13 May 2025 | by Dr. Vickram Tandon, MD
The breasts have an enormous impact on a woman’s physical shape as well as her emotional well-being. It is incredibly common for a potential breast surgery patient to explain her body dissatisfaction to me in terms of no longer feeling like herself. This can be particularly true for mothers. Pregnancy and breastfeeding may permanently alter your body contour past the point where a healthful diet and exercise regime can make the kind of difference that you desire. A breast lift is a powerful option for rejuvenating your entire body as it allows me to lift and tighten the skin and tissues of your breast back to a more youthful position. This may make your torso appear longer and leaner, and your waist look more narrow. A potential worry, however, for a new patient is whether or not the recovery from a breast lift is going to be painful. Generally, most of my patients describe the recovery as uncomfortable, not painful, but here are some things to consider.
Proper Preparedness = Less Painful Breast Lift Recovery
A breast lift is on the more robust side of the breast surgery options that I offer my Boston area patients. It is often the best option for those women with a moderate to severe amount of ptosis or sagging in skin and tissues of the breast. A typical breast lift patient will have nipples that are no longer centered on the chest wall. In fact, a quick at-home test for determining whether or not you might be a candidate for a breast lift is to look at the position of your nipples in a mirror. If they face the floor, we will need to excise the loose skin and tissue in order to restore a more vibrant looking body contour. Generally, this is going to involve an anchor incision that goes:
- Under the breast
- Around the nipple
- Vertically from the nipple to the inframammary fold
Some women with only a mild to moderate degree of sagging skin may be a candidate for a less intense incision, but any breast lift is going to require downtime for recovery. Making certain that you are properly prepared for what this entails is a critical component to a more pain-free recovery.
Breast Lift Recovery Considerations in Boston
To begin, I will spend a lot of time during our initial consultation and subsequent pre-op meetings discussing your body’s unique healing properties as well as your personal relationship to pain. Some patients are incredibly anxious at the idea of pain while others may be genetically inclined to feel things more intensely. There is no right or wrong way to experience pain. What’s important is to have an honest discussion so that I can prescribe appropriate anxiety and/or pain medications if needed. Another thing that we will go over in detail is your lifestyle. I do not want you doing anything strenuous for the first few days after surgery. Light walking is encouraged as we want to get the blow flowing, but nothing that will produce a sweat. More importantly, I ask that you avoid any upper body lifting or reaching until I clear you at about two weeks post-op. So, you may need help in the form of:
- Childcare
- Dog walker
- Housekeeper
- Food delivery
- Driver
The more systems you have in place to make certain that you can follow my post- op instructions to the letter, the less discomfort you are going to feel after your breast lift surgery. It is truly that simple.
To find out more about a breast lift, or any other surgical or non-surgical procedure with Dr. Vickram Tandon at the Boston Center for Plastic Surgery, contact us today or call 617-402-2768 to schedule a consultation.
