Don't apply lotions, oils, or creams to the incisions until after they are fully healed. Don't raise your arms above breast level for 10 days.
Generally, lifting your arms (without carrying anything) is okay after a week or two as long as it is not done repeatedly or too quickly. With any type of weight, you will likely need to wait at least four to eight weeks.
With fresh implants, you should limit lifting your arms. Dr Turner will advise you to keep your arms below the shoulder for about 2 weeks. This allows the capsule to form around the implant to secure it in place. Lifting your arms above shoulder level can cause the implant to move out of the pocket.
Why can't I lift my arms after breast augmentation? Dr Doyle advises his patients to avoid lifting their arms above their head immediately after the surgery. It helps heal incisions faster and stops stretching of the internal structures. You can lift your arms above the head 4 weeks after the surgery.
The incisions from your breast lift surgery should heal one month after the procedure. Scarring will be minimal at this time of recovery and you will notice that your breasts are getting firmer and fuller.
Even after the swelling subsides, the breasts continue to settle into their final shape for up to a year after surgery. If a patient also has implants placed during the breast lift, they may appear too high on the chest shortly after surgery, but will drop into a normal position over time.
Breast Lift Scars Healed
Over time the scars will go from being an obvious purple or red color to being thin white lines that are significantly less prominent. However, it can take months up to a year for scars to lighten and fade significantly.
Don't raise your arms above breast level for 10 days. And don't lift, push, or pull anything heavier than 10 pounds for at least 7 days.
Breast fat necrosis typically feels like a round, firm lump to the touch. Some women experience tenderness, bruising, or dimpling in the area where the breast fat necrosis appears. Sometimes it can pull in the nipple.
Breast Lift Don'ts
Prop yourself up on pillows or sleep in a recliner. Don't lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk (including your children), as you could strain your healing breasts and cause swelling. Along the same lines, don't push anything heavy, like a stroller or a large grocery cart.
Wear a compression garment or sports bra
Wearing a compression bra or sports bra following your surgery can help accelerate the healing process. These garments help to minimize swelling, improve blood flow in the area, provide support and comfort to the surgical site, and help to flush harmful fluids from the body.
The report found that following a breast lift, women reported they were wearing a smaller bra, with an average decrease of one bra cup size. But this is where the study got interesting. It found that the difference reflects the changing profile of the breast rather than a true reduction in breast size.
Typically, a breast lift (medically referred to as mastopexy) reduces bra size by one cup. However, this is usually not the result of volume loss. When excess skin and sagging breast tissue are removed or repositioned, cup sizes are naturally reduced.
If your breast was reconstructed using a flap of tissue from another part of your body, in rare cases some of the fat in the flap may not receive enough blood flow. That fat may be replaced by firm scar tissue that feels like a hard lump, called fat necrosis.
Your breast lift incisions should begin to close and heal within the first 1 – 2 weeks after surgery, during which time it is important to keep the area clean and not submerge the incisions. Once they have fully closed, the scar should begin to fade from red to pink and ultimately to flesh or white tone.
A breast lift alone won't change the size of your breasts. But the procedure is often combined with other surgeries to make them larger or smaller. If you want to increase breast size, consider breast augmentation (implants).
These infections cause infected skin and tissues to die (necrosis). The infected skin is red, warm to the touch, swollen, and gas bubbles may form under the skin. The person usually has intense pain, feels very ill, and has a high fever. The diagnosis is based on a doctor's evaluation, x-rays, and laboratory tests.
As a result of these factors, many women notice changes in how the nipple feels after the surgery. The nipple may have reduced sensation or may even feel completely numb. Some women may also experience tingling of the nipple, or feel “zingers” (quick, sharp sensations) from time to time.
The three phases to healing are the inflammatory stage, the proliferative stage and the remodelling stage. The inflammatory stage begins immediately and lasts a few days. During this time, the bleeding stops and white blood cells come to the site and fight any infection.
How soon can I work out after a breast lift surgery? You can return to your exercise routine six to eight weeks after the surgery. You can begin light walking a few days after the surgery.
Massaging your scars is important. It keeps the tissue around the incision loose so it doesn't “stick” to the tissue underneath. Wait until after your skin has healed before you start massaging your scar. Your skin will be healed when the edges of the scar are well closed with no gaps, and have no drainage.
You can begin using the various solutions weeks after your sutures have come out, but you can begin as late as six months after the procedure. Delaying will reduce their effectiveness, however.
Obvious breast lift surgery scars may be treated by corticosteroid injection, by bleaching medications, by camouflage tattoo, by laser or intense pulsed light, or by surgical revision, depending on what features are causing scar visibility.
Even after the swelling subsides, the breasts continue to settle into their final shape for up to a year after surgery. If a patient also has implants placed during the breast lift, they may appear too high on the chest shortly after surgery, but will drop into a normal position over time.
Then the patient heals....and sometimes the healing forces of the skin and breast tissue alter the size or shape of the nipple/areola. Since this asymmetry is bothersome to you, I would return to your plastic surgeon to see if a small revision could be performed.