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For a number of years I have been thinking about a breast reduction. I am a 34H. For years I wore a 44DD because that is what I could find in stores that fit me (not really, but it was the best that I could find). When my college roommate went to a bra fitting at Nordstrom's and told me that she was a 36D I thought there is no way that I am a 44DD as I am thinner than she is so I decided to go to the same place. I was shocked when they told me my size. I was able to get a few bras that fit me but at about $75 a bra it was a bit of a shock. My back and neck have hurt for a long time and like many other women my size, I have marks from the bra straps. I have a friend who had a reduction about 12 years ago and another friend who had one about 8 years ago. A year ago I was really fed up with the pain and I began thinking about surgery. I found this web site and have been reading reviews. I finally made an appointment with my primary care in August to discuss getting a referral and she send me to Dr. Morris at Longwood Plastic Surgery in Brookline, MA. I met with him in September and my surgery is scheduled for January 2nd. My insurance company BCBS approved it without a problem which was a bit surprising since I have read so many stories about insurance companies initially denying the surgery and expected I would have to fight for it. I also think that I secretly hoped they would deny it so that I would not have to go through it since I do find it slightly scary. That way I could say "see the insurance company denied it so I guess I don't really need it." One thing that I find interesting is that when I tell people I am getting reduction surgery so many people say "I didn't think you were that big, you carry it so well". I know that I am not as big as many people but I am surprised by some people's reactions. Which I think is another reason I have questioned whether I need it. This past week I was having a lot of pain under my right shoulder blade right where my bra strap is. It did not feel like other times when I have pulled a muscle in my back, instead it felt more internal. I found it hard take a breath and when I did I got a stabbing pain. I told one friend that although I do not know what I broken rib felt like, I felt like I had a broken rib. Another friend who is a PT looked at it for me and said I had a rib out of place. I think it was caused by a sports bra I work last weekend. I am down to 2 regular bras and 1 sports bra and I refused to by any new ones this fall knowing that this surgery was coming up. I am excited and terrified at the same time. I would appreciate any support, guidance, help, prayers, etc. that anyone can give me. What should I have a home so that I am ready when I come home from the doctor's office. My husband might not be able to get the day off from work so one of my best friends might drive me. What did you find help you heal the best? What do you wish you had done differently? What are you glad you did? I am 1 month away and I am excited and terrified at the same time. I know this month will fly by! Updated on 7 Jan 2015: I had my surgery on Friday January 2. I did freak out a few days before my surgery but on the day of my actual surgery I felt very calm. My husband drove me to the doctor's office and when we got there they quickly took me back. I thought that they would let him go back with me but they didn't and that threw me a little. The pre-surgery nurse Cyndi was so nice and made me feel comfortable. Before I knew it I was headed into the surgery room and the next thing I was waking up with my husband next to me. I don't really remember the ride home but when we got there my husband set me up in the family room in our basement so that I would have peace and quiet. The last couple of days I have not been in pain but I have been feeling like I have been stung by a billion bees. Plus I keep having the sensation that my chest is slightly vibrating at times. Here are before pictures Updated on 8 Jan 2015: I am feeling better today. This is the first day that I have not felt exhausted. Also last night I was able to sleep semi on my side which felt nice as I was getting tired of sleeping on my back. It was also the first night I did not wake up in the middle of the night feeling like I had cotton in my mouth. Here are pictures from day 6. I cannot believe that tomorrow will be a week. I still feel really tingly and stiff. Updated on 14 Jan 2015: I am so frustrated. I cannot find a bra to fit. I had bought some Fruit of the Loom bras that came recommended by a lot of people on this site and on the Walmart site. I originally was a 34G and I bought size large. I then did more research and bought another type of Fruit of the Loom bras that also were highly recommended and bought a 40. They could only be bought online and they came today. Gracious are they tight! I think I would need to get a 42. Yikes! I go back to work and I am not sure what to do. I cannot wear underwire bras for about another 8 weeks. Any recommendations for bras? The one that the doctor gave me was okay but not my favorite. Updated on 15 Jan 2015: I cannot believe that tomorrow will be 2 weeks since my surgery. I am feeling better and better each day. Still a little sore, but my neck and back pain are gone so that is great. Tonight I am taking my 12-year old daughter with me when I shop for bras. She has been a great help since my surgery - she has helped me to take a shower, put my bra on when I was too sore to put it on, etc. One thing that I have noticed now that I am moving around more is that my nipples are very, very sensitive. They are almost too sensitive. The other night when I was driving, the seat belt was making me crazy. Today as I was moving around the house my shirt was rubbing against me and it was really bothering me. My husband thinks that my breasts are in a different place so everything feels different. Has anyone else had this problem?
I'm 28 yrs old, 5'2" and 130 lbs with size 34 D-DD but very droopy. I recently lost about 25 lbs and still working on losing about 10 lbs more and toning up. However, my boobs were always droopy from the moment they started developing, so it has nothing to do with my weight loss. I've always wanted a breast lift but didn't have the financial means to do it and also I wanted to drop the excess weight before doing it. Now that I'm finally living a healthier lifestyle and feel really good about my body, I can't wait to have the pretty, perky boobies to go along with my body and really be happy with the reflection I see in the mirror! I have no kids and although I love children, I don't intend to have any of my own. My dream is to have perky, round boobs that I would be proud of when naked or going bra-less when wearing a sexy deep v-neck/backless dress/top (something I've never worn before). I don't wish to be bigger or smaller than what I am now, which is a 34D-DD. I think my boobs look great in a bra, they are proportionate to my body (I'm Brazilian so I have a booty and hips to balance things out). I had my first consult with Dr. Terri Halperin from Longwood Plastic Surgery in Brookline, MA and she was very nice. She definitely through me a curveball though, because to achieve the shape I want, I thought I would need a small implant along with my breast lift. However, she said I would be able to achieve the results I want with just a breast lift, specially since I don't wish to go bigger. Also, she would only do the two procedures separately, so if after my lift I'm not completely satisfied, I could get implants to improve the shape of my breasts. I really didn't want to go under the knife twice to be able to get the results I want, but I'm just not sure if a lift would be enough. Either way I already booked my surgery appointment (since I had a recommendation from a close friend, saw that the PS had great reviews, and I really liked Dr. Halperin) which will be in December 19, 2014. I am super excited and anxious at the same time! I have tons of questions that I'll be posting soon and hopefully you ladies can help me out. In the meantime if you have any suggestions as far as what I should be doing now which is about four months before my surgery, please leave a comment. Updated on 19 Dec 2014: I'm prepping for surgery right now! I'll be going in pretty soon. I'll post soon. I wish I had taken more before pics but I didn't think of it until this morning. See you later ladies! Updated on 19 Dec 2014: Got the surgery done and I was back home in bed at 11am. Woke up at 2pm to pee and had a little bite to eat so I could take more meds. I'm feeling pretty good. When I woke up at the clinic from my anesthesia I had some pain on my boobs that I described as a road rash, lol! The meds seem to be kicking in again and I'm getting sleepy. I'll post more later. Updated on 20 Dec 2014: I'm feeling pretty good and now I can gladly say (without jinxing myself) that I had no nausea or had to vomit at any point yesterday and today! I do get a bit lightheaded once in a while but I think it's do to the pain meds which I'm considering stopping today and continue only with Tylenol, what do you think girls, is it too early to get off the pain meds? I'm only taking one pill about every 6 hrs and I don't feel much pain towards the end of the 6 hrs. I haven't look at my renewed boobies yet, that'll be tomorrow afternoon, I'm excited and scared at the same time! All in all, it's going good, I'm able to eat, walk around the house and go to the bathroom by mysel (no #2 yet... should I take dulcolax stool softener?). I'll be posting a picture tomorrow as soon as I take a look at them. Updated on 21 Dec 2014: I'm off pain killers as of yesterday, since last night I already switched to Tylenol. I'm feeling really good today just with Tylenol and I'm still taking it easy today staying in bed for most of the time. I took dulcolax stool softener but no results from that yet. Later on tonight I might try to shower and switch the gauze pads and be able to look at my boobs, we'll see how courageous I feel. :) Updated on 21 Dec 2014: I took a peek at my boobies today and I know it's still too early to know exactly how it's going to heal but I'm a bit concerned with my left breast, it seems as if the nipple is lower (still looking down) on that breast while the right one seems to look perky... Is it just me or can you please honestly tell me what you see? Also I noticed that part of the nipple incision on my left boob isn't covered by the steri strip, I'm going to contact my surgeon tomorrow about that since I'm scared that leaving it uncovered might increase the chances of getting infected or affect the way it scars. I'm sorry I'm freaking out a bit... I took a couple pics and covered them back up right away! Updated on 29 Dec 2014: So today I had my post-op appointment and Dr. Halperin said everything looks great and healing well! I'll be seeing her in another two weeks when the steri trips will come out (if they haven't fallen off on their own until then). I've been trying to be patient by not staring at the mirror criticizing my boobs since they still have a long way to go as far as healing goes, I don't want to obess about every little change, that'll just drive me crazy! ;) This whole process is going pretty smooth. I've been really good about keeping the compression bra on at all times and keeping the incisions dry. I feel some shooting pains once in a while which the doctor said it's normal. I have full sensation on both nipples, yay! I'm uploading some pics I took on Friday, my 1 week post-op mark. I'll post more pics this Friday at my 2 week mark. Updated on 3 Jan 2015: Updated on 9 Jan 2015: Updated on 10 Jan 2015: I'm at my 3 weeks post-op and feeling really good. A couple of the steri strips have been falling off while I shower. One that fell off from the crease of my right breast, took a little piece of scab with it so now it's a bit raw and it gets irritated because of my bra rubbing against it. I've been putting some Neosporin on it and covering with gauze but it still bugs me once in a while. It sucks because I tend to sweat around the crease of my boobs and I'm trying to keep it clean and dry. Anyone else had this problem before, any suggestions? Updated on 24 Jan 2015: 1 month post-op and steri strips are off! Updated on 24 Jan 2015: So about one week after I had my steri strips removed, I noticed discharging yellow liquid from the bottom incision of my right boob and noticed it had become an open wound. As soon as I had the strips removed I have been applying Neosporin on incisions about twice/day and covering with sterile nonstick gauze. As soon as I noticed the discharge on the gauze and my bra this past Tuesday, I called my ps and sent her pics to make sure it's not infected. She said that I might have some fluid in there and it's a good thing it's coming out. She told me to stop putting Neosporin on it since apparently it inhibits healing, so she recommend to not put anything on it expect a dry and clean gauze and change it about twice/day. She told me to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get redder or if I get fevers (signs of infection). This sucks... I hope it heals soon and that it doesn't scar badly. Anyone else had a similar problem? Updated on 7 Feb 2015: Updated on 7 Feb 2015: Now that my wound closed I can start scar treatment so here are some pics so I can keep track of the progress. Also I got pictures taken by my PS yesterday so she gave me a print out with my before and current pics. Updated on 21 Feb 2015: I've been feeling great and I'm finally back to my fitness routine! Other than the scars, it feels like these are the boobs I was supposed to have been born with (well at least at puberty, ha!). They feel so me, that sometimes I even forget I had surgery. Obviously they are MY boobs, no implants but I'm referring to the fact that the shape has changed. Unfortunately, I haven't been really good about applying scar treatment on them, I have to get myself into a routine for that. So other than moisturizing with Aquafor I haven't done much about it yet. I'll be posting again at my 3 month mark.
You are likely a good candidate for a breast reduction especially if the weight of your breasts are causing you neck and back pain, poor posture, shoulder indentations from bra straps, and/or rashes underneath the fold of the breast. You would not end up with a completely flat chest since your surgeon will need to leave behind some breast tissue to allow blood supply to the nipple, but your surgeon will likely be able to remove a substantial amount of breast tissue. Your resulting breasts will appear more uplifted as well and sit higher on your chest. However since you are still young, it is possible that future breast development, pregnancies, and/or pregnancies could change the shape and size of your breasts further down the line.
You can look into peri areolar top surgery. With this method a small incision would be made underneath each nipple to remove the breast tissue, rather than one or two larger incisions across the chest. This option allows for very minimal scarring, making this a good option for you. This technique is generally done on individuals with small amounts of breast tissue and with good skin quality, meaning skin generally on younger people that has not been overly stretched. Ultimately, the decision is up to your surgeon as it depends on each individual.
