice to a friend, they said they would recommend losing weight before undergoing breast reduction surgery,” the ASPS reports.
You will probably be able to go back to work or your normal routine in 2 to 3 weeks.
Breast size is very stable after breast reduction surgery. That said, you will still experience normal, slight variations in size over the course of your hormonal cycle or with minor weight fluctuations.
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.
Your weight should be stable. If you plan on losing weight it is better to do so before surgery. Your BMI is 35 (based on your height and weight) it is considered best practice to operate on a patient that has a BMI of less than 30. A weight of 190 or less would be a BMI of less than 30.
In the first three months the shape changes significantly. The swelling decreases and gravity causes the breast to drop to a more natural position and take on a more natural teardrop shape. The nipple will also rise to a more appropriate position. After six months the shape is usually stable.
You might go down a shirt size.
After surgery, clothes likely won't fit you the way they did before.
On the basis of published data and results from this study, it is recommended that patients with a cup size>or=D or a bra size>or=18 could be categorized as having large breasts, with all other patients considered average in size.
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.
Do not try to exercise, diet or do anything more than rest and recover. You will need to sleep on your back for at least 2-3 weeks. If you are a stomach sleeper or side sleeper, this can be the most difficult part of your recovery, so consider purchasing a body pillow or sleeping in a recliner.
How long should I wear a supportive bra? Everyone recovers at different rates, and your unique procedure will determine your length of recovery. However, you should plan to wear your bra for around 6 weeks after surgery. You should wear it as much as possible (even while sleeping), but can remove it to shower.
Swelling, bloating, stomach discomfort and distention are all very common after breast and body surgery, and may even impact the scales – but it will subside significantly by the 12-week mark and continue to improve in the months following.
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.
If you have your procedure during the winter months, you'll be fully healed and ready to show off your new body shape in time for summer and swimsuit season.
Three to Six Months Post-Surgery
The breasts will have settled into their final shape and size between three and six months after surgery.
According to Dr. Platt, other similar studies with breast reduction patients have shown an almost 100 percent wound complication rate as the BMI approaches 40. "The upper limit of a normal BMI is around 26. In overweight patients, a BMI of 30 would be a number to shoot for before a breast reduction surgery is done.
However, it's important to note that you may want to postpone breast reduction surgery if you have more than 25 to 30 pounds to lose. You only lose about two pounds of breast tissue in the procedure, though the effect on your appearance is often dramatic.
The degree to which breasts can be reduced with reduction mammoplasty depends on a number of factors, such as the volume of the breasts before treatment, their makeup, the type of incision being made, and the unique goals of the patient. Typically, most women drop one or two cup sizes with breast reduction surgery.