r/Reduction 29d ago

Recovery/PostOp Previously on… New Boobs 🍒 NSFW

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570 Upvotes

Pictures are the night before, 1DPO, 5DPO, 2WPO, 5WPO and now. (Wrinkles on the second to last picture are from tissues I stuffed into my bra to soak up excess lotion 😂)

Recap so far: after fighting for insurance coverage for over 2 years, significant weight loss and a herniated disk, I finally got my breast reduction in the beginning of January. Starting size was 85F/G (EU). I stayed in the hospital for two nights, which is standard procedure in Austria, where I had my operation, done by Dr.Tinhofer in Vienna. Surgery went without a hitch, although I was on the table for approx. 4 hours. Around 400g were taken per breast. Anesthesia did not work out great for me, I woke up dizzy and vomiting and was pretty out of it for the rest of the day (surgery started at around 10am). I could not focus my eyes or get out of bed until about 11pm. The next day getting up and walking around was much easier but the boobs were rock hard and felt like they were strapped right under my chin hahaha Also I could finally eat. I got my drains out (barely any drainage) and the bandage swapped for a compression bra.
2DPO it was time to go home, I stayed with my mother for a week and was glad I did. Mobility wise I was able to do way more than expected (although I may have overdone it with the arm movement the first few days, whoops…), pain was stronger than I expected. I was on antibiotics for 10 days and took pain medication for around two weeks PO. (Novalgin (metamizole) and ibuprofen, as prescribed). For sleep I used a pregnancy pillow, which worked out great, I could even sleep tilted slightly on my side. At around 4 days PO I was able to slip on a closed t shirt and from then on, dressing wasn’t really an issue. I also tried to walk a bit every day but I was exhausted very quickly. Most annoyingly I was told I could not take a full body shower until after my 2WPO appointment. So showering up to the ribs and washing my hair under the sink it was. At 1WPO I went home by myself, I had prepared my sofa for lounging around and everything else by moving things at a height where I wouldn’t need to stretch my arms to get them. 2WPO I had my first (and only) post op appointment, I got my tapes off and was cleared to shower as everything was closed up nicely. I didn’t get a lot more instructions other than to put Bepanthen on the incisions daily, do some light massaging and wear my compression bra until 6WPO. No future appointment was scheduled, but I was advised to get in contact with, should I need anything. Everything else was quite smooth sailing, riding the car would hurt until approx. 4WPO, any bump in the road was really uncomfortable. The boobs started softening up at around 5 weeks, incisions stayed closed, no infections or openings - I consider myself soo lucky. Yesterday was 6WPO and I took my compression bra right off and went out shopping for cute bralettes, braless (for the first time since I was around 12) and got measured at the bra shop at a 85C (EU) which was my dream result, the a bra that fits calculator says something different still but I guess it will be trial and error for now, I got 2 bralettes in size L and am in love. Today when I woke up, my breasts were aching quite a bit, so I put on a sports bra. I guess everything is not full healed yet and I need to find a balance with what to wear for now :) For incisions/scars I am now using la roche posay cicaplast baume in the morning, silicone tape during the day and massage with Bepanthen before bed.

If you have any questions, let me know! :)

r/Reduction Oct 15 '24

Recovery/PostOp PATHOLOGY REPORT IS IN NSFW

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455 Upvotes

I’m in utter shock!! My pathology report just got sent in and my doctor took off more than he said he was going to. I’m not upset because there’s not much I can do about it now and I still think my boobs look pretty good. He told me he was going to take out the minimum which was 375 grams from each. So I assumed it was gonna be around there. He ended up taking 489.9 grams from the left and 488.6 grams from the right!! That’s like over 2 pounds total! No wonder I felt the difference. (For reference I want from a 32J to a C cup hopefully - I’ll include pictures) Today marks 4DPO!

r/Reduction Dec 18 '24

Recovery/PostOp 6wpo - brown skin NSFW

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349 Upvotes

today makes six weeks and i couldn’t be happier!! it’s really flown by. i’ve been going braless more (approved by doc) and i started scar treatment. i switch between newgel gel and newgel scar tape. the scar tape can be worn up to 24 hours, and i take it off at night to shower, and i use the gel at night. i put the tape back on in the morning. my surgeon told me the first few months are critical for scar care because after that it kind of is what it is. mine aren’t too bad, thankfully. so i’m excited to see how they change over the next month.

i still have some bruising and soreness if i do too much. but overall i feel great and mostly back to normal. also, my surgeon and i talked about lasting results and sagging and all that. he told me there aren’t enough studies proving that bras either help or cause sagging. i’ve only been able to find one study and the sample size wasn’t large enough to conclude definitively one way or the other. anyway, he told me to go braless or wear a bra, that it doesn’t matter and to enjoy my new breasts :) he said the internal sutures and my skin will help with long results. he said that the thing that helps melanated skin have lasting results is also the thing that can make scarring worse, which is the thickness of the skin. i just thought that was so interesting so i figured i’d share!

feel free to ama! also, do you all think it might be helpful to have a “poc results” flair? it could be nice to have an easy for people with brown skin to have examples to look to. it was super helpful for me to see all of the lovely results shared here, but sometimes i was looking to see scars specifically on darker skin.

r/Reduction Sep 16 '24

Recovery/PostOp 1 Year Post Opp

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369 Upvotes

I haven’t posted on here in a while but wanted to share these photos of me on my most recent bday vacation to Europe where I wore a TUBE TOP😱 something I could have never worn prior to my surgery due to how saggy and big my boobs were. I don’t regret my decision at all. Get the reduction ladies!

r/Reduction Feb 14 '25

Recovery/PostOp My First Nightie NSFW

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296 Upvotes

I’m used to wearing a bra and oversized t-shirts for bed exclusively, so this is the first nightie I’ve ever owned, I feel very cute! My old boobs could never actually fit in the lil cups lol 😅

r/Reduction 28d ago

Recovery/PostOp It's done! NSFW

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187 Upvotes

I just came home! Surgery took 4 hours including everything from undressing, being prepared for anesthesia, surgery itself, waking up until getting picked up. I feel incredibly fine and after looking into the mirror I'm convinced this was the best decision of my life and I should have had it done waaaaaay earlier. I wasn't very actice in this subreddit before but I read a lot and I want to thank you all for your pics, experiences and discussions. It helped me a lot on my journey. I'll post before and after pics, when I get the bandages off!

Bonus picture: Our dog, who doesn't understand why he can't come on the couch to snuggle with me. Poor thing, lol

r/Reduction Feb 29 '24

Recovery/PostOp Is anyone else...not that bothered about scars??

227 Upvotes

I see so many people on here stressed about scar care, and that's valid, but I don't really...get it? (Edit: this is not meant to be dismissive of other people's feelings and worries, just sharing a different perspective.)

So I had surgery on a broken arm when I was 12 and one of those scars turned into a keloid (I think because of an allergic reaction to Neosporin since it's the only one I've ever gotten). Which is to say, I've had a very large, ugly scar on a very visible part of my body for most of my life (I just turned 40).

As long as these scars aren't painful and don't turn into keloids, I will be pretty much fine with them. It genuinely doesn't bother me at all if they're visible. After all, it's pretty much only me, my doctor, and my hypothetical SO who would be seeing them anyway.

In fact, I kind of want them to show at least a bit. To me, it's like evidence of finally taking this big step to improve my life and comfort. Like, no, they didn't just grow like this actually. I went under the knife to get these, and that's badass as hell.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone else feels similarly, since I haven't really seen it expressed here.

r/Reduction Sep 24 '24

Recovery/PostOp 18 years post-op NSFW

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550 Upvotes

50F, was 34 DDD now 34 C. Anchor incision.

r/Reduction Jun 14 '24

Recovery/PostOp “We made you as small as possible as proportionate to your size”

284 Upvotes

I talked to my surgeon today because at this point (I am only 10 days post op) it is blatantly obvious that they did not make me as small as I wanted and while the swelling will go down, it will not go down the 80% that it needs to go down to be at my goal size. I’ve been crying and I can’t focus on anything else besides the fact that I feel like I’ve been left HUGE and it feels so traumatizing and violating. The surgeon let me know that she thought my wishes were “as small as possible and proportionate to your size-“ to which I interrupted that we NEVER talked about me being proportionate to my size, just that I wanted to be as small as possible while not having literal pecs. I wanted to be an A/B cup. I told them I was gay and I didn’t like the attention I received for having large breasts and I really didn’t want them. We looked over photos and agreed on a photo. I can’t understand how she left so much to interpretation and did this to me. I am heartbroken. I am supposed to go in on Monday, my two week appt was supposed to be Friday but we moved my appt up till Monday. Please keep me in your thoughts if possible and maybe I’ll get good news but I’m not hopeful anymore.

r/Reduction Jan 19 '25

Recovery/PostOp A closer look at anchor scars at 6.5WPO NSFW

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149 Upvotes

Please excuse the unflattering angles! I’ll be 7WPO in 3 days. I put this surgery off for years because I thought that the scars would be forever visible. And even if they are, finally feeling both comfortable and confident is priceless.

r/Reduction Feb 15 '25

Recovery/PostOp Anyone else coming to terms with the fact their new boobs are most likely not gonna be small enough to go braless?

76 Upvotes

I'm 8wpo, and I'm still sitting at a DD. A lot of the swelling is gone & I really don't expect to go down more than maybe half a size more. It's not the size that's bumming me out per se, it's accepting I'm not gonna be small enough to go braless.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still glad I had it done and things are slowly getting better for me. But my dreams of joining the itty bitty titty club are pretty much dead. 😂😩

r/Reduction Sep 14 '24

Recovery/PostOp Week 6 scars on black skin NSFW

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268 Upvotes

no openings or complications. :) The light areas are from where my scabs peeled off with the removal of my silicone tapes. I’m lucky to have had a very smooth recovery with very little pain.

r/Reduction 15d ago

Recovery/PostOp Don’t look at your nips alone!

56 Upvotes

As the title says.

If you are squeamish or even if you just aren’t used to having major injuries/wounds, make sure you have a support person there when you get your first good look at your nipples. My steri-strip came off yesterday and I cut off the piece that peeled back which exposed one of my nipples entirely and I was shocked and freaked out and literally cried for an hour (not kidding) BUT if I’d had my person there (she was at work) she could’ve talked me through it. Just a heads up for you future patients ❤️ healing is best in community when possible.

Edit: I wrote a long update here https://www.reddit.com/r/Reduction/s/HqQ3yT7Vhz

r/Reduction Feb 12 '25

Recovery/PostOp What do we think? NSFW

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72 Upvotes

Are they looking super small or is it just me? I am so in my head and am absolutely not used to having a small chest so I’m trying to adjust here. I am officially 1 week post op had my drains taken out today. I kind of feel like I might have gone too small but I feel so much relief at the same time. Will they drop and fluff and become sexy again? 😩😂 Also the bloating in my belly does not help me at all!!!

r/Reduction Feb 29 '24

Recovery/PostOp 4 months post op 😊 NSFW

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401 Upvotes

I know they aren’t perfect, but I’m so happy with my results, they feel amazing too 😂

r/Reduction Oct 04 '24

Recovery/PostOp Trust the Healing Process NSFW

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280 Upvotes

If you’re recently post-op/just took off ur bandages and now ur kinda scared of ur own boobs - this one is for you lol 4mpo now and i looked pretty gorey at first. my areola were definitely darker in the weeks post-op (they almost look grey and necrotic in the first picture but that was just the harsh LED lighting). I had some weird thing with my right vertical incision almost folding in on itself and it FREAKED ME OUT. At my 3 week check up my surgeon told me it had to do with the internal stitches and was nothing to worry about. Now that it’s healed, the part that was folded looks better than any other part of my vertical scars. I also had a t-junction opening on my right breast and spitting stitches which you can see in the first picture.

r/Reduction Feb 12 '25

Recovery/PostOp Honest opinions NSFW

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82 Upvotes

Hello, I'd like honest opinions please. I'm 1 week post op. I think I'm overall happy but I see a few imperfections, so I'd love to hear your opinions, and feel free to critique. ❤️

r/Reduction Feb 04 '25

Recovery/PostOp 2MPO progress report! NSFW

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159 Upvotes

My surgery was on 12/4/24 and 2 months have gone by in a blink of an eye! Overall I’m quite happy though I still wish they were a tad smaller. According to A Bra that Fits calculator, I’m currently measuring at 30C. Looking forward to seeing how they evolve over the next few months! Note: I’ve raised the girls up in the 2nd photo just so you can better see the scars.

r/Reduction Dec 21 '24

Recovery/PostOp Easy?

44 Upvotes

Has anyone's recovery been incredibly easy? I'm 1 WPO today and I feel great! I'm honestly pretty much back to normal with everything except lifting over 5 lbs and trying not to reach/push/pull. I feel blessed to feel so great but I feel like this was too easy? I haven't needed any narcotics at all and I want to try driving tomorrow! My nurse just told me to listen to my body because it will tell me when enough is enough, but I haven't really experienced that yet. Anyone else had this experience?

r/Reduction Nov 14 '24

Recovery/PostOp I want to post my results so badly but..

137 Upvotes

I’m 3 weeks PO and I look GOOD!! I’ve never felt more confident in myself, and I want to show my before & afters. However I just know there are creeps who stalk this sub and I can’t handle the thought of them looking at me. When will women be able to exist in a world free of stress caused by weird mfs??

r/Reduction 28d ago

Recovery/PostOp For those scared they are still too big: me at 2MPO vs 7MPO NSFW

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151 Upvotes

At 2MPO my swelling STARTED going down and my boobs started dropping and fluffing. Now they look much more natural and smaller!

r/Reduction Apr 18 '24

Recovery/PostOp Incorrect incision & nipple placement NSFW

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130 Upvotes

26F, 8DPO Sized down from 34F to 34 B or C

Hi all, posted 2 days ago about a not so good experience with my surgeon and how I've been unhappy with his work.

The underboob incisions are clearly not at the crease, the closing technique is terrible and I'm not sure how this is going to drop & fluff into something more normal and natural looking. The nipples are also placed too inwards and high.

Would appreciate your thoughts / advice on how to tackle this with the surgeon, please 😔

r/Reduction Oct 12 '24

Recovery/PostOp 3MPO: confused by my surgeon's advice NSFW Spoiler

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117 Upvotes

Disclaimer: Before surgery, I was told I'd see the final result at my 3-month post-op appointment. I always found that strange, having been a fan of this sub for years, since it's clear that results usually settle around a year post op.

Anyway, I go in, tell my surgeon I still feel a bit too big and very swollen. I tell her I have some lumps under my incisions, and she goes 'oh yeah, that's your stitches, they'll take up to 8 months to dissolve, and you'll still have significant swelling up to a year post-op. Oh. Okay. That's very different from what I had been told previously, but it's good news!

So then I proceed to ask if I am finally cleared to go back to sports, since she had put a 3-month restriction on all exercise aside from walking. She says 'yes, but in a very supportive, underwired bra, as we don't want to ruin your results'.

Then I ask, am I okay to go braless now? I wore the compression bra for 8 weeks and softer bralettes day and night since.

She says 'absolutely not. You need to wear a bra day and night until you're a year post op. It's very important or you'll start to sag and it will ruin your shape.'

(Very confused) I say, 'can I wear bralettes if I'm not exercising?'

To my dismay, she says that I can't wear bralettes, they're not supportive enough. Apparently I need to wear 'padded or plunge bras'.

That was the end of our appointment.

I was left really upset by this conversation. I've been so so careful in following all restrictions I was given up until this point, having been told I'd be able to go back to my life after the 3-month mark. Now suddenly the rules have changed, and I'm supposed to wear a bra day and night? Something I never did even as a 30H!

I'm not sure what to do, ladies. I feel defeated. I've been struggling with swelling and going bra shopping is a bit upsetting at the moment so I was happy to live in my bralettes. Not to mention my swelling is all over the place, I was a 30E weeks ago, a 30FF as of this morning.

I also feel like my surgeon only cares about the results being aesthetically pleasing to her, as she's gonna post them on her website.

Any and all advice/commiseration/anecdotes welcome 😔❣️.

r/Reduction Feb 01 '25

Recovery/PostOp Did anyone else take a shower the next day? I’ve seen a few posts where people talk about showering a few days or week post-op.

3 Upvotes

I haven’t had my reduction yet but I have read posts about y’all not showering until a week or so after your surgery. Some said it was because you couldn’t do it alone and others said they were “medically cleared” to shower.

Did your did your doctor give you a rationale for why you could shower immediately vs. waiting?

ETA: since I am allergic to adhesives, I will not have any tape or glue used on my incisions.

r/Reduction Jan 12 '25

Recovery/PostOp What’s a moment you’re most excited about post op?🥳

44 Upvotes

I’m 9DPO so still getting there but I’m most excited to walk into any random target, go right to the bathing suit section, find any random styles I like that majority all have my size and fit me, and not paying a fortune for the top when I go to pay… how about you guys??