Treatment Provider
Reviews you can trust, from real people like you.
How it works
- Our highly-trained Review Moderation team evaluates all reviews before they're published to ensure they're written by people like you and not a member of a doctor's office.
- This multi-step process takes up to 24 hours from review submission to publication.
- Doctors can't pay to have reviews removed or hidden.
- Reviews are only removed at the reviewer's request or if they violate our Terms of Service.
If you have questions or believe we should re-evaluate a published review, let us know.
Sort by:
*Treatment results may vary
4 weeks + post op
Wow, I knew I've been neglecting this review, but I didn't realise just how much time passed since my last update. Maybe it's because this site with all its wonderful people and wealth of information has been on my mind constantly, I just didn't realise I hadn't updated.
Aaaaanyway, better get on with it!
So, 4 weeks and 2 days post op now, let me first say, I do not regret having the surgery. But that doesn't mean I'm 100% happy. I think there were things I didn't fully understand, despite all the research. For example, the infamous "pocket size" issue - the pockets on which each of my breasts sit are just big. % wise, out of my torso, they take a lot of space. In order for me to have the flat chest I so desired, the surgeon would need to cut away too much, and there would be no option for a pedicle. No pedicle - no working nipple!
I made the conscious decision, a while back, to keep my nipples even at the cost of bigger boobs than I'd like. I think I just have to get used to them.
Some days I'm so happy, but some days they seem massive to me. I always know they're smaller than they were, but smaller doesn't equal small. The thing is, I'm starting to realise that there's a strong possibility that my body's baseline figure just doesn't allow for smaller breasts, not without serious consequences, such as losing the nipple. I'm curvy, and I really wish I wasn't. It isn't something weight loss would "fix", either, it's just my build.
Right, less moping and more being informative:
My recovery continued to be fast for the second week, I stopped needing naps every time I walked to the loo! Pain subsided too, and I more or less stopped taking paracetamol by day 10, except sometimes at night.
My incisions were covered with that awful brown tape until two days ago, and I had to replace it every 3-5 days. I opted for every 5, because the damn thing wouldn't peel off (despite having daily showers) even at the edges. First time I tried doing it, I gave up and just burst into tears. My partner, bless his socks, had to help. Eventually he did all the tape swaps! I just couldn't bring myself to do it, it hurt too much where it pulled off scabs with it and whatnot. Eeek.
Week 3 is where I hit my first real post op blues. Recovery slowed right down. The novelty of being able to make my own cup of tea wore off and I didn't feel like I was getting any better. Simple things still exhausted me, I couldn't even sit in a computer chair and work for more than an hour at a time - I started getting these painful pulling sensations at the incisions. Luckily, I could have the surgery in a period in my life that is flexible and relaxed. Still though, I had one project come through (I'm a student and I freelance in graphic design) that I couldn't refuse, and I had to do it bit by bit.
Now, remember how I mentioned I wasn't napping anymore? Well, that's still true, however at this point in my recovery, I started sleeping 12-14 hours every night. It messed up my sleep cycle completely, and just made me moodier.
Week 4 - that's the week that just ended, and it's similar to week 3, especially in terms of levels of frustration. But a big difference is that now I really am getting better. I'm doing more things every day. My "standing up" period is more like two hours now, and then I need to sit down for a bit, but I'm fine again relatively quickly.
I had my second post op appointment two days ago, as I said, where they removed the tape and cleaned me up a little - turns out I was supposed to replace the tapes BEFORE showering, and not after. Yes, I feel very stupid. I ended up with a ton of glue, so they cleaned that up some and took post op pictures. I thought they'd do that only at 6 weeks, but the nurse and my surgeon were both super happy with how well I'm healing.
They said I can stop applying the tape (YAY) and move on to silicon strips. There's a variety that comes in roll-on stick form, and it dissolves in the shower, so I'll just have to apply it once a day, but it sounds easy and painless. I've ordered it online, as the nurse instructed me to take a couple of days off from applying stuff to my scars.
I still have to sleep in my post-op bra, and during the day it's advisable that I wear some kind of support bra, or the post-op one if I'm comfy with it. Funny, I thought I was, but then the prospect of getting out of it just got stuck in my mind hehe :)
I bought some cute soft bras from La Senza (apparently they're called 'bralettes', something nobody over a C cup would ever need to know). They cost me £5. £5!! That's like.....1/6th of what bras cost me previously. Speechless.
Later today I'm going to test my endurance a little, and go shopping. University starts up really soon, and half my tops don't fit me anymore :D I'm going to go into a regular store, like H&M, and try on a dress off the rack. Just like that! I'd love to add "and it'll fit" but I have no idea what my real dress size is. You wouldn't think that lumping off parts of your breasts would make such a difference, but it really does. Tops that were tight all over previously are now loose. It's fun :P
Alright, seems I wrote way too much again....if you made it this far, well done you! I hope everyone who is recovering is doing well, and if you're one of the pre-op gals - hang in there. It'll be worth it :)
Aaaaanyway, better get on with it!
So, 4 weeks and 2 days post op now, let me first say, I do not regret having the surgery. But that doesn't mean I'm 100% happy. I think there were things I didn't fully understand, despite all the research. For example, the infamous "pocket size" issue - the pockets on which each of my breasts sit are just big. % wise, out of my torso, they take a lot of space. In order for me to have the flat chest I so desired, the surgeon would need to cut away too much, and there would be no option for a pedicle. No pedicle - no working nipple!
I made the conscious decision, a while back, to keep my nipples even at the cost of bigger boobs than I'd like. I think I just have to get used to them.
Some days I'm so happy, but some days they seem massive to me. I always know they're smaller than they were, but smaller doesn't equal small. The thing is, I'm starting to realise that there's a strong possibility that my body's baseline figure just doesn't allow for smaller breasts, not without serious consequences, such as losing the nipple. I'm curvy, and I really wish I wasn't. It isn't something weight loss would "fix", either, it's just my build.
Right, less moping and more being informative:
My recovery continued to be fast for the second week, I stopped needing naps every time I walked to the loo! Pain subsided too, and I more or less stopped taking paracetamol by day 10, except sometimes at night.
My incisions were covered with that awful brown tape until two days ago, and I had to replace it every 3-5 days. I opted for every 5, because the damn thing wouldn't peel off (despite having daily showers) even at the edges. First time I tried doing it, I gave up and just burst into tears. My partner, bless his socks, had to help. Eventually he did all the tape swaps! I just couldn't bring myself to do it, it hurt too much where it pulled off scabs with it and whatnot. Eeek.
Week 3 is where I hit my first real post op blues. Recovery slowed right down. The novelty of being able to make my own cup of tea wore off and I didn't feel like I was getting any better. Simple things still exhausted me, I couldn't even sit in a computer chair and work for more than an hour at a time - I started getting these painful pulling sensations at the incisions. Luckily, I could have the surgery in a period in my life that is flexible and relaxed. Still though, I had one project come through (I'm a student and I freelance in graphic design) that I couldn't refuse, and I had to do it bit by bit.
Now, remember how I mentioned I wasn't napping anymore? Well, that's still true, however at this point in my recovery, I started sleeping 12-14 hours every night. It messed up my sleep cycle completely, and just made me moodier.
Week 4 - that's the week that just ended, and it's similar to week 3, especially in terms of levels of frustration. But a big difference is that now I really am getting better. I'm doing more things every day. My "standing up" period is more like two hours now, and then I need to sit down for a bit, but I'm fine again relatively quickly.
I had my second post op appointment two days ago, as I said, where they removed the tape and cleaned me up a little - turns out I was supposed to replace the tapes BEFORE showering, and not after. Yes, I feel very stupid. I ended up with a ton of glue, so they cleaned that up some and took post op pictures. I thought they'd do that only at 6 weeks, but the nurse and my surgeon were both super happy with how well I'm healing.
They said I can stop applying the tape (YAY) and move on to silicon strips. There's a variety that comes in roll-on stick form, and it dissolves in the shower, so I'll just have to apply it once a day, but it sounds easy and painless. I've ordered it online, as the nurse instructed me to take a couple of days off from applying stuff to my scars.
I still have to sleep in my post-op bra, and during the day it's advisable that I wear some kind of support bra, or the post-op one if I'm comfy with it. Funny, I thought I was, but then the prospect of getting out of it just got stuck in my mind hehe :)
I bought some cute soft bras from La Senza (apparently they're called 'bralettes', something nobody over a C cup would ever need to know). They cost me £5. £5!! That's like.....1/6th of what bras cost me previously. Speechless.
Later today I'm going to test my endurance a little, and go shopping. University starts up really soon, and half my tops don't fit me anymore :D I'm going to go into a regular store, like H&M, and try on a dress off the rack. Just like that! I'd love to add "and it'll fit" but I have no idea what my real dress size is. You wouldn't think that lumping off parts of your breasts would make such a difference, but it really does. Tops that were tight all over previously are now loose. It's fun :P
Alright, seems I wrote way too much again....if you made it this far, well done you! I hope everyone who is recovering is doing well, and if you're one of the pre-op gals - hang in there. It'll be worth it :)
Blind date with my boobies
The strangest thing, let me tell you :D
I haven't seen them without the brown tape before, and only once without the surgical bra , the day after surgery when I was really out of it. So! this was pretty exciting. I have to say, my first reaction was not good. The nurse had me lie on the table and started taking the tape off and OH MY GOD, that sucked. I mean, it's not just that it hurt (the pain was more like sharp needle pricks occasionally, not full on pain), it was watching her do it. I should have looked away, lol. When she took the square of tape around my nipple off I thought the nipple was going to come off with it >< I'm not squimish normally, but that made me feel really ill.
The stitches are all dissolvable, and internal, so there were a few spots where the top of the skin looks like it's burst - but the nurse assured me that everything looks normal and GOOD. Some weeping from the incision under left arm, but again the nurse said it's nothing to worry about, and nothing looks infected.
It's all good news, but I got really upset and freaked out. I wasn't expecting to see gaping skin flaps (okay that made it sound much worse than it was), and for some reason I thought I was special and I won't have weeping or any kind of ooze :P Of course there was SOME, as is normal, but I reacted pretty badly at first. I put on a brave face during the examination, but on the way home and for the rest of the day, I just felt horrible.
On the way home I asked my partner to stop at our local Bravissimo shop, I wanted to take my mum there for a fitting and it never works out (she lives abroad). She wasn't "blessed" with giant boobs like mine, but as we all here know, anything over a C really does require you to have proper fitting bras! I didn't feel up for it as much as I just really wanted to get something done. Spending a week resting is so much harder than I thought it would be.
Anyway, we went to the store, found her two perfectly fitting bras, I got to enjoy not having to buy anything there (indeed, not even having the option, since they do D+ only). It took about an hour, and then we had another hour to drive home. All in all, it was 2 hours to hospital, an hour to the store, an hour home - 4 hours in the car + 1 hour in the store.
Words cannot begin to describe how shattered I was by the time we got to the car for the ride home. I was completely exhausted. I slept on the way back (if anyone in the UK noticed a car carrying a pillow fort in the passenger seat, that was me!), got home and collapsed on the sofa and slept some more. It was like a day after surgery - I was in pain and I was more tired than I ever remember being before. NUTS! The thing that threw me the most was how little I'd done to get to that state of exhaustion.
Today, after sleeping loads yesterday and recharging, I went to have my first shower. Never been scared of water before :D But it all went well. I'm going to need some help drying my back and stuff like that, probably for another week. It is so nice to be CLEAN.
After the shower I thought, I have to replace the horrible mental image I have of my boobs with something else. It was a really good idea. With the brown tape back on (I'm supposed to keep it on and apply new bits if any peel off for 5 weeks), and standing up rather than lying down, my boobs look so much better.
I looked really closely at all the incisions and saw there was no weeping or anything weird going on, and I feel better. The nurse laughed at me (kindly) yesterday, she said I look like I'm worried they'll fall off and she was right. I did feel like if I breath wrong, the stitches will burst and the pedicle will drop out and all kinds of gory nightmare stuff. But today I saw that this is nonsense, and I'm fine, and the boobs are fine and we're all very happy :)
Very rambly and long - sorry! I hope someone will find something useful in here. And now, pictures!!
I haven't seen them without the brown tape before, and only once without the surgical bra , the day after surgery when I was really out of it. So! this was pretty exciting. I have to say, my first reaction was not good. The nurse had me lie on the table and started taking the tape off and OH MY GOD, that sucked. I mean, it's not just that it hurt (the pain was more like sharp needle pricks occasionally, not full on pain), it was watching her do it. I should have looked away, lol. When she took the square of tape around my nipple off I thought the nipple was going to come off with it >< I'm not squimish normally, but that made me feel really ill.
The stitches are all dissolvable, and internal, so there were a few spots where the top of the skin looks like it's burst - but the nurse assured me that everything looks normal and GOOD. Some weeping from the incision under left arm, but again the nurse said it's nothing to worry about, and nothing looks infected.
It's all good news, but I got really upset and freaked out. I wasn't expecting to see gaping skin flaps (okay that made it sound much worse than it was), and for some reason I thought I was special and I won't have weeping or any kind of ooze :P Of course there was SOME, as is normal, but I reacted pretty badly at first. I put on a brave face during the examination, but on the way home and for the rest of the day, I just felt horrible.
On the way home I asked my partner to stop at our local Bravissimo shop, I wanted to take my mum there for a fitting and it never works out (she lives abroad). She wasn't "blessed" with giant boobs like mine, but as we all here know, anything over a C really does require you to have proper fitting bras! I didn't feel up for it as much as I just really wanted to get something done. Spending a week resting is so much harder than I thought it would be.
Anyway, we went to the store, found her two perfectly fitting bras, I got to enjoy not having to buy anything there (indeed, not even having the option, since they do D+ only). It took about an hour, and then we had another hour to drive home. All in all, it was 2 hours to hospital, an hour to the store, an hour home - 4 hours in the car + 1 hour in the store.
Words cannot begin to describe how shattered I was by the time we got to the car for the ride home. I was completely exhausted. I slept on the way back (if anyone in the UK noticed a car carrying a pillow fort in the passenger seat, that was me!), got home and collapsed on the sofa and slept some more. It was like a day after surgery - I was in pain and I was more tired than I ever remember being before. NUTS! The thing that threw me the most was how little I'd done to get to that state of exhaustion.
Today, after sleeping loads yesterday and recharging, I went to have my first shower. Never been scared of water before :D But it all went well. I'm going to need some help drying my back and stuff like that, probably for another week. It is so nice to be CLEAN.
After the shower I thought, I have to replace the horrible mental image I have of my boobs with something else. It was a really good idea. With the brown tape back on (I'm supposed to keep it on and apply new bits if any peel off for 5 weeks), and standing up rather than lying down, my boobs look so much better.
I looked really closely at all the incisions and saw there was no weeping or anything weird going on, and I feel better. The nurse laughed at me (kindly) yesterday, she said I look like I'm worried they'll fall off and she was right. I did feel like if I breath wrong, the stitches will burst and the pedicle will drop out and all kinds of gory nightmare stuff. But today I saw that this is nonsense, and I'm fine, and the boobs are fine and we're all very happy :)
Very rambly and long - sorry! I hope someone will find something useful in here. And now, pictures!!
Zingers?
Sorry I haven't updated in a few days, there wasn't anything interesting to say. I've just been resting. Still very tired, but I'm spending more time sitting up than I am lying down so that's good! I really don't know how some girls walk around post op lol, I'm a total weakling. Sat down at the table for dinner yesterday, and then immediately needed a nap. And when I say needed a nap, I don't mean I felt tired, I mean I fell asleep as if exhausted. It's really strange for me, normally I don't nap at all.
Anyway, yesterday I lasted the whole day without naps, and my range of movement was so much better, but pain was worse. Different kind of pain now - kind of a burning tingling sensation - could be zingers? It feels a lot like my boobs were asleep and have now woken up with pins and needles.
The swelling went way down, too, which is oddly making things worse, I think. Because the bra they put me in no longer holds as tightly, so walking causes things to jiggle, which hurts like....>
Anyway, yesterday I lasted the whole day without naps, and my range of movement was so much better, but pain was worse. Different kind of pain now - kind of a burning tingling sensation - could be zingers? It feels a lot like my boobs were asleep and have now woken up with pins and needles.
The swelling went way down, too, which is oddly making things worse, I think. Because the bra they put me in no longer holds as tightly, so walking causes things to jiggle, which hurts like....>
Provider Review
Specialist Registered Plastic Surgeon
98 Harley St,, W1G 7HZ,
Of all the surgeons I met (4 in total), I cannot recommend Mr Richards enough. Of course, only time will tell if I'm happy with my surgery, but I'm optimistic. He was the only one who didn't make a fuss about my breasts and didn't try to over-dramatise the situation. He was professional but very friendly (as was a very staff member I came across), listened to my questions and was open to actually hearing what I want. [*] I am now 8 days post op and am extremely happy with my decision and my choice of surgeon.