Maintaining Your New Look – Caring for Your Breast Implants
What do I need to know about taking care of my breast implants? Patients ask us this all the time, as all want to keep their breast implants looking their best. While breast implants are pretty low maintenance, there are a few things you can do to keep them looking great. Start taking care of your implants during recovery and continue indefinitely for gorgeous breasts you’ll love for years.
Take Time to Recover
If you’re preparing for breast augmentation, there’s one simple thing you can do now to aid in your recovery… clear your schedule. It’s tempting to rush back to work and your regular activities as soon as possible after surgery, but giving yourself adequate time to heal is really important. It’s just a few days, but it can make a huge difference in how quickly the chest muscles relax after your procedure. The sooner they relax, the sooner you’ll see your final result.
As you recover, be sure to follow your surgeon’s post-operative instructions carefully. Some important things to remember during recovery include:
- Keep Your Incisions Taped – This will optimize the long-term appearance of your scars.
- Wear Your Coobie Bra– You’ll be given a soft Coobie bra to wear after surgery. This soft, yet supportive bra should be worn every day for the first few weeks.
- Avoid Heavy Lifting– Avoid heavy lifting and upper body exercise for 4-6 weeks.
- Take Time to Heal– Most women take 3-7 days off from work. Use this time to rest and recover.
- Breast Massage – At your first follow-up appointment, we’ll show you how to massage your breast implants. This will help relax the chest muscles and soften the tissues after surgery. We usually recommend breast massage for three months after surgery.
- Keep Your Follow-Up Appointments- You’ll meet with us several times after breast augmentation, so we can assess your progress. Bring a list of questions if you have any.
Support the Girls, but Skip the Underwires
Don’t wear an underwire bra until several months after surgery. The stiff wires can irritate incisions under the breast (and we commonly use the inframammary incision due to its low incidence of capsular contracture and the ease of precisely placing the implant) and/or can cause discomfort on the sides of the breasts. Skip the underwire until you have the go ahead from your surgeon.
Long Term Care of Your Breasts
Breasts are at risk for breast cancer, with or without breast implants. You should still perform regular breast self-exams after breast augmentation. At first your breasts will feel different, but over time you’ll learn what their new “baseline” is. It can take some time for your implants to settle, so don’t be surprised if you notice changes in the look and feel of your breasts in the months after surgery. Yearly checks by your surgeon are also important. And don’t forget your mammograms. Be sure to tell the technologist that you have breast implants and several additional views will be taken.
Enjoy your new breasts!
