As tight muscles relax and acclimate to your new implants, you can expect your implants to "drop" to a lower, more natural-looking position on your chest, as well as "fluff," or fill out the lower area of your breasts.
You may notice that your breasts look and feel softer during the healing time and during the drop and fluff period. Some women may also experience some temporary breast asymmetry during the drop and fluff period. This is normal and will usually even out as your breast implants settle.
As a result, the implants settle into a lower, more aesthetically pleasing position on the chest. They appear softer and rounder, and they look larger and closer together. Hence, “drop” (settle lower) and “fluff” (round out and look fuller).
Most swelling will subside after two weeks and over the following weeks the implants should fall gradually and fill the lower breast. You should expect your breasts to be in their final position at three months. The type and size of the implant can affect the drop and fluff timeline.
In what is known as the “drop and fluff” process, the chest muscles gradually relax, allowing your implant to drop lower on the chest and fluff out beneath the muscle, filling out the lower portion of the breast for a fuller appearance and more natural breast shape.
Be sure that you apply pressure to all sides of the implant. Supporting your breast with one hand, use the other hand to make small, circular movements around the entire breast. You should work in a clockwise motion starting at the top pole. This will keep the implant loose and soft.
Can anything speed up the drop and fluff process? Yes and no. You can help to ensure that your implants drop and fluff optimally by taking good care of yourself after surgery and adhering to your recovery protocol; however, you can't do anything to rush the process.
The second phase of breast augmentation recovery is this slow stretching of the tissue and muscle that is called breast enlargement dropping or breast augmentation settling. This second phase does take time as described above but usually there is no real pain with this phase!
After surgery, the implants tend to ride hide and appear small due to the patient's skin tightness in the area. There is tightness because the implants increase dimension to breast tissue causing the skin to compress the implant's shape and size.
A lack of implant drop and fluff, such as the lower breast seeming empty, could indicate that pocket has hardened and started to contract around the implant, which not only affects the appearance of your breasts but may also cause breast pain.
While there is little you can do to make your implants drop and fluff faster, following your plastic surgeon's recovery guidelines will help to optimize your body's natural healing process and minimize the risk of complications.
If you massage your breasts too soon after your surgery, the incisions could reopen and an infection could develop. If your breasts begin to feel hard, or if the tissue around them starts to feel tight, consult with your surgeon right away.
Your breasts may also look smaller than you were hoping for. At first, the muscle and breast tissues are tight, compressing your implant. In time, these tissues will relax and loosen, and the breast implant drop will occur and develop into a more natural-looking position. Your breast size may also increase slightly.
One of the most common questions we get from patients is when breast implants start to look/feel normal and when the natural drop of the breasts occurs after breast implant surgery. Breast implants generally take six weeks to three months to adjust and look natural.
You can try wearing a "Breast Band" or ACE bandage positioned so as to push the implant down, although is is not likely to be a remedy for a truly mal-positioned implant.
Hematoma: Exercising before you have healed enough can cause a tear in your breast tissues, which may lead to a pocket of blood called a hematoma.
The best ways to delay sagging and maintain your breast augmentation results for as long as possible include avoiding weight fluctuation, minimizing sun exposure, and waiting until you are done having children and breastfeeding before getting implants.
As far as wearing the bra to bed at night, that is optional. If the patient has undergone a reshaping of an existing scar tissue pocket at the time of the breast surgery, however, we advise that the bra be worn for six weeks at night while sleeping.
Talk to your surgeon
Your surgeon has a duty of care to help you with any issues you may be having with your implants. Talk through your options with them and if there is anything you can be doing yourself to help ease any discomfort. If you are unhappy with the sizing or the shape of the implants, tell your surgeon.
The fluffing stage usually lasts between 6-8 weeks, and once your buttock has fluffed, it will look and feel natural.
The term “BBL fluffing” refers to the booty getting nice and soft. The skin relaxes outward so you see more projection and the booty starts to really look nice and round. Some patients have really nice soft results at this time while others continue to fluff for the next 3 months.
Your First Week after Augmentation
They will feel very firm, and your nipples will likely appear very low and point downwards. You will see very little side or bottom rounding of the breasts, often looking square, with little outward projection and minimal bottom fullness. Have no fear!
There are varying degrees of ptosis. Some women experience only a slight amount of sagging while others have more extreme cases. Placing breast implants in saggy breasts can actually contribute to more sagging, with the extra weight of the implants pulling the skin further down.
How tight should my bra be after breast augmentation? The ideal fit for a post-surgery bra should be snug but not tight. The best indicator that your bra fits correctly is that it's comfortable, and although you might feel some pressure, this isn't excessive or painful.