Hi, VickieGibson.My answer to going braless after a BA with lift would be "No, No, and No!" But in reality, who really knows? There really are no good scientific studies to say with any certainty whether wearing a bra will prevent further sagging or not, and there are some new studies (of questionable science) espousing going braless, by virtue of "increasing the pec muscle tone" may slow down the progress of breast sagging.In my opinion, however, pectoralis muscle tone has nothing to do with breast sagging, and the little, flimsy ligaments of the upper breast that attach the breast to the overlying skin and to the underlying muscle weaken and lengthen. Additionally, the upper breast skin also progressively thins and stretches with aging, sun changes, weight fluctuation, pregnancy, breastfeeding, etc., resulting in further stretch and elongation. This stretch and elongation results in a lowered breast off of the chest wall, as well as a droopier breasts itself. As such, a breast lift doesn't really "lift" the breast very effectively, but rather lifts the nipple and distal drooped portion of the breast to a more balanced and central position. The upper breast ligaments and thinned skin have not corrected, and the addition of an implant is adding more pull and weight to this area. Hopefully, a well-designed and properly-fitting bra will help suspend some of the weight and tension on the upper breast ligaments and upper breast/chest skin.Good luck with your surgery if you haven't had it yet, or I hope that you are happy with your results and doing well if you have! Dr. Ghafoori
For our patients I do recommend some type of elastic bottom, non-formfitting bra such as a jog bra. It makes sense to me to support the tissues that have stretched in a more elevated position such that they can heal without re-stretching early on. There really isn't any science to support this. I do think, placement of an underwire bra in the face of a breast augmentation can disallow the implant from migrating with gravity to the bottom of the pocket. Hence the strip elastic type bottom. Just one plastic surgeons opinion. Hope that's helpful.
