If I go through with breast reduction surgery, what can I expect?

It’s pretty painful.

The biggest issue is to be very careful who you choose to do the surgery. Get a lot of references, because there’s a huge disparity in what the ultimate outcome looks like.

You’ll need someone to care for you for several days after the surgery – you’re not at all mobile. They tell you that you’re out of commission for 6 weeks, and it was at least 4 weeks before I felt like doing anything.

My scarring is essentially invisible at this point. I was satisfied with the outcome and happy that I did it. I felt better, clothes fit better….but when I gained weight, guess where it went? I’m almost as large as I was before the surgery, but better “shaped”, for lack of a better word.

I chose to have reduction surgery because my breasts interfered with my quality of life. My sports, my physical activity, my work, the discomfort, the back pain – plus a lifetime of having men look at my chest when talking to me. I haven’t been able to go braless since I was 13.

If I had the finances and the time, I’d be willing to go through it again to get rid of these pains-in-the-asses.

(DO NOT EVER watch one of the surgeries on cable!)

Thank you @syz. What size were you before?

I went from a DD to a C. I’m now a D.

Oh man! I can imagine the grief that cost you. My best friend in Jr. High was a DD. She was automatically branded a slut because of it. They talked about her behind her back as though she had purposefully chosen to have such large breasts. They did it to me too, because I was C by 8th grade, but not as bad as they trashed her.
I remember one time in art class, some guy accused me of stuffing. He said, “No way a person can be as skinny as you and have such large boobs.” It was miserable.

A woman at at my old office had it done and she loved it. She was very open about the whole situation and me asked what I thought of it. I was never sure what to say or do. Do I stare at them when she asked me too? I just avoided the question and said “you must feel a lot better!”

I was always scrupulous in maintaining eye contact when I spoke to her. My eyes never drifted below her chin! Never!

It is so annoying when men talk to your boobs.

@LuckyGuy Yeah and the check is in the mail. :)

Like a train wreck, I accidentally watched the surgery performed on TV several years back, and it was unbelievably complicated and extensive. Not something to be undertaken lightly.

Double up on your exercises.

I know several people who have done it, and have seen actresses talk about it. Most people I know initially felt more than they wanted was removed. Everyone has said the recovery is very painful.

My personal opinion is it isn’t worth considering unless you are a double D, but I am not in your body, and I certainly don’t have any judgments about it. Mostly it stems from my own fears about surgery, and I would have a fear of not liking the result. But, those are my fears. I have those fears about any surgery cosmetic or otherwise.

If part of your boobage size is related to gaining weight, you might want to consider focusing on that. I have no idea if you have gained weight, I am just talking in general. I don’t like that my breasts are big right now, but it is directly related to me having gained some weight (maybe a little hormone related as I get older, I don’t know) and if I had my breasts brought back down to my old size, about half a cup, my stomach would look even bigger! When I look in the mirror sideways I really want my breasts to stick out more than my stomach. LOL.

If they are hurting your back that’s a whole different thing. Are you sure it is from your breasts? C/D breasts are very average. When I worked in the bra industry we sold mostly C’s, probably the second biggest seller was D, but I lived in FL the land of fake boobs. Not that all D’s are fake of course, I just mean it added to our statistics. D is not huge in my opinion.

I will say that as a C, like I said the most popular cup we sold, a lot of clothes still pull on me. Not the better brands, but the cheap stuff does, and stuff targeted to younger people, and can make you feel like you are always busting out of everything. The clothing is cut poorly. For instance many of my Express tops barely fit across my chest (maybe $50) but a Tahari blouse ($150) no problem.

@ibstubro I have nightmares of being an old woman in a wheel chair, unable to talk and unable to tell anyone my back really hurts. You have no idea what women have to go through.

No, @JLeslie. It’s not due to weight gain. They’re this size whether I’m 120 or 145.

Also, @JLeslie, it doesn’t surprise me that at first the woman may think they took more than they wanted. It can be a shock. Hell, when I got my braces off of my teeth, for about 4 days, every time I saw my face in the mirror I was uncomfortable and I didn’t like it because it was so different than what I’d been used to for 3 years.

Right, it’s a shock. I don’t know how most of them feel weeks or even years later.

I think you’ll be left with long scars on the undersides of your breasts.

Is a C cup really all that uncomfortable and inconvenient. The lingerie department at Nordstrom sells cup K.

It didn’t used to be, but it is now. My back hurts all the time, especially on the right side. The doctor noted that when I stand the weight of my breasts pulls me forward, giving me a slumped appearance. It’s simply because my back muscles aren’t as strong as they used to be. Exercise can help that, but only for so long.

And what does the fact that someone sells a K cup have to do with anything?

Have you gotten other opinions, @Dutchess_III?

I would seek the opinion of a back specialist, a Quacktapractor and a custom bra maker before I would even consider surgery.

What do you mean, guys don’t understand? I’m practically Bow Legged! ~~

I’m sure that as a man, you would @ibstubro. As a man you can’t even imagine a woman wanting reduction rather than an increase.
If you’re practically bow legged, which is seriously nothing any woman cares about, then it is putting a huge strain on your lower back. Might check into reduction.

My advice was not from the perspective of a man, so much as from someone that has had the experience of seeing the operation performed. I’m a doctor-phobe to begin with, and I would do practically anything to avoid such extensive surgery.

“I would seek the opinion of a back specialist, a Quacktapractor and a custom bra maker before I would even consider surgery.”

I don’t want them @ibstubro. For both medical and aesthetic reasons.

One of the female DJ’s on the radio was talking about it, about how someone famous did it (Starr Jones maybe?) She was saying that what happens is that once the chest is made smaller, now the stomach sticks out, whereas it used to be just one large pile of chest/stomach.

Mine are not that big – C cups, so I don’t need it, but if I had those huge ones, I would definitely go for it, as long as insurance is paying (and while you have that benefit, before they take it away).

@Dutchess_III Have you tried really good bras? Minimizers? Better support might help. You might have seen me recommend Wacoal before on fluther, I used to work for them. Their full figure bras are very good. It doesn’t need to be a minimizer. Make sure you get measured and are in the right bra. I would try that first. But, as I disclosed before I am surgery aversive for myself. Is the doctor recommending the surgery the surgeon?

Well, I don’t have much of a tummy.

No. He’s my family MD, and I suggested it to him.

@syz Did it feel like you were floating when you got done?

Um, not that I remember. I do remember being very protective of my chest, convinced that something was going to fall apart. And immediately going out and buying shirts with buttons, amazed that they fit and that the buttons didn’t gape open.