Breast surgery in my practice varies greatly
from augmentations, to reductions, to lifts and reconstructions, as well as a
combination of all of these. All of my
surgery patients are seen at least twice in consultation before surgery, to
insure that they fully understand everything that will be taking place
preoperatively, operatively and postoperatively, and to insure compliance with
instructions. My philosophy is that a patient who has a global
understanding of what is taking place, is one who will be more compliant and is
more apt to heal without complications.
I recommend not wearing an underwire bra after surgery. I am not a big fan of underwire bras
following breast surgery for the first 6 months. Whatever the breast
surgery, the inframammary fold is affected, and
there are incisions that may be at the bottom of the breast, which can be
irritated by the wire and delay healing.
Even
though I have instructed patients not to
wear an underwire bra immediately after surgery, some patients have ignored
this and then complain of the wire hurting their breasts, unlike before the
surgery. I suspect that this is because there is inflammation in this
area which then causes discomfort due to
the wire.
Thus, I advise all of my breast patients to wear either jogging/athletic bras
or support bras which do not have wires. Stay comfortable, follow instructions
and do no harm to your recovering breasts.