How Long Should I Wear the Thongbra After Symmastia Repair?

Hi there-
This is a very difficult problem to completely correct, and as such, its correction has been and is still attempted through many different techniques, with varying success.
The only person who could responsibly answer this question for you would be the surgeon who performed the repair- only they would understand the risk of reducing bra use and the point at which that reduction would be acceptable.

Each surgeon may have differing opinions or recommendations regarding postoperative restrictions and limitiations depending on the extent of the repair. In some instances, I would recommend 6 weeks while in others I would advise 12 weeks. Discuss your specifics situtation with your surgeon

Thank you for the question.

I generally  ask  patients to use the “thong bra” for as long as possible after surgery.  I have had patients use a thong bra at nighttime for a period  of one year after surgery.   The bra may be helpful in supporting the internal suture repair (capsulorraphy) and/or  allograft  reconstruction  that has been used to correct the symmastia ( medial  breast implant malposition).  The bra  also applies some pressure over the sternal skin and may help with redraping of the skin to decrease “tenting"  of the skin ( which may occur nevertheless despite surgeons'  best efforts).

Correction of  breast implant malposition problems (especially symmastia)  requires ideal surgical execution of the procedure as well as ideal patient compliance with postoperative care and restriction of certain activity. For example I  ask  patients to refrain from strenuous exercise (such as pectoralis flies) for a period  of at least 3 to 6 months.

I have attached a link below which you may find helpful.

 

The fact that there are several way to repair symmastia attest to the inability of a single method to work all the time. Furthermore, the high long-term failure rate of such repairs further underscores this point.
2 months, 3 months, 4 months - All doctors' opinions aside, your question may best be answered by the sage of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California - Clint Eastwood: "How Lucky Do You Feel?"
Personally, I think you should ask your surgeon for his/her advice and THEN further compress the area for as long as you can.
Dr. P. Aldea

 I would personally vote for a minimum of 8 weeks 24/7 but since the failure rate from these repairs can be high, you should do exactly what your surgeon tells you to do.