post op swelling

[turningacorner]

how bad can this be?

it was'nt to start with but it's slowly getting worse. I am one week post op and it's starting to worry me. It's not particularly painful, am I being unrealistic or impatient with the healing process?

My Biggest concern is he has'nt taken enough gland out, and perhaps uneven amounts of gland, my right pec is bigger than my left even though before surgery my bilateral gyne was roughly equal. In my head I am paranoid thinking he has taken mor eout of the left than the right side.

has anyone else ended up looking good after a similar set of circumstances? I won't be able to afford surgery again for years.
This really worries me.
Their is no difference between post and pre surgery, apart from the plaster over my nipples, which I'm too fucking scared to take off incase my nipple decides to fucking poke out.

[BigLouJr]

It takes a while, up to a month for the swelling to come down. Relax; however, in my surgery I saw my areolas go flat right after the surgery.

[turningacorner]

yer I've seen ur pictures,

I have got some things over my nipples while they heal, yours were totally exposed? Would'nt that be an infection risk considering they just cut thme open?

[BigLouJr]

The only time for an infection to occur is during the surgery when the wound is open. Once the doctor closes it and sutures it, nothing could go in since it is closed. Within two or three days the skin seals but should wait another 4 days to remove the sutures to assure that it will not reopen. Exposure to infection is very minimum during the surery since all of the equiment and items used are sterile. Ussually all of the metal tools used are soaked in iodine before its use. Maybe an infection can take place on the outside if there is fresh flesh exposed but not the sutures themselves.

Ussually antiflammatory pills are given to reduced pain but not inflammation since inflammation is a non-avoidable issue with any surgery, it is going to happen no matter what. Its limit is different from people to people. If the surgery involves excision and removal of the glands only, it does not cause to much inflammation since it causes minimum trauma to the internal nerves within the region. Now, lipposuction causes a lot of trauma to the area. The cannula inserted vibrates to break down cells (fat and others) and in the course it damages a lot of small vessels and small nerves, though the anesthesia stops any pain from it.

Concluding that lipposuction causes the most traumatic damage to that region and the most bruising, do not believe doctors that tell you that they can do it with minimizing this trauma. Is like changing a flat tire in a car, you must raise it first. If they do it without any bruising or inflammation, they simply did not do enough. Jeopardizing final results over inflammation or bruising is not worth it, those effects are only temporary and a must if you want to be boob free.

[andre1963]

Thanks for this thread.  I'm also in the same boat as the original poster.  I had my surgery on September 6th and while I'm doing o.k. physically generally, I really don't see much of a difference from the pre-operative stage.  I know it's only been 12 days, and his documentation clearly stated that results would not be seen for 3-4 weeks or so but....  I did have a lot of fat (lipo) extracted so that could explain it.  While I'm certainly not expecting to be flat given that I had a severe case, I also thought I would have seen some improvement by now.  My surgeon and nurse seemed very satisfied with everything at my first post-op appt (5 days post-surgery) so I guess I should give it some time still.  Thanks again any comments.

[andre1963]

andre, were the glands removed or did the doc do just lipo.

Both, though I'm unsure as to how much glandular tissue was removed (I think a fair bit, quite frankly).

[BigLouJr]

Like I said earlier, a lot of doctors are not willing to take a lot of gland out due to fear of odd looks. The doctors that do take them all out are the ones that the patients are the most happy since it dramatically shows the difference. Only glands and fat make puffy nipples, nothing else. Lack of those two items, you should and will not have puffy nipples. Even if your chest is swollen, the nipples would be flatter than pre-op. Once the swelling comes down then they look perfect.

I had like four surgeries. On the first three I never saw my puffy nipples go flat. I found out on my last surgery (4th) that not enough glands were removed. The doctor searched all over my chest, while leaving my muscles intact, he removed every gland that he found and they were huge. However, I had no fat but he still did the liposuction to create an even chest.

Now, even after having an internal bleeding due to my disregard for my own strentgh while closing my compression vest, my nipples are very flat when compare to my pre-op photos. So I came to the conclusion that all those glands have to go, and our chest should be as how the human body intended them to be, with minimal glands.

Only sits removal thru surgery can correct this issue.

[turningacorner]

hey andre

so glad u spoke up

firstly I think its cool we r both in the same situation, suggests this is a normal thing that can happen to anyone post surgery. I'm sure the surgeons have taken gland out, it must jsut be swelling filling the loose skin back up to look like pre surgery gyne.

keep int ouch so we can talk about changes!

I think the swelling will subside as the skin makes up for what was lost. It is really worrying though.

I see my doc tommorow so will tell u what he thinks, I'm sure will be relevant to us both, he might even drain some of the fluid.

I think its going to be cool for us!

just a stressful time atm.

[andre1963]

hey andre

so glad u spoke up

firstly I think its cool we r both in the same situation, suggests this is a normal thing that can happen to anyone post surgery. I'm sure the surgeons have taken gland out, it must jsut be swelling filling the loose skin back up to look like pre surgery gyne.

keep int ouch so we can talk about changes!

I think the swelling will subside as the skin makes up for what was lost. It is really worrying though.

I see my doc tommorow so will tell u what he thinks, I'm sure will be relevant to us both, he might even drain some of the fluid.

I think its going to be cool for us!

just a stressful time atm.

Thanks.  I'll be eager to see what he has to say.  I think we both need to "chill" and give it more time as this is not exactly "delicate" surgery, especially lipo which is pretty traumatic.  Take care and good luck.

[Paddy]

hey..

absolutely its traumatic - you are being cut open and having stuff taken out. Even if you bump something, it takes a while to recover. I know its hard to hear when you are so frustrated and you want to get to the end of the tunnel already, but be patient. its only a week.

good luck and hang in there.

[turningacorner]

I saw the guy today

he peeled off the rest of the dressing and was totally stoked lol

said the healing was really good and there is no scar at all so I am very happy with that. The nipple is flat but there is a lot of swelling. If I feel, I can tell the gland is gone and there is jsut fluid inside because it is much much softer to touch. I am quite happy now, he wanted me to go back in 3 months so he could put me in his photo collection but it's a mission away so I probably won't.

I fel much better, he did'nt drain me and it really is jsut swelling I am waiting for now.

He wante dme in 3 months because this is like, the max time I should take to heal and get a final result.