A Bleeding and Puffy Nipple 1-week Post Op

[inedition]

Hi all,

I just had gynecomastia surgery (gland excision and lipo) and all seemed to be healing well. I'm now 1-week post op and my doctor told me I no longer need a compression garment (that it's only mostly relevant in the first 5-post op days).

I continue to wear one though at the advice of various gyno surgeons on this blog.
It's now 1-week and I'm concerned about:

1. my right side of chest seems a bit larger now, with a nipple more puffy and darker than the left side and more swelling and pain
2. there is some watery bleeding happening that seems to occur more when i put my compression rib belt back on

Is it normal to have bleeding 1-week out? When/how will it stop? Also, is it possible the puffiness could resolve? does it have anything to do with swelling?

thanks,
p

[jay adams]

Have you called your doctor? That's the first thing I'd do in the morn. It could need to be drained. Look up "swollen one side" in the search engine.

After that get ready for a rollercoaster ride. Sometimes I'm swollen, sometimes I'm flat. Some days I feel good, some days trippin.haha. Try to be positive and wait it out for all your doc visits. That's what I'm "trying" to do too:)

Good luck

[inedition]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I called emailed my doctor twice and each time sent the photos to show him. He says it's normal and to be patient that everything is healing fine. Hard to trust at this phase.

How long has it been since you had your surgery? I was definitely expecting more than what I'm feeling right now!

Also, if you wouldn't mind, how long are you wearing/did you wear a compression garment.

Hope for a good recovery on your end.

[jay adams]

Good morning. I'm 4 weeks out right now. Im still wearing my compression vest but at certain times.
I wore it 23 hours a day for the first 2 weeks. I took it off to shower and wash and dry it. If you dry it it will shrink but I like that. It gave me good results. I also wore foam pads for a little over a week. I didn't have to but I did.

As soon as I could lift my arms up enough to put a shirt on I started wearing my Under Armour Heat Guard short sleave underneath the vest. The skin right under the armpit doesn't fit well inside the vest so the UA shirt pulls that in and makes the vest more comfy.(still wearing it 23 hours a day).

About week three, I took a insta slim shirt and cut it below the chest. Then put that on over the UA and the vest over that. my doc was fine with it. It feels like my chest is in a glove. (wearing it around 20/21 hours a day).

Week four. One side of my chest was bigger before surgery and is playing catch up so I've been putting one of the foam pieces I used for the first week on the bigger side. Also, my left is the bigger one so I always sleep on my right side or my back so nothing is settling on the side that had more work done. Everything is starting to even out now.(still wearing this combination 20/21 hours a day.

I ordered a second stage garment that Im waiting for in the mail. I plan to start wearing that in the day and my vest at night for one more week. For a total of about five 1/2 weeks. After that I'll wear the second stage when I feel I need it and wing myself off. The way I see it is I've been waiting almost my whole life for this surgery so I'm going to take advantage of the compression for a couple months.

It's gonna be a while before we can really judge anything and there's nothing we can do about it for six months at least.

Just keep good compression on it but don't hurt yourself by applying too much.

And, I went on vacation for a week on week three. I ate fast food, Holiday Inn breakfast and a few beers and my chest started not looking as good. As soon as I got home and cleaned up my diet it improved again. Just a reminder we can still start expanding the fat that's leftover from the surgery.

Just hang in there and try not to worry the best you can. The weeks are flying by.

Good luck.

[inedition]

Hey,

Thanks again for the reply. That's all super helpful. I'm 9-days post op now, and just stopped wearing compression 2-days ago because it was continuing to make me bleed. I think I'm going to spend the weekend resting without compression to see if the wound will at least finally clot. I just ordered both a stage 1 and 2 compression vest for the next few weeks though.

Glad to hear you're doing well and the weeks are flying by. Great news. And interesting reminder about the dieting. I'll definitely keep that in mind. I've gone 14-days without a drink (beer/wine) and will probably continue for another couple of weeks.

When you say that somedays it's flat. some days it's not -- are you referring to the overall chest contour? Or even the nipple itself?

Right now, if I had any hope that the right nipple could potentially reside in puffiness and be as flat as the left one, then I will consider this surgery a success. But so hard to know.

Getting a bit paranoid and already fast forwarding to thinking about revision surgery!

Anyways, thanks again, appreciate all the support and detailed experience.

Best of luck to you!

[inedition]

Also, here's an image of where I'm at 9-days post op.... the top of the areola is pink and soft and raised, not flat. The middle bottom is dark and bruised and still bleeding...

[jay adams]

The chest contour changes a little day by day. I was given permission to start working out at the beginning of week three. Im healing really fast. I take multi vitamins, chlorella, amino acids and fish oil. In the third week when i started jogging, elliptical, recumbent bike and light weights it would swell a little and I would back off a little. It still fluctuates when I workout.

This is weird but when I jog now, the swelling goes down. Like Im sweating out fluid. I know it's weird.

I'd like to see your picture but it's not showing up.

Remember, compression keeps the swelling down. You should post your question in the "Ask a doctor" forum. They'll prob tell you to talk to your doctor though.

[inedition]

Good to know. Glad to hear you're jogging again. Sounds great actually to think that fluid loss happens with a little sweating.

I've been taking multi-vitamins daily as well and will probably follow suit to what you've been doing with fish oils and other beneficial supplements.

Sounds like your healing's going well. Hope for the best moving forward as well.

Here are the pics I tried posting earlier. As of now the bleeding is finally stopping, but the puffiness at the top remains. I'm not feeling too confident at this point   

[jay adams]

You could have a hematoma. Your surgeon would have to drain it. I have read of people having drainage like that. The docs say if it hurts, is bruised and bleeding to check with your surgeon. Almost two weeks later your still bleeding just doesn't sound right to me. People can develop hematoma weeks after surgery so you think your doc would at least want to check it out.

Look up hematoma in the search engine and you'll be able to learn a lot. Don't trip though. Like I said up top, some drainage can be normal. I just don't know if nine days later it is.

Good luck.

[inedition]

Thanks Jay.

Appreciate you staying on and replying. I've posted in the doctor section, but haven't gotten any replies.

I'll google hematoma and do a little research. I head back to the doctor on Tuesday, so luckily there's not too much wait time in between.

Cheers!