Breast reduction surgery?

[AmberK]

Who has done it? Im seriously considering it but want to research and find out more info. A friend of mine recently had it done and she said it was the best thing ever! so tell me about your surgery and what you think of the results! Thanks.

[HeatherKS]

I want, want, want to have it done and have been thinking about it since my youngest was born. A friend of mine had it done lots of years ago and she said it was one of the best things she's ever done. I just haven't convinced myself that elective surgery is something I want to do at this point. I've never had surgery and never had anesthesia so those two unknowns are really what is holding me back.

[LeeAndra]

I know Nikki has. I'm sure she'll be by soon to post.

[AmberK]

Im having some horrible shoulder muscle spasms right now which is made worse by wearing my bra holding up these honkin things. My doctor is prescribing me physical therapy to see if it helps but I seriously doubt it. Im reading some info on a forum and have seen before and after pictures and man I want this done yesterday. I have had 3 surgeries, one of them being elective- lapband so even though Im scared to have it done I know how much better I will feel. At this point, I dont care if I go down to a size A- Im wearing a DDD but if I was fitted properly I would bet im an F/G size. HATE THEM.

Hubby supports me. I would love to have it done at the beginning of summer right after school gets out so I wont have to take time off work. Then hopefully I will be more motivated to work out if Im not having to fight the girls when I do workout.

[Melissa Bennett]

I want to have this done soooooooooooooooooooooo bad, but I know they are going to tell me to lose the weight first. I would love to be back in my itty bitty B cup that I was way back when.

[emmasmommy]

i wish there were a way for y'all to give me what you wanna get rid of LOL

[AmberK]

Melissa- I was reading on the forum that sometimes its not necessarily the case. One lady said she had hers reduced to a C and then lost 70 lbs and went down to a B. I would definitely be ok with that!

[HeatherKS]

I completely understand Amber. I wear an F and I understand the ridiculousness.

Melissa, I think a doctor could give you a good idea whether or not losing weight would really help your situation. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. I lost over 30 lbs. after I had my last baby and didn't even drop a cup size. Good luck with your decision!

[Keely~B]

I've got no boobs but my mom and several of my aunts and cousins think it was one of the best decisions ever. The only regret they speak of is not doing it sooner.

[Tracie Stroud]

Originally Posted by emmasmommy

i wish there were a way for y'all to give me what you wanna get rid of LOL

This.

I've honestly never heard of anyone NOT liking the results, especially girls who have suffered for years with back and muscle issues because of it.

[*Celeste*]

I'm an f and I'd love to do it but not in the cards right now.

[Melissa Bennett]

I'll have to ask my PCM. I think the military will likely not cover it unless there is major weight loss. We had a friend who had to lose all her weight before they would do it.

[NeverendingJen]

Originally Posted by Melissa Bennett

I'll have to ask my PCM. I think the military will likely not cover it unless there is major weight loss. We had a friend who had to lose all her weight before they would do it.

Last I heard, you had to be at a BMI in the overweight range, or normal. You could not be in the obese range. It's quite the process to get it covered, but they will cover it. I've been getting mine documented for years as necessary and they'd do it now but I refuse to do it until we are done with fertility treatments completely and there is no chance for my boobs to be used for their intended purpose.

[mrshobbes]

Originally Posted by emmasmommy

i wish there were a way for y'all to give me what you wanna get rid of LOL

Word. Just so I have another alternative from this chicken cutlets I've been using

[aggiefamily]

I was considering it. When I finally got serious about losing weight and started dropping the pounds I swear most of it came from the boobs. I'm down two cup sizes already. So for now I am waiting to see what they look like when I hit my maintenance weight. I know if I don't get a reduction I will at least get a lift.

My SIL had it done before she married my brother. She is super skinny and they really did not fit her shape. They caused her to have back problems (she was early twenties then) and she was very self conscious about them. She says it was a hard decision to make but so worth it in the end. The only drawback has be that she was not able to breast feed later on when she had kids.

[heathergw]

I've lost weight and haven't lost any cup sizes, sigh... and I just keep growing every pregnancy... I'm now a J cup... and once we're done having kids and done nursing I'm totally getting it done... I have to... I'm literally getting a hunchback because I slouch to hide them or maybe because they're just so dang heavy... who knows LOL... and seriously, they don't make bras my size and have to have bras altered to fit my tiny band size... I'm a total freak LOL

[alabau]

Originally Posted by emmasmommy

i wish there were a way for y'all to give me what you wanna get rid of LOL

Amen, sister! It'd be one thing if I was all petite and twiggy.. but I'm all curves on the lower half.. You'd think I could at least share the love with myself, lol.. Seriously, though.. I have a couple friends who've done it and had nothing but good to say about it.

[color of my heart]

i did. (: best decision i ever made. went from an H cup to a D cup. no more back pain, no more shoulder spasms, and best of all? i can see my feet when i look down.

the surgeries (i had two, they weren't even the first time) were okay. the first one was worse than the second, because the first was the major one. it was easily 4 weeks of recovery. but they took a LOT out, and i had a lot of stitches. so it took a while to be pain-free. the weirdest part was the nerve sensations. i'd get phantom pain, due to the nerve endings being cut. even now, i have weird pains, almost a year out of surgery.

the recovery was.. it was typical. i couldn't work, i spent probably two full weeks either in bed or on the couch. i did the first one in may, which was HORRIBLE timing, cause i couldn't swim until august. i would totally tell anyone to do it in the winter, when you don't have to worry about heat or being hot, or wanting to swim. other than the pain, and the swelling, it wasn't awful. i could move, but the pain meds kept me pretty doped up.

i would recommend it to anyone. most insurance companies will pay for it, if there's a distinct medical need, or if they're taking over a certain amount of tissue out. but i could be wrong. mine were paid in full, aside from maybe $300. i'd ask your primary doctor, and then ask around for names of surgeons. never go with the first surgeon you hear of. do the research, get some different consultations.

[sczos911]

I had it done. I also went from a G to a DD. No more shoulder or back pain. It has been about 3 years or so. Best thing I ever did. 2 weeks in bed, sore, like body aches. My ribs hurt, but the actually boobies did not.

And I cried the first time I went in for a check up to see them. I saw a pre-op photo and could not believe the magic that my doctor did. They fit my shape and look great. My insurance also covered a good chunk of it.

[schock77]

I had reconstructive breast augmentation after a lumpectomy here in ATX, so different procedure, but I loved the doctor and his team. Mopac and far west area. Look up austinplasticsurgerycenter.com. Its Dr.Sergio Maggi. You can message me here or on Facebook for more details about it.

[Leontine78]

I had it done about 14 years ago and it's my best decision ever!
Eventhough I had an internal bleeding because of the drains and needed correction surgery because of that. It almost never happens.

I would do it all over again. I remember that I couldn't lift stuff for a few weeks but I can't remember huge pains or anything.

And the stitched healed very nicely I must say.

[nikkiARNGwife]

It's been 11 years since I had mine and still one of the best decisions ever...I copied this from another thread from a while back that I posted...

I was probably about 125 lbs and 5'7" at the time...my breasts were HUGE...they had always been..I developed early and by the time I was a senior in high school they were a 34 DD cup..and they didn't stop growing. I had horrible back pains, terrible self-esteem and was so young at the time it was just ridiculous.

My first advice is to go to a specialty bra shop and get FITTED. A lot of people think they're at DDD cup b/c that's the biggest they can find in stores and I was the same way, for years I would smoosh mine into DDD cups and even at one point wore one bra to hold them up and another on top of that to minimize them. Finally I went to a specialty shop and had myself measured and found out I was wearing a bra 3 sizes too small. I paid 160 dollars for 2 bras that fit for the first time in my life and left that shop determined to have a reduction...in fact I called and made an appt with my OB the next day.

I told him my concerns and he agreed there was no doubt my insurance would pay for it. (I had blue cross at the time before I was married) He referred me to a plastic surgeon and I was approved within a couple of months. I was teaching at the time so I scheduled my surgery during the summer b/c the recovery is slow..not so much as in the actual healing time, but you can't lift or do heavy stuff for several weeks.

The surgery itself was a 23 hr admit so I stayed overnight and was on a morphine drip. I had incisions (okay this may be a little TMI but here it is lol) from my armpit all the way under each breast..from the midpoint under my breast up to my nipple and entirely surrounding my nipple. I will warn you...DON"T LOOK AT THEM the first couple of days. When I got home - 2 days post op I was going to be all brave and change my bandages myself...I was standing in the bathroom, took one look and passed out cold. So at first you're going to think WHAT HAVE I DONE..but that's only for like a day lol..by 1 week post op the soreness was almost completely gone and I was beginning to heal very nicely. By 2 weeks the swelling was almost gone and I bought my first ever size C cup bra lol.

As far as how much they take I told him that knowing they would get larger after surgery (they will) I wanted as much out as possible.

I didn't have any complications other than one little stitch got a touch infected..and out of about 100 stitches I thought that was pretty good lol.

It's a major surgery and the pain is not fun, but compared to my C-section pain it was way more tolerable.

One of my concerns going in was breast feeding b/c I knew I wanted to one day. He said that I should be able to and I did produce milk and attempt to breast feed with both kiddos, but was never really that successful...DS was a preemie so we had latch issues..I was never sure if it was my supply with him, but with DD I had no latch issues and she seemed to nurse fine but was not gaining weight...I'm not positive it was to do with the surgery but even so I would have still gone through with it.

You may also develop what is called "fat necrosis" which is basically tissue in your breast that "dies" and forms itself into hard balls. I found one in 2006 and totally freaked b/c I thought it was a lump but after having it checked found out that it was necrosis and due to my surgery. I have a very large area of it but I also had a very extensive surgery with 7 1/2 lbs removed and bascilly my breasts picked up and put back where they were supposed to be lol...

sorry to write a book, but it's something that was really life changing for me

ETA: fat necrosis is completely benign and painless..just like scarring on the inside and they will grow some..especially if you gain weight..11 years later I'm in a D cup now but they are still perky which they had NEVER been and when I lose weight I usually get back into a C cup. In all my surgeon removed 7 1/2 lbs from my breasts.

[LenaGardner]

Thanks for sharing your story, Nikki! If I don't lose enough breast with my weight, I'm considering it. So far they haven't gotten any smaller, but I'm only 22 lbs in so we'll see. I'm an F and I'd give anything to be in a C!