Detailed day-by-day recovery, pain, swelling review from Day 1 to Week 4 (unedited photos) (don’t rush, just wait~!!)

Hello! I seem to be close to pain-free, so I’ll share my day-by-day breast augmentation pain review~! (I’ll keep the hospital and surgeon private. If you’re really curious, leave a private comment.) I wrote a little bit every day, but the major swelling has now gone down and I’m waiting for the residual swelling to settle, so I’m going to stop keeping a day-by-day memo... This is for my own records and also to post so that people like me, who were shaking with anxiety, don’t end up with obsessive worry.... (But when counting the days normally, the day of surgery should be Day 1 and the next day Day 2, right? Why does everyone write the surgery day as Day 0, the next day as Day 1, and the day after that as Day 2?? I was just curious...)<My stats>📌 I was a full A to early B, but during running and spinning I didn’t wear support, so my breasts basically disappeared. My vanished breasts...😭 Honestly, I wasn’t stressed about having no breasts or anything, I just thought I’d make myself a little prettier, so I treated it lightly. My husband was against it, but I just said I was going to do it anyway.📌 Motiva full 355cc / dual plane / inframammary fold incision📌 167 cm / 53 to 54 kg / rib cage 71 cm📌 Hips 95 cm, very full. My waist was also fairly slim. (I’ve gained weight now, so the waistline has faded a bit.) Because of my height and hips, I was even recommended 375 to 400, but I said I disliked anything too much and just wanted a moderately full C cup. In the operating room, the surgeon tried in some balloon-like samples(?) and I left it up to them to choose whatever suited my body type best.※ Because the post below is long, I’ll first give the key points briefly.... ※- Don’t rush after surgery!!! Pain, swelling, and so on all vary depending on your skin quality, constitution, and other factors. Don’t get anxious like, “Other people’s swelling was all gone in a week, so why hasn’t mine gone down?” I was anxious about the swelling too, but wait at least two weeks to three weeks (a full month is the baseline)! Two weeks!!! (Honestly, when swelling is said to be completely gone in a week, I think it’s marketing and all of it is photoshopped...)- If something looks wrong, contact the hospital right away and get a consultation with the surgeon. Asking for advice by posting online is not helpful at all. It only makes you more anxious. I was stressed thinking the inframammary incision line was swelling up into a keloid or hypertrophic scar, but after going to the hospital and getting examined, it turned out to be nothing.- More than 90% of review photos uploaded to cosmetic surgery sites are ads made possible by surgery discounts. They’re all photoshopped. Keep that in mind when you look at them.- Based on an inframammary fold incision, you need at least 3 days off before you can go to an office job. If there is pain, at least 5 to 7 days.- Do not expect something dramatically life-changing beyond the size increase in your own breasts. Looking at friends who had surgery and the reviews around me, there is no case where someone’s own breasts looked really terrible and then came out perfectly with UIU. It is possible to improve your own breast shape and make it prettier through surgery (breasts that are extremely wide-set, extremely sagging, people who already had upper fullness and still have upper fullness, etc.). The daily pain is less “pain” and more a dull muscle soreness and a feeling like the muscles are tearing. When you put force into it, it feels like a sharp sting!<Day 1 (surgery day)>*Swelling - 3/10*Pain - 1/10*Daily inconvenience - 2/10: I had surgery around 10 a.m. as the first slot, and it finished around 11 a.m. After surgery I was just groggy because I still hadn’t fully woken up, and my throat was extremely dry and irritated. Probably from the intubation. I could drink water starting 2 hours after surgery, so enduring until then was hard because my throat hurt. There was no breast pain. Even in the afternoon there was not much pain. It was hard to lift the big Stanley tumbler. Since I was told I could drink, I had one protein shake and then waited until the fasting period was over. I tried one bite of kimchi fried rice, but it was so hard to swallow that I bought congee and ate that instead. When I lay down to sleep and got up, my husband helped me lie down, but I tried to avoid putting force into my breasts as much as possible. My breasts just felt sore and like a muscle ache. At this level I’d call it close to pain-free. The guardian said that when they watched the surgery room camera, the left side had been held longer, and maybe because of that the left side was more swollen than the right and felt more tight for a while. But actually I was wrapped in bandages, so I couldn’t really tell how much swelling there was<Day 2>*Swelling - 5/10*Pain - 1.5/10*Daily inconvenience - 2/10: My breasts felt a bit more swollen than the first day, and my stomach felt swollen and bloated. My stomach got so big that I thought maybe it was just belly fat. The throat pain stayed the same, so I kept drinking a lot of water. I fought for 5 minutes trying to get out of bed by myself, then just used force and stood up, but that put strain on my breasts and hurt; after about 5 minutes the pain went away. The breasts felt heavy, and the dull muscle-ache feeling continued. I just watched TV on the sofa, ate normal meals, and became one with the sofa while resting. Because I sat too long, my lower back and the area around my back hurt, so I kept standing up and sitting back down and adjusting my posture. From this day, my trapezius started feeling tight<Day 3>*Swelling - 6/10*Pain - 1.5/10*Daily inconvenience - 3/10: I moved the car out to go somewhere nearby, but when I turned the steering wheel, I felt a sharp burst of pain!!! so I parked the car again.... Only going straight was possible. lol I couldn’t turn left or right... It is possible, but only if I turn it very slowly, little by little. If I went out with a beginner driver sticker on the car... maybe it would be possible....... I washed my hair carefully. After washing my hair, the breast muscle soreness lasted for a really long time... Even after quite a while, the heaviness didn’t go away. After washing my hair, my breasts became a bit more rounded and swollen. Because my trapezius muscles were sore, my shoulders felt quite stiff, so I used a shoulder massager a few times. I sat on the sofa and rested again. When sleeping, I tried lying down by myself slowly, and it did put some force on my breasts, but it was still tolerable. (In the morning the pain was 1, but after holding the steering wheel and washing my hair, it felt like it rose to about 2.5)<Day 4>*Swelling - 7/10*Pain - 2/10*Daily inconvenience - 3/10: I have an office job, so I went to work. When getting out of bed, I could turn slowly and get up. I couldn’t drive, and after washing my hair the previous day, the breast soreness kept lingering. It wouldn’t go away. Heavy and that unpleasant, stuffy feeling. And the swelling increased a bit more. If I took a bigger breath while breathing, the left breast and the cleavage hurt. When I was in the car and went over a speed bump, I went “ugh!!” because of the pain... The sore feeling continued all day, and the upper breast became bulgingly swollen... I kept thinking a hundred times that I shouldn’t have washed my hair the day before.... I suddenly started swelling a lot, and I began to feel anxious<Day 5>*Swelling - 9/10*Pain - 2.5/10*Daily inconvenience - 3/10: Overall the pain was not severe, but it felt like stronger muscle soreness, and it was becoming more swollen, tight, and puffy. It felt sore with a sense like the muscles were tearing. More swollen than before. I thought maybe the little bit of strain from daily life was making it swell more...? >>I had a hospital appointment in the evening, but I was anxious so I went early in the morning. I visited, took off the bandages, and had an ultrasound, and there was nothing abnormal. I got swelling management with Derma Lite. When I first faced my breasts, there was really nothing else that could compare to a rocket launch. They were so puffy and taut that they looked unpleasant. When I got home, the swelling felt like it had gone down a little (I don’t know if it was a placebo effect or if the swelling really improved, lol). I did an ice pack. Washing my hair became much easier. Still, I washed carefully. When I lay down to sleep, it felt even more uncomfortable, heavy, and swollen. Lying down and getting up by myself made the breast muscles work, so they felt a bit sore, but it wasn’t a major inconvenience. That day... why on earth did I only start swelling this much from Day 5? Was the surgery wrong? I searched everywhere in the community and cafes for one-week reviews....... Looking back now, I’d say people vary, so just wait a week or ten days.... lol<Day 6>*Swelling - 10/10*Pain - 1.5/10*Daily inconvenience - 3/10: Maybe because gravity is pulling them down and they’re being compressed...? They feel heavier when I wake up in the morning. In the morning, the swelling and discomfort were about the same as the day before. Because I’m living my daily life, I’m not really using my arms or breasts much, but it feels like they’re swelling more. Up to now they’ve felt heavy and taut. It’s like the breast muscles are stitched with thread and being pulled from all directions, sideways and everywhere.....? It feels like a water balloon about to burst. This seems like the peak swelling so far. The upper breast has risen a lot.<Day 7>*Swelling - 9/10*Pain - 1/10*Daily inconvenience - 1/10: When I wake up and use my arms, I can immediately feel the breasts getting pumped up and swelling. (From what others who experienced it said, everyone seems to be like this.) It’s gotten a bit better, but the tingling and pulling feeling is still there. I keep doing ice packs when I can. When I occasionally open a door or lift something small and force myself, I still get a sharp burst of pain. I kept worrying because the swelling wasn’t going down, but after taking photos and comparing them side by side, I could see that it had gone down a bit, so I felt somewhat reassured.<Day 8 to 11>*Swelling - 8.5/10*Pain - 1/10*Daily inconvenience - 1/10: I could feel the swelling slowly going down, so I got really excited and thought it would keep decreasing day by day, but it stayed the same. It felt like it wasn’t going down any more? From Day 8 I thought it was going down, so I got hopeful, but then that hope stopped.... I have firm, elastic skin, and I heard that with this type of skin, it doesn’t stretch easily, so the bulging, taut feeling lasts longer. It seems to last twice as long as other people’s I still don’t lift heavy things, and the only times I force myself are when I lift a tumbler full of water or open a heavy door, and even then there is still a little soreness. >>Around Day 10, I realized there was some discharge from the left incision site. It was on my mind. Only the left wound itches. Before that I was careful, but starting from Day 10 I began driving<Day 12 to 14>*Swelling - 8/10*Pain - 1/10*Daily inconvenience - 1/10>>On Day 12, the left incision site was itchy and had discharge. When I removed the medical tape, the wound was bulging outward. I was extremely worried it might scar like a keloid😭. I started feeling anxious... The manager said to remove the tape and disinfect it, so I disinfected it and let it dry.>>On Day 13, I came in a few days earlier than planned. After the discharge had soaked it and the wound dried and settled down, it did not protrude like a keloid or hypertrophic scar, and the wound area just looked slightly thick. The surgeon said it wasn’t a big problem, that it was fine, and to let it heal and look again later.>>I showed a photo to a dermatologist friend, and they said it didn’t look like a major problem and that it was not to the point of cutting it open and redoing it, so I felt relieved. They said if it doesn’t heal properly, then after some time I should ask for it to be cut open and re-sutured later. Not right away.) I got swelling management and capsu treatment. I’m still not sure whether the capsu treatment is actually loosening things up. The breasts still feel taut and puffy. The swelling has started to go down a little<Day 15 to 19>*Swelling - 4/10*Pain - 0/10*Daily inconvenience - 0.1/10The pain and inconvenience are basically almost nonexistent. Still, when I open something heavy like the office front door, I can feel my breasts taking the strain, so I’m careful. The inframammary incision scar is healing well. I apply Fucidin every morning and evening and manage it, and sometimes a scab forms and then falls off naturally. My original breast shape was already pretty nice and came out well with UIU. 🤩The swelling has gone down quite a lot. But it’s still like a bouncy ball, and I expect it will take at least another month? maybe two months? for the swelling to fully go down, but compared with the peak swelling, it has improved a lot. If your swelling isn’t going down, you really have to wait at least two weeks. I also kept posting asking why it wasn’t going down, but you just have to quietly wait for two weeks<Day 20 to 23>*Swelling - 3/10*Pain - 0/10*Daily inconvenience - 0.1/10The daily inconvenience is basically only when opening a heavy door or carrying luggage?? Otherwise I don’t do anything that requires strength. From the night of Day 22, I started applying Dermatix Ultra. I applied it twice, and the slightly raised inframammary scar looked like it had gone in a bit!!! (Already?!?!) Every time I look at my breasts, I can feel that the swelling has gone down a lot. The shape is pretty, so I’m satisfied every time I look at them lol. My original breast shape itself was nice. Originally the left side was more puffy because of swelling, but now the left side has gone down more and the right side is bigger. (Don’t get anxious about swelling or asymmetry! There are even reviews saying asymmetry was corrected after more than 6 months.) >>When I went to the hospital and showed the surgeon the inframammary scar, they said it had healed well. It is neither hypertrophic scar nor keloid!!! It is healing beautifully. 😍 They said that when suturing, it wasn’t stitched in a straight line but pinched together and stitched, which is why it looked that way at first. Right after capsu treatment, when I touched it, it felt much softer and looser. Maybe capsu treatment really does work!?!? (One day after capsu treatment, it didn’t feel like it had become super soft or anything like that.) I was told the progress was good, and to come back in a month.<After that~>The swelling has gradually continued to go down and it’s getting prettier. The inframammary scar is also healing into a nice straight line. The swelling is going down a bit more slowly than for people around me, but I’m satisfied and waiting for the residual swelling to disappear. I’ll write a separate post about the inframammary scar later, with photos too. That’s it for the day-by-day review~~