Treatment Provider

William J. Hedden, MD
Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
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SHOELACE TECHNIQUE

I have been asked some questions about the shoelaces I have been using to correct the positioning of the implants, so I have decided to post separately about that. Here is what I have learned from my experience:
1. You have to wear them ALL THE TIME - 24/7. No taking them off, not even in the shower (especially first few weeks). So, I had two pairs of the shoelaces that I was switching up all the time (every 12 or 24 hours, depending on if I was in the gym that day). Also, that way you can wash them when you need to.
2. Do not buy the thin wide shoelaces, they do not work. You want them as thick and "fluffy" as possible. Mine are two pairs, 70 inches each.
3. When you tie your breasts for such a long time, its hard to do it very high. I have not even thought about how high I want them, just tied them higher than they were and that was it. The thing is, my implants are 750 - they are heavy, so it was impossible for me to tie them high because my neck would hurt from the weight and shoelaces getting into my skin. So basically, my advice is tie it the way you want them and I would not worry about the boobs being too high.
4. It does feel like the implant is raising, in fact, it feels like the shoelace goes right between the implant and your rib cage (kind of separates the implant and makes the fold bigger and more defined).
5. I've read that you are supposed to wear them for twice as long as it took you to see the result that you want. I had them on for 4 months. Last month, I did take them off for a few hours every now and then.
6. It does hurt. It rub against your skin and hurts, but you have to be patient if you want results. The worst was in the gym, when my collarbones would get the wounds from rubbing, but then I came up with the solution and I will explain under the pictures what I did.
7. I used the bra padding (will show on the picture) to put it where the shoelaces rubbed the most.


Now, I did my shoelaces differently than normally suggested by the literature. The suggested way, I felt like my breasts were lifted only in the middle, but not on the sides. So I have adjusted the technique to fit myself better. So I will post the pictures on how I do it step by step with instructions. Let me know if anything is not clear or confusing.

So the pictures I am going to post will have the description of what I did and why. Let me know if you have questions.

One year boobie-verssary!

I cannot believe its been a year already! Even though I've gained some weight back and still working on it, and the scars are not perfect yet, IT HAS BEEN THE BEST DECISION I HAVE EVEN MADE! Here are a few pictures, 1 year post op.

Finally back and ready to talk

Hi guys,

Three months ago I said that I will soon post a review about 6 month post-op and I have to apologize because I failed. I have quite a few things happening in my life and literally no free time. But now, finally, being already almost 10 months post op, I am ready to share my struggles with you.

Okay so the first thing is weight. I am at 170 lbp now, while I was 155 at the day of the surgery. This means that I gained roughly 11-12 pounds (since my implants are 3-4 pounds). This has happened because: 1. I could not exercise as hard after the surgery; 2. i've let myself go a little after the surgery since I had good looking boobs and did not have to care about my body any more. This is bad/and good. Good because I gave myself a break and relaxed a little bit. Also good because since my SO was so excited with the new boobies, he started loving my whole body because of that even more. Bad. because I let myself go, I was not paying attention to myself and m body for 6 months. Finally, I am back on track and I realized that I worked so hard to get this done, that I need to maintain myself - it is not worth it. I honestly now find some food not so delicious like i did before ( this is weird, but when I eat something bad, it is not as tasty any more - making me feel like eating it is not worth it). If you are struggling too, reach out to me and I will try to help. But now, I have started running 5-8 miles a day and exercising, so I am getting myself back to being healthy and fit. You can judge by the pictures I am uploading with this review.

Second, scars. I have done three laser scar treatments and I keep using silicone strips on my scars almost all the time. They are called Mepitac - cheaper and equally effective version of Scar-away. The redness on the scars is almost gone. I do still have signs more visible on the scars that are left from my skin dehiscences. All of the "pimples" are gone. Even the one that was oozing for about 3 months. I will attach all the pictures with the descriptions. Scars are doing well and, hopefully, will be gone soon.

Three, I have encountered a new problem in the last two months. So around 3-4 months ago, I have noticed that when I was lying straight on my back, my left implant would move "into my armpit" - very much to the side of my body, causing all kinds of weird in a bad way feelings. Dr. Hedden has suggested using a thong bra, which is around $105. I have found a cheaper version on Amazon and was wearing a Posture corrector bra. You can send me a message if you need some references for it.
After about a month or two, the feeling decreased and it was not as bad any more, so that was good. But something else happened. I have noticed that my implants are too low ( i could feel like they are dropping too much, my nipple was still looking upward, but the implant itself was going lower and lower. I have asked Dr. Hedden and he told me to use shoe laces on my breasts 24/7 without taking them off ever, not even in the shower. I did. And it hurt. Especially my neck (due to the weight of the implants). And it hurt even more in the gym since the laces were rubbing on my collar bones, underneath my breasts, and the neck again. SO, I tried tying down the laces in different ways and finally came up with the best option: two shoe laces on the neck and boobs, two bra extension strips on the back. Again, I am attaching pictures with explanations for everything. I have been wearing them for 7 weeks now and I see tremendous results. I have had them on all the time, maybe 10 minutes off maximum during all 7 weeks. So now when I am sleeping, I have shoe laces on, a regular soft wireless bra for support, and a posture corrector bra for the side breast. Its insane. But it works. I have one more week for the shoe laces, but I think I will keep wearing them at home. I will be taking them off only if I go somewhere, because they always show.

Fourth, my nipples are not shrinking when it is colder like they used to, so it looks like they are too big for me (look bigger than before the surgery). I am thinking of fixing it, but considering just postponing all of this to see how my scars are doing (if they are visible or not) and maybe doing another surgery after I am done giving birth to children.

So that is what I have been dealing with. I am going to keep working out to lose all the excess weight, and going to keep wearing shoe laces and see what happens.

Please let me know if you have any questions and I will be happy to answer all of them!!

Provider Review

Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
140 Village St., Birmingham, Alabama
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Dr. Hedden is wonderful! The best thing about him is that he is straightforward and will give you the reality and will explain to you what results you can expect. I really liked everything about his practice. Once, I had to wait for about 30 min, but that was it.