Will push up bras cause symmastia?

Hello,The best person to advise you on this is your operating Plastic Surgeon who knows your specific situation the best. If your Implants are an appropriate size for your chest and assuming careful surgical technique, you should be able to wear whatever bras you like but each Plastic Surgeon has their own preferred recommendations for bras.Take care

Thank you for your question.  At 18 months you should be fine without worry about displacing the implants with a push up bra.   I caution patients against wearing a push up bra in the early post operative period for fear of preventing the implants from dropping, and being too high up.  Your pectorals muscles prevent the implants from moving together and creating synmastia assuming they were released appropriately.  This far out, you are fine to use a push up bra.  All the best, 

My patients are instructed to wear the surgical bra for weeks to months after surgery depending on if they find it comfortabel. In general the surgical garment can enhance your result and underwire bras my take away some the results, but each patient is different.

It is unlikely that this far out after surgery, you will have any difficulty wearing a specific type of bra.  Symmastia is usually caused by surgical error.

There is no evidence that implicates a specific bra type as a risk factor for complications in breast augmentation surgery.  This would especially hold true for someone who is so far removed from surgery as you are.  The generally accepted risk factors for symmastia include: improper pocket dissection (specifically excessive muscle division/dissection), chest wall abnormalities, tissue weakness, and excessively large implant.  

Push up bras may lift the skin off the sternum causing problems early after surgery.  After
breast augmentation I find no particular advantage to the use of surgical bras.
In fact, I find that they can do more harm than good. They hold the implants
too high, preventing them from dropping into position. In addition, they can
put pressure on the healing breast or the wound. They provide no advantage. If
the surgery was performed correctly, external appliances after surgery are
unnecessary to achieve the appropriate final implant position. At one month we
allow the patients to wear a soft cup bra with no underwire. At two
months, they can wear any bra with a wire without push up. Before three
months it is not wise to buy a whole new set of bras. By six months, the
bra size is not going to change. You need to try bras on. Being
measured is almost never productive and almost always oversizes. Find the
ones that you like the way they fit.

I advise my patients that they are about 80% healed (in terms of breast softness and shape) by the third month after breast augmentation surgery. At that time they may wear and do anything and everything they wish. By nine months patients are close to 100%. I believe it is very unlikely that bras of any type worn at the 18th month would or could have any effect on your surgical results. For more information on this and similar topics, I recommend a plastic surgery Q&A book like "The Scoop On Breasts: A Plastic Surgeon Busts the Myths." Hope this helps. 

Symmastia, often referred to as “kissing implants,” occurs when there’s no separation between the breast implants and they meet in the middle of the chest. Although one might think that a push-up bra might encourage this condition by pushing the implants together, timing is everything. You are well past the point when this should be of concern. For most women, the implants settle into the breast pocket within a year after breast augmentation, so at 18 months post op, you should feel free to enjoy your new breasts and wear push-up bras at will.

Thank you for the question.  At this point, 18 months post breast augmentation surgery, you do not have to worry. Breast implants have "reach their final position";  displacement concerns (such as symmastia) with a bra  is not a concern.   Enjoy the outcome of the procedure performed.

Thank you for the question. It is un likely that you will cause any sort of "malposition" to your implants froma bra or sleeping at this time. Your implants should be pretty set and stable at this time after surgery. Underwire bras will simply support the breasts and implant.