Should Breast Look Saggy After Breast Augmentation? (photo)

Your results appear to be normal for being so early on in your recovery. You still need to "drop and fluff", which refers to the gradual movement and change in shape that occurs to breast implants. When breast implants are first put into your body, they typically sit higher up in the chest. This is because it’s the path of least resistance – your body requires some time to adjust to their presence, regardless of whether they’ve been placed in a sub-mammary (between breast tissue and chest muscle) or sub-muscular (under both the breast and chest muscle). Immediately following surgery, you’ll find that your newly enhanced breasts appear very full and swollen, especially in the upper portion above the nipples. Your skin will most likely look very tight and your nipples may point slightly downward as well. This may make the shape and overall appearance of your breasts appear unnatural. As your body accommodates to your new implants, you’ll notice that your breasts will gradually look more and more natural – the way you hoped they’d be! Over the course of about three to four months, your body creates new skin to accommodate the additional volume of your implants. This natural process is called “tissue expansion”, and relieves the tightness you may be experiencing. It allows for the implants to settle more into a better position with the help of gravity. A gradual redistribution of volume from the upper to the lower breast occurs, resulting in an enlargement and rounding out of the lower breast.Although it's often called "dropping", it is more like "redistribution". The "fluffing" part refers to the impression that the lower breast enlarges and that your skin softens with the creation of new tissues. The extent to which this occurs depends on several factors, including the implant size, the tightness of your skin, and your body shape.

It is still quite early into your healing and it's not uncommon for #asymmetry as each breast heal quite differently. One breast may swell more, feel more uncomfortable, or have a different initial shape. After complete #healing, they will be more similar and natural. #Healing will continue for 2-3 months following your #breast procedure. Your doctor may also require you to move or massage the implants within the breast pockets during the #postoperative period. (#Textured implants do not require breast massage.) Typically, it's best to wait 6 to 12 months depending on the reason for #revision.  Matters such as sagging or drooping  and size change will not improve with time. Most importantly, communication  and asking questions of your surgeon and the staff are key. Another element to a satisfying result of your #augmentation is realistic #expectations.

The period of time immediately following breast augmentation surgery is characterized by rapid change. During this dynamic phase of healing, swelling, muscle spasm and the healing process itself all contribute to changes in the appearance of a woman's breasts. In some cases, swelling and muscle spasm can displace the breast implants in a superior direction when implants are placed beneath the muscle. Based on your history and pictures, this may be a distinct possibility in your case.In some cases, superior implant displacement may be due to inadequate dissection of the muscle insertions of the inferior portion of the breast pocket. There's no evidence that this has happened in your particular case.With time, assuming adequate pocket dissection, these implants will probably return to a more normal position. When this happens, the breasts won't appear to be saggy. Sometimes, the use of a bandeau superiorly and massage may facilitate this process.It may take 3 to 6 months for these implants to drop into a normal position. If no progress has occurred by then, revisional surgery may be necessary. This would involve recreating the lower portions of the breast pocket.It's important to have good communication with your plastic surgeon. Make sure he is aware of your concerns. He's familiar with the specifics of your surgery and will be able to give you appropriate direction.

Thank you for the photos.   It is still too early to say anything definitive.  They are a bit high right now, which is normal.   As the implants settle into position, things should round out. Please do inform your plastic surgeon about your concerns. He/she may want to examine you. He/she may have a message or other protocol that he/she may find helpful.

You are still early in the post-operative process when implants are high.  Have you discussed with your surgeon about massage, stretching, or wearing a bandeau to help them fall? 

You may want to get a band to help push down the implants.  Also, talk to your plastic surgeon about massage techniques.

From your photos it looks like 1. You have several more weeks to go before your implants drop down into position. Massaging the implants downward will help some but your main ally here is time 2. A lift might have helped some but borderline patients like you often prefer to risk the outcome a bit in order to avoid the scaring from a lift. 3. If you still don't like the shape in a year you can get a lift without any issues as a separate procedure. Given you are only 11 days out I doubt this will be necessary. Best of luck, Dr Kerr

From your photos, I feel that you really needed a lift as well...Now you may get a bit of settling and your implant my drop a bit and look better with time....but probably not as much as you want. However, it they don't drop, you can still go back and have the lift done, just as a two-parter....

There are insufficient details in your post to give you a definitive answer. 400cc implants come in different base diameters so different patients require different 400cc implants. The squared appearance you describe can be from too large an implant, inadequate muscle release/pocket development, blood or fluid in the implant pocket space or just a temporary appearance that resolves as the muscle relaxes to let the implant drop. The last scenario is more rapidly resolved with a breast band placed on the upper half of the breasts to push the implants down. Currently the best person to assess your condition is your surgeon.

I hope you realize that this format of posting questions and receiving answers lacks the face to face direct communication required for you to make an informed decision regarding your surgery.

My response to your question/post does not represent formal medical advice or constitute a doctor patient relationship. You need to consult with i.e. personally see a board certified plastic surgeon in order to receive a formal evaluation and develop a doctor patient relationship.

This is typical of the earlier stages of breast augmentation recovery. It usually takes about 4 months for a more natural looking breast to appear. You should see the improvement gradually appear.