Breast surgery: is it better before or after baby?

We would like them bigger, smaller, rounder, symmetrical… Sensitive to hormones, breasts swell during female cycles. They change during pregnancy and breastfeeding, they get bigger when you gain weight, and empty when you lose weight. In short, do you want to lift, reduce or increase them? 

Starting at what age ?

You just need to have completed your growth and have a relatively stable weight. “It is preferable to avoid weight variations of more than 5 kg to obtain a nice result. The main thing to say to all women is that the later they have an operation, the better they will heal! », Underlines Dr. Mazouz-Dorval, surgeon. In fact, the maturity of the application matters more than the age. Above all, you have to be sure of your choice: this operation, are you really doing it for yourself? What do you really expect from it?

What timeframe?

For any aesthetic intervention, a minimum period of fifteen days is mandatory between the time the surgeon gives you his estimate and the date of the operation.

Good to know : nicotine compromises wound healing. It is therefore strongly recommended to stop smoking six weeks before and six weeks after the operation. The same goes for nicotine substitutes and electronic cigarettes.

Who am I talking to?

Before starting your steps, you must contact a surgeon qualified in reconstructive and aesthetic plastic surgery, registered with the Order of Physicians. 

The advice is a little formal, but it guarantees that the surgeon is in good standing. To find a surgeon, you have the choice between several sites: suriens-plasticiens.info; esthetiques-plasticiens.com; then you refine your search by department or city.

“It’s a bit painful, but you have to trust your surgeon. Once in the operating room, he decides, recognizes Dr. Sarra Mazouz-Dorval, surgeon. Without a recommendation from your general practitioner or gynecologist, or word of mouth, it is very difficult to know if one doctor is operating better than another. »Apart from the technical aspect, the feeling must be good, you find him human, you appreciate his listening.

In the public or in the private?

It is not because the operation costs less that it will be less well done, and vice versa. “I would like someone who explains the ins and outs of the operation to me, who takes a little time to talk to me about any complications and what will happen afterwards, who answers my questions and adapts to what I want to know, testifies Dr. Mazouz-Dorval. Who also tells me about what could be a source of disappointment after the operation. For example, a prosthesis is always palpable and it changes over time, it is inevitable. She can move, make waves. It’s rare, but it’s important to say it! “

And after cancer?

There are more constraints when it comes to reconstruction after breast cancer. “This cannot be immediate if cancer cells are detected in the sentinel node. In addition, it can only be considered after radiotherapy if a prosthesis is placed, because the rays increase the risk of hulls and infection. In any case, the rays always damage the skin a little, ”warns Dr Anne Thoury.

“We recommend waiting a year after the end of the last treatment, and at least six months after radiotherapy so as not to compromise the result,” adds Dr. Mazouz-Dorval. The woman must also feel sufficiently in shape, physically and psychologically, because a breast reconstruction requires at least two or three interventions. She must also know that a reconstruction, it’s a new breast, it is not the one before, and it is up to us to explain it to the patient. “

Before or after pregnancy?

Pregnancy changes the breasts, whether they are natural or remade. “Some young women, very self-conscious about their large breasts or a deformity, will want to be operated on before becoming pregnant. But for a beautification operation, it is better to wait until you have had your children, because we do not know how the breasts will develop during a pregnancy. They can grow, lose volume, sag, ”advises Dr. Mazouz-Dorval.

Before or after breastfeeding?

You can have breast prostheses at the age of 18 and breastfeed without problem, but no surgeon can guarantee that you will breastfeed without any worries! “We do not even know if a woman will be able to breastfeed when she has not been operated! notes the surgeon. Some surgical techniques cut the milk ducts and jeopardize breastfeeding opportunities. Finally, like pregnancy, breastfeeding changes the breast.

What if I don’t want prosthetics?

Some women categorically refuse the idea of ​​having a foreign body that will stay inside their body for years. Injections of their own fat do not have this disadvantage.

They make it possible to increase the size of her breasts in a moderate (it depends on the amount of fat that the doctor can remove), to correct deformities, or to model a reconstruction. The result is more natural, the breasts move with you, but it is restrictive because it takes several injections.