Warning: this post contains boobs and may not be work appropriate or if you have beliefs about modesty you may want to skip this post.
Today marks my 4 weeks post breast reduction surgery. Yes, I’m still having some pain, tingling, burning, stabbing kinds of weird and uncomfortable sensations, but I do not regret the decision one bit.
Even though I’d lost a whole lot of weight prior to my surgery, I hadn’t gone down in top and jacket size, because I still had to fit my breasts into them. Now that my breasts are half their original size, the majority of my tops and many jackets are too large and so I’ve had to start finding some replacements.
This means I’ve been out trying on a bunch of clothes on my new body shape. It has allowed me to try styles of clothes that I never ever would have tried before, including a dress with spaghetti straps and a gathered neckline, that in the past would:
a: Â have made my breasts look completely ridiculously large
b: Â not fitted
c: Â couldn’t have worn as the honest truth is, strapless bras really don’t work when you have the weight of breasts I used to have, so would never have been able to be worn (I had to have clothes that I could wear a conventional bra underneath, so always nice thick straps).
I tried this spaghetti strap dress on (sans bra, just for the fun of it) and can I tell you, it worked wonderfully!
Exercise: I am now going back to exercise, but lower body only and low impact for the next two weeks. Hill walking, squats, lunges. I’ve been advised to wait a couple more weeks before doing more high impact exercise (plus, right now, I think it would hurt, so I don’t want to!), and I’m also avoiding yoga because it requires lying on your chest, which still hurts and using a lot of pectoral muscles and I’m scared of splitting internal and external stitches (just not worth it in my opinion).
Before you scroll further, be aware of who is around as the following pics may offend some (though personally I can’t see why breasts or nipples are offensive, as all women have them and they are natural and beautiful).
To give you an understanding of the difference in breast volume here are some pictures.
Here is one of my old bras compared to my new bra size. You can see how much space (so much I had to stuff a large scarf into each cup to fill them out) between the cup and Molly my mannequin who is probably a C cup.
And here is a before and after of my breasts (can’t believe I’m actually sharing, but having been on lots of websites reading up about breast reduction and I’ve seen lots of these pics now), have tried to make the pics a bit arty just in case you’re on public transport reading this!
This is just fascinating. My breasts are small, so I can’t relate personally, but I think there are so many out there who can benefit from this. You look great, especially after such a relatively short time. Brava!
Thank you so much for sharing – very brave. This is something I have thought about doing for many years and I appreciate your honesty in walking us through your experience. Congratulations!
Wow!! They look amazing. I have loved following this journey. Rachel xx
I’m so happy your recovery is going well! You look amazing, thanks for sharing this with us.
Glad to hear you are doing well post-op. Your posts on your BR have been most informative (would love to have one myself). Thank you for sharing.
They/you look great! I’ve always wondered where everything ‘sits’ after a reduction and I’m impressed. Thanks for showing us.
Hi Imogen
Congratulations on your courage to share your breast reduction experiences so freely and sensibly. Our physical image is the first thing that anyone sees. You have been able to show how women with really any size breasts can look fabulous.
Looks great and very brave
Sharing what you’ve gone through will be a huge help to others. Go, you!
Way to go for being brave enough to share! Just to let you know however, you did a wonderful job of respectfully warning people in the post of the pics at the bottom but those pics are the ones that show on the home page when you click on the post so anyone who goes to the home page is automatically seeing the pics right off the bat. I don’t have an issue with it but just thought I might gently point it out since you took such great care not to offend anyone!
I hope I’ve fixed that now!
You look fantastic! I had a breast reduction 2 1/2 years ago and it was one of the best things I could have done for myself.
I was a 36 J or something like that…Am now a C/D. The weight difference alone is life changing.
So happy that you did this for yourself!
Thanks Sharon – wow that’s a huge difference! I wanted to be a C cup but seem to have ended up as a D – DD (will find out really in a few months when the swelling has all gone down) It certainly is a weight off!
Thank you so much for your post – I also have very big boobs (European size 90 K) and my doctor says that I should do a breast reduction. As I am on my weight loss journey, I hope that I will also loose some cup sizes. I can totally understand how you had felt before – although I do a lot of exercises for my back, my shoulders hurt and one reason is definitely my bra size.
You are very brave to share your story and photos!! Good on you and I am sure you will be an inspiration to other women in similar situations.
Wow! What a fabulous result. I want your surgeon’s number! 🙂
You look beautiful either way. The change in weight must be quite strange at first! Like when you’ve had a backpack on all day and then take it off, very odd sensation.
Congratulations Imogen – what a great success!
That’s great, I love the artsy pic, you can really see how major the difference is now!
Glad it all went so well.
Love how you’ve chronicled your BR journey Imogen! I think it will be very helpful to women interested in the surgery. Your B&A artsy pic really does show how life-changing it can be. Like you, I had lost weight all over but the boobs never got smaller. At all. I went from a 34 F/G to about a 34D. I’d have liked to been a C but my surgeon never promised what size I’d be, just that it would be aesthetically pleasing and appropriate to my body shape/size. He also reshaped the areolas and thankfully I didn’t lose much sensation there. A few weeks ago the strapless bra I planned to wear under my maxi just wasn’t comfortable so I went without. I actually for the first time EVER in my life didn’t wear a bra in public! And nobody noticed which definitely would not have been the case before surgery. lol
Yes -I’m sure I’ll also go out braless at some stage! There was something I read that they also have to take into consideration the breast tissue and milk ducts etc and they can’t remove all of that which is why most breast reductions from larger sizes end up at around a D cup (unless you started at a DD then you can go smaller)
You look beautiful and the artsy pics are tastefully done, while giving people a realistic comparison, Imogen. So glad your surgery has been uneventful and that you are happy with the change. Quite a lot of adjustment, I’m sure, in body image and wardrobe needs, now and to come. Thank you for your honesty in sharing your journey with your readers, so helpful to those contemplating this surgery. Best of luck with your future recovery and getting back to exercise, which will also be easier when the boobs are less tender.
Congratulations!! Thanks for your transparency ( no pun intended
I want to have mine lifted after nursing and evened out (mine are a cup size different) but I am terrified of the nipple relocation. Can you talk about that?
Mine were a cup size different too. They aren’t now! They do the nipple relocation on all major breast reductions. It remains attached to the stem (blood supply, some nerves and milk ducts), but the just position if higher (you can see from the pics just how differently placed mine are) and then the sew them back on. The stitches are appear to be internal so you can’t see the stitches on the outside. I know they tell you about possible problems with your nipples and losing sensitivity, but at the moment mine have become more sensitive than they ever were!
Beautiful boobs, congratulations! I, too, have large breasts and it’s a real pain. Your current size looks proportional to your body. Plus, I do love your lighter coloring now.
You are a wonderful inspiration, Imogen! I’m so happy I found your blog and I am grateful on behalf of all women, especially those who are considering breast reduction surgery, but even those who aren’t, for your openness, honestly, and willingness to share. If more women shared the intimate, sometimes painful or embarrassing aspects of our lives more openly, I believe there would be far less women who are embarrassed or ashamed of their bodies. Keeping things in the dark only spreads more darkness. Thank you for spreading the light! Hooray for you!
Thanks so much Lily!
And your breast look fantastic! 🙂
Hi Imogen. Thank you for the comparison pictures, both clothed and un! You look amazing and your new breasts suit you. Glad all is going well for you. Emma x
You look fantastic! I am a 34H and have an appointment with the surgeon in a week! I am so hoping my insurance agrees to cover it. Getting the weight off that pulls my posture down, put dents in my shoulder muscles and makes everything just ache by the end of the day will be so heavenly.
Imogen you look fantastic, and I am so happy that this has worked out so well for you and that you were brave enough to blog about the whole journey.
I am in the process now of losing the required 20 lbs before my insurance will let me have a reduction. I simply cannot wait to have it done and was so excited to see you recently did! It will be nice to have the extra weight off the chest, not having so many migraines from the muscles in my neck tensing up all the time, not having people stare, feeling self conscious in and out of clothes…oh I cannot wait! You look fabulous Imogen!
Hi Imogen
Thanks so much for all of your posts on your surgery. It makes such a difference when information comes from a trusted source, which you certainly are. My 19yo daughter has huge breasts so I’m showing her your posts to see if she might be interested in pursuing surgery. Of course, it’s a very personal decision, but by her being able to see your story, she might feel more confident in checking it out.
Thanks again
Jacqui
It’s not a small decision to make Jacqui! It was something I thought about for decades!
You’re so inspiring! Thank you!
I had a reduction in 2006 and I am so very happy I had it done. I went from something larger than a 32H to a 32DD… now a 34DDD due to weight gain (seriously, I only have gained 15 pounds, but it feels like half of it ended up in my breasts).
I regret not having had it done sooner (I was 30), and it was unfortunate that I couldn’t go smaller. That said, I had minimal scarring and actually have more sensitive nipples now than I did before, so my surgeon likely made the right call.
Anyway, I mostly wanted to say that the healing process takes a LONG time – I still felt odd twinges for most of the next year. Everything healed really really well for me, so not to worry if it takes longer than you’d expect to get back to normal.
Thanks MK I’m figuring out it will take a while, but at least I’m mostly feeling normal now. I have way more sensitive nipples now than I did. I expect it’s a process. Not keen on the feeling of bounce at all at the moment, though I’m sure that will settle.
Hi Imogen, firstly many congrats for going through with surgery, you felt it was right for you, so of course it was. Secondly I have got mahoosive boobs myself, and I stand at 5’2″ small! I was wearing full cup bras at the tender, and embarrassing age of 11. It was and still is a nightmare, I went along to the doctors at age 18, asked quite bluntly for a reduction and explained how they were making my life a misery. The doctor (a woman) told me to “go away, and stop being silly” as many women would kill for what I had! I have had the same experience as you, in the respect that, you are to some people, literally, “tits on a stick” and always the mistress, never the wife! I have a degree and my own business, but no one is interested, or listening, as they are too busy staring at my boobs. I feel it is every womans right, to be entirely happy with her body, and if the option of surgery, providing it is carried out with good advice and support, should be available to everyone.
It’s sad your doctor was not understanding. Fortunately these days the plastic surgeons have discovered that this is a life changing (for the better) operation. In fact it’s apparently one of the most successful, in psychological terms, piece of plastic surgery they do according to lots that I’ve read and speaking to plastic surgeons. I don’t think that my local GP quite understood what a burden large breasts are, but I just asked for a referral anyway!
Thanks so much for sharing your story. A fellow 34G-er here and at 5’2″ feel like I am mostly composed of boob. I am jealous, but still very leery of major surgery to make this happen for me. But that smile on your face just spells relief to me and is a huge selling point. Congratulations on going for it and improving your life. Wishing you continued recovery success.
I am about to embark on my Journey to having the weight lifted and reduced off my chest, I have lost 180 lbs and I am older
so I now want to get rid of the rashes and the pain having the dd’s I have, I am 5’6 amd my daughters dont understand how this
will help me fit into clothes and feel better not having straps digging into my shoulders, I really appreciate you being so brave to show your Journey as it encouraged me That I can get through the surgery and feel better in clothes, I want to improve my life.
Hi imogen was like reading about myself here. I’m 4 weeks post op and wondered if all your stitches are gone. Under my breast seems to be so slow dissolving. You look fantastic and it’s also the best thing ive done. I had a lollipop reduction but quite a big load of stitches at bottom
Thanks
I can’t remember! I think mine were not dissolvable – I vaguely remember going in to see the surgeon and have them removed .
With all due respect to your personal choice to have reduction surgery, I have to go on record to say that your breasts were absolutely resplendent they way they were