Does Tight Dressing Help to Bring Breast Closer Together?

The dressings we (plastic surgeons) put around the breasts are for a reason.  Usually it is to either keep swelling to a minimum or to apply pressure in a certain area. There is less resistance for the implants to migrate laterally until scar tissue has formed to help resist movement in that direction.  Also defining the inframammary fold or crease is important early on.  So will it help define cleavage, it may help force the skin to stretch toward the midline and help so that the scar tissue that forms is more medial or closer to the midline.

First, I don't want to come across as contradicting your surgeon or his plan; I will simply give you my thoughts about how I manage my own patients with regard to this issue.  I will commonly place a band on my breast augmentation patients in whom I have lowered the inframammary fold or who have constriction at the bottom of the breasts.  The rationale here is to provide some mild continuous stretching force to the tissues on the BOTTOM of the breast over time to help them to settle better.  I do not really use the band to push the breasts together.  The band is actually worn over the top of the breasts so the pressure is directed downward.  It is also not worn very tightly at all, just snug.  In fact, when it is too tight, this is a very common source of pain in my patients, and I tell them to loosen it or take it off for awhile for comfort, just as you have discovered.  I have them only wear the band for a week, unless at the one week follow up there is still significant tightness in the bottom breast tissues, usually with tuberous or constricted breasts.  In my opinion if there is a gap between the breasts it exists either because of your anatomy or because of the pocket being made too wide laterally, and a band will not correct either of these.  I hope that helps.