Not sure what post-op compression garments are for following breast surgery or why we use them? Watch the short video below or read this short discussion from Dr Marion Chan on why we have breast surgery patients wear compression garments following any breast surgery procedure.
Why do you need to wear a compression garment after breast surgery?
We routinely utilise postoperative compression garments after your operation to provide you with maximum comfort. This is true for all of my patients undergoing any kind of breast surgery, whether that would be breast reconstruction, a breast lift, breast augmentation or a breast reduction operation.
The primary reason why we’d need you to wear these garments after an operation is because you get quite a lot of swelling after your procedure. Swelling means that you will get extra pain, which might cause quite a lot of discomfort, and it may even impact on your wound healing capabilities. If we give you the garments and you are able to keep the garments on for as much as possible that will then control the swelling to the best of its abilities and is going to provide a better environment for your scars to settle down and for the wounds to heal and to help control your pain.
How long do I need to wear the compression garments for?
I would routinely recommend that compression garments are used for approximately six to eight weeks after your operation, and it’s also important that you do not try to wear any bras with underwires in them as that could be quite uncomfortable, especially if any of your incisions are at the breast crease.
Do I need to wear them at night as well?
Compression is necessary for a 24 hour period of time, so it’s recommended that patients wear their compression garments to sleep at night time as well, and only remove them for showering once a day. We also give you two garments at the time of your operation so that you can have one in the wash and wear one and then the next day, swap it over.
