When I was researching online, I couldn't find the information I wanted, so I am going to write a review focused on what I personally felt after surgery. I plan to upload updates whenever I can for people like me who research everything online. I can't raise my arms, so there are no photos yet. Long post warning.
Specs: underbust 75 / breast base 12.5 / inframammary incision / dual-plane / Mentor Xtra 375 cc each side / accessory breast liposuction done together.
Prepared in advance: pouch porridge, bottled Tylenol, button-up pajamas, and a required caregiver.
I am extremely prone to fussing and absolutely terrified. I am scared even of injections, and even a tiny injury hurts me about five times more than other people ^^.. I am very cautious and worried, and I had never had plastic surgery before. Naturalness is what I aim for. At first glance, I wanted proportions that would not look excessive (implants can never look completely natural, but I still wanted natural-looking proportions).
I had been flat-chested since childhood, so I had long thought that if I ever had plastic surgery, I might choose breast surgery. I think I had felt that way since middle school. Until my mid-to-late twenties, I was extremely thin and lived without thinking much about having a small chest. But after starting exercise, I began gaining weight. I had fairly substantial hips, but having no breasts started to bother me whenever I looked in the mirror. To make matters worse, after turning thirty, it felt like the little upper-breast volume I had was disappearing. I was stressed every time I looked in the mirror. I had tried several times to go for consultations since my early twenties, but I was too scared and never went. Eventually I decided I had to do it before it got any later.
I only researched online, and the hospital where I had surgery was the first and last place I went for an in-person consultation. Honestly, most surgery reviews only list advantages and say nothing about the hard or uncomfortable parts, so they feel a little fake. But here, strangely, there were hardly any obviously promotional recommendations or reviews (though I may have missed some), and the comments about the surgeon and the surgical results were consistent, which made me trust them lol.
As people had said in the reviews, the surgeon was very matter-of-fact and only said what needed to be said. As soon as I arrived, after checking my specs, he told me the cc range from the smallest to largest implant that could be inserted and told me to ask anything I was curious about. But this was my first consultation, and I had not studied anything about breast augmentation, so I could not ask anything lol. You need to know something before you can ask about it. So I asked whether he could recommend a cc size suited to my body proportions, but he said that was not something he should decide for me. Some people might find that unpleasant, but strangely, I felt reassured by that answer.
The surgeon was the only breast-surgery specialist there, and his long experience gave me some confidence. The answer above also made me feel how sincerely he had dealt with so many patients. It was like the impression of a working person who had sincerely handled people for a long time and had become worn out and exhausted.. (my speculation).
So I scheduled the surgery and paid everything on the very day of the consultation. Until the day of surgery, I was in extreme fear and had zero sense of reality. I had said I would do it, but I kept wavering until the day, wondering whether I would get a refund if I canceled. I was terribly scared. On the day, after the final consultation, we confirmed the implant cc, took more photos, and did various other things, but I was so nervous that I could barely understand what people were saying haha.
Only when I lay on the operating table did it feel real. I cried a little when the anesthetic went in because I was scared. Then I woke up shivering violently because I was so cold, already dressed and wearing the upper band, in the recovery room. They covered me with three blankets and put a heater under the blankets because I was so cold. I have absolutely no memory of whether I walked to the recovery room or was taken there.
That was the unnecessary background about my specs and why I decided to have surgery. Now for the real review!!
On the day of surgery, I was not in pain, perhaps thanks to the residual anesthetic, the IV, or the patient-controlled analgesia. But I was groggy and could not move my arms, so my caregiver changed all my clothes, carried all my belongings, and scheduled my suture-removal appointment before we left.
I get motion sickness in electric cars, so I called a Carnival taxi to avoid feeling nauseated and went home. After arriving, my caregiver changed me into pajamas. I could not lie down, so I propped several pillows on the bed and slept sitting back against them. But when I opened my eyes, I was lying down asleep. Damn.
I tried to get up by myself but absolutely could not, and suddenly felt like crying, so I called my caregiver while whimpering. They pushed my back and helped me sit up. I finally understood why a triangular cushion is necessary.
Day 2: I took the prescribed antibiotics and painkillers on time, and took Tylenol whenever I felt even the slightest sign of pain. Because of the inframammary incision, I could not raise my arms. Just think of yourself as a Tyrannosaurus. It hurt less than expected, but once lying down, I absolutely could not get up alone. By evening, my breasts felt like muscle soreness, while my armpits began to sting.
I have rhinitis, and when I felt a sneeze coming, I took a deep breath, but it hurt like hell and startled me so much that the sneeze went away. I slept constantly. That was day 2.
Day 3: My lower back and back hurt terribly, so I just slept lying down. Using momentum from my legs, I went “heave-ho!” and barely sat up like a roly-poly toy. My armpits began to sting and throb more. Thanks to the pain pump and medication, it was not terribly painful—painful enough to make me wonder whether this was really pain relief.
But since it was still major surgery, my body was exhausted. I kept feeling sleepy, had no appetite, and could not digest food even when I ate. Going to the bathroom was also extremely difficult, so I barely drank water except when taking medicine (even putting on and removing underwear and tearing toilet paper were difficult; my armpits hurt and felt weak).
I had no appetite but had to take medicine, so I solved breakfast, lunch, and dinner with the pouch porridge I had bought in advance. I could not open things like lids at all. I wondered if I should have chosen an inframammary incision instead. Still, honestly, the pain felt bearable at that point. The pain-pump line was more annoying than the pain, so I wanted it removed quickly, but about 30 minutes after it was removed, the pain started.
Lying down began to feel even harder. But sitting made my back hurt, so I took Tylenol and went to sleep.
Day 4: Who said daily life was possible from day 4? The real pain seems to have started after the pain pump was removed. My breasts hurt terribly, I was short of breath, my back hurt, and my armpits hurt, so I woke up while sleeping. It was time for my morning medicine, so I took it and sat for a while, then had an existential moment. I realized that I had not won the pain-free lottery; I had simply been less painful thanks to the pain pump.
Still, it was not excruciating like in some other reviews. I began feeling bubbling in my breasts, as seen in videos. After eating a regular meal, I felt short of breath, unable to digest, nauseated, and like I might vomit. Maybe because I had taken too much Tylenol ^^ lol.
The pain alternated between pressure in my breasts, muscle-soreness-like pain, and sharp twinges. My armpits and accessory-breast areas throbbed, stung, and pulled; it was chaos. I miss the pain pump. I kept feeling bubbling in my breasts and accessory-breast areas (they said it was subcutaneous emphysema, a fairly common reaction after surgery).
My abdomen was extremely bloated, so when I sat, it felt as if my breasts and abdomen folded together like an ET. The folded area was compressed, and it felt as though my solar plexus was being pressed too. When I got up after lying down, it felt as if my breasts stretched and sank downward, and the skin hurt.
In the middle of all that, perhaps I was becoming a little more comfortable because I started feeling hungry. But eating made digestion difficult again. I naturally swell easily and the swelling does not go down well, so it felt as if my skin was expanding along with the swelling and implants. With the upper band as well, I felt constricted.
When sitting, I became short of breath. When lying down, the area inside my back near the shoulder blades hurt so much that I wanted to lie on my side. The surgery seems to have gone well, but I feel anxious and scared because I am not sure whether this pain is normal.
That was my review through day 4.