Will Sleeping Upright Help my Breasts Drop?

I have read alot about sleeping upright, but am not convinced of its merits. I am 2 weeks post-op with 325cc silicone anatomical dual-planes. Its hard to sleep upright, but if it helps them to drop faster, or effects the final result of my breasts, I will persevere. My PS gave me thumbs up to sleep on my side or back. I am curious about the general consensus on this topic. Does sleeping upright have short or long term benefits? Thank you!

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12 Doctor Answers | Asked by happywithbreasts in Atlanta, GA

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Sleeping position after breast implant surgery

Sleeping upright for the first few days after surgery will help decrease some of the swelling, but will not make the implants "drop" faster. You can sleep on your side after about a week or so but should avoid stomach sleeping for a few months. The implants will settle or "drop" naturally over time provided your surgeon created an adequate pocket or space for the implants. This whole process may take up to three months for the implants to soften and... more

Sleep upright and dropping implants

I doubt is sleeping upright will help much. You may consider wearing a strap across the upper pole of your breast to provide some constant pressure to help the pocket stretch out and maybe drop a little bit. I would not ruin your nights of sleep. If your implants remain too tight and/or high you may end up needing an open release of the lower pocket which is usually a pretty quick procedure with a fast recovery.

Implants dropping and sleep position.

The implants themselves do not actually "drop." What occurs is a slow relaxation of the inferior breast tissue to accommodate the increase in weight from above. Sleeping upright is unlikely to do much to hasten this process. It is simply more likely to cause you to lose sleep. What is more important in your case is proper support of the implants until the capsules form. With anatomic implants, it is very important to keep the position of the implants stable until the scar... more

David Bogue, MD

6 reviews

Boca Raton Plastic Surgeon

www.drbogue.com

Sleeping Upright and Breast Implant Position

I believe sleeping upright has no merit on helping implants to settle. In my humble opinion I believe that when you place all implants that when I leave the OR the final shape should have been obtained. I will say in my experience that saline implants will "ride high and settle" over time but silicone implants do not. There is a smaller margin for error with silicone implants. Dr. ES

Breast implant dropping

Breast implants post op really do not "drop" physically, although we all use the term. What actually happens is that the tissue around the breasts relax with time and as this happens, the lower potion of the breast fills out. Sleeping upright will just make you sleepy, tired and cranky. There is nothing I know of that will significantly speed this process

Sleeping upright post aug

I don't think sleeping upright will affect the final result one way or another.If you want the breast to drop or settle in then wearing a breast strap might help.

Gravity always wins in the breast implant positioning battle

I'm sure you are anxious to see your implants 'drop' into their intended position- this takes time, sometimes a few weeks to occur. Since you had a dual-plane breast augmentation, your inferior pectoral attachments were completely divided- this means what is holding your implants 'up high' is the pressure of your pectoral muscles. Once the pecs relax over the implant, they will drop into the lowest position of the implant pocket- which is defined by the infra-mammary... more

Sleeping Upright Unnecessary after Augmentation

I do not feel that sleeping upright following augmentation is necessary nor do I advise my patients to do so. I do feel that wearing a Velcro-type strap across the upper poles of the breasts is beneficial in accelerating the "droping of implants".

Helping your breast implants to drop.

If your PS surgeon advised you to sleep elevated, follow his instructions. Sleeping upright may help with swelling as well. SEE VIDEO with EXERCISES BELOW. This video illustrates some of the exercises as well as upper pole band to promote descent of the breast implants. I sometimes encourage patients to do this twice or three times as frequently on the higher side see video

Otto Joseph Placik, MD

33 reviews

Chicago Plastic Surgeon

Breast Implants don't really drop.

Hi. Unfortunately, I have a minority view. I think the breasts should look good , with the implants in the correct position, at the end of the operation. see video