Duration of Compression Garment After Gynecomastia Surgery (Fat + Tissue Removal) ?

I generally recommend patients wear a support garment for 6 weeks - night and day for the first three weeks, and then during the day for another three weeks. This garment will help reduce swelling and conform the skin to your new shape. However, you should follow your surgeon's advice as they are more familiar with your situation.

We require our #patients to wear a compression garment for the a few weeks following their #Gynecomastia surgery. The #compression garment helps to reduce the swelling, and the longer it is worn, the more quickly you will heal.We recommend it not be removed, at all, until the second or third day after the surgery. After that, we suggest they feel free to temporarily remove the #garment for showering or laundering only. We encourage our patients to maintain circumferential pressure for 4-6 weeks, but they may switch to an exercise compression garment when advised.However, each patient is unique and previous results are not a guarantee for individual outcomes. Your board-certified surgeon will recommend the use of the garment, or not, depending on your individual case and surgical procedure. Therefore, if you have any concerns about #healing, its best to ask questions of your surgeon or their nursing staff.

COMPRESSION GARMENT: The extra pressure this elastic garment provides helps reduce swelling and discomfort. You should not remove this garment at all until the second or third day after surgery. After that, feel free to remove the garment temporarily for showering or laundering. In my practice for most patients I recommend circumferential pressure for 4-6 weeks, and switch to an exercise compression garment when advised. Your plastic surgeon is in the best position to give you specific advice if a longer period is required.

2 weeks is a minimum but if you are able to wear a garment for a longer time, it cannot possibly hurt.  It helps to minimize swelling (which should resolve after about two weeks) and helps to press the skin against the chest wall so that it heals in place, which is important in men who may be left with some loose skin

There's not any real magic time to wear the garment. I have my patients wear it for three weeks. Sometimes they choose to wear a compression T-shirt afterward but that's up to them. i think wearing something is helpful but the length of time is up to your surgeon.

Thanks for the question. Many surgeons have strong opinions about pressure/ compression garments. There is no doubt that they have a role to play with swelling post operatively.
However, there is very little evidence that compression garments will make any difference whatsoever to the final outcome. Personally I am very relaxed about whether my patients use them or not. I cannot see any long term benefit 4-6 weeks after surgery.

The length of time that you need to wear a garment after gynecomastia surgery depends upon how much work was done and the degree of redundant breast tissue and skin that you have. This is a question best answered by your plastic surgeon.

There are clearly a lot of opinions about compression after any liposuction procedure.  Personally, I do not think compression affects the long term results at all.  I think it greatly affects the short term result (ie 1-4/5 months).  I recommend 3 weeks of full time compression and then another 3 weeks of half time compression. I hope that helps... :-)

I am not sure what you mean by a chest belt. However, I assume that you mean an elastic device similiar to an abdominal binder.  The purpose of the compression is to aid in adherence of the skin to the underlying mucle and to prevent fluid colleciton and sagging of the skin. Compression also aides in tightening of the skin. The more loose the skin, the longer I have my patients continue the compression. So long as the chest belt does not dig into your skin and cause ridges or folds in your skin, it will not cause you any harm to wear it longer than 2 weeks, and it may even help the appearance of the skin. Under no circumstances would I imagine that wearing it for more than 6 weeks would be of any benefit.

As you have noted, the use of garments will vary from one practice to another. Therefore, always best to select your plastic surgeon carefully  and follow his/her recommendations. He/she knows exactly what was done and is ultimately responsible for your care.  Personally, I do not think that the use of a garment past the 4 week point post op will necessarily help or hurt.

Best wishes.