Breast massage post op, good idea or not?

Hello,This is not 'specific to the patient and the doctor' as one respondent said, but this should be about evidence of efficacy, not doctor preference. Imagine if cancer doctors picked and choosed chemotherapy based on whether they liked it or not, and not on whether it was effective! That would be deadly decision making, wouldn't it? Well fortunately, capsular contracture isn't life threatening, but it is the most common complication that leads to reoperation.  So I think it's important to get the word out that you can reduce your risk tenfold by picking the right surgeon, than to rely on post operative implant massage that has been shown to be completely ineffective at preventing or treating capsular contracture. And yes, I've seen it all from overzealous massage: skin irritation, stimulation of lactation, bruising, and even hematoma. So not only is massage not helpful, it can be harmful. Surgeons who adhere to a 14 point plan to minimize implant contamination will reduce your risk from the average of 15% to 1.5%.  No massage necessary. BTW, augmentation mastopexy carries a higher risk of capsular contracture than augmentation alone. Why? Because surgeons don't adhere to strict techniques of placing the implant through an inframammary incision first, then closing the subpectoral pocket before performing the mastopexy. Instead, most put the implant through a very large incision that exposes the breast implant to the opened breast tissue, leading to implant contamination and capsular contracture. Choose your surgeon wisely and no massage necessary. 

In most cases, I do not recommend massage after breast augmentation; but plastic surgeons will have different post-op protocols. Recommend that you obtain guidance from your plastic surgeon.

Surgeons have been recommending breast massage after surgery to prevent capsular contracture.  I can think of one study that actually looked at whether it worked and the study showed that it did not make any difference.  Despite this many surgeons continue to recommend massage largely out of habit.  I also have heard that it may increase capsular contracture but there is no evidence of this.