Top Surgery Post Op Questions...

[Guest OneSmallStep]

Hey guys (and any gals who find their way into this thread too ;-) )

I had top-surgery on June 30th, so just about a month ago, with Dr. Garramone.

I was wondering for anyone else who has had this surgery (with the "free-nipple-graft,") about how long did it take for your nipples to heal? Mine are definitely coming along, but not completely where I feel comfy without having a bandaid with neosporin covering them. I am also wondering if anyone didn't put a bandaid/neosporin on theirs after runnng out of the yellow stuff he gives? I ask because I know the more you keep a wound bandaged, the longer it takes to fully scab.

Also, my incisions are still pretty small looking, how long till my scars will "stop" stretching? I've been taking it super easy trying my best to not lift anything heavy or lift my arms up very high. Just wondering at what point will I be out of the woods, and able to do stuff without worrying that I'll stretch my scars?

And lastly, how long did it take till you feel comfy sleeping on your stomach? I am a stomach sleeper, and this lack of proper sleep (ie sleeping on my back and waking up every few hours) is killing me... lol

Thanks for the input yall

[Guest sarah f]

I just want to step in here and say Congrats on your top surgery. Maybe someone can come in here now and help with your question.

[Guest AndrewK]

Hey,

My nipples scabbed/healed really quickly in comparison to other people's I think. I pretty much stopped using any type of bandaids, etc on them a little under one month post-op (except for one stitch in my left nipple that stayed until about 4.5weeks post op). I know guys who have kept stuff on their nipples for 2 months....it just depends on how quickly your body heals and your comfort level.

I'd definitely still bandage it for longer than you have the yellow stuff...at least 3 weeks after surgery IMO. After 3 weeks I pretty much kept band aids off of them (but I put neosporin on them) during the day and only covered at night.

With that said, I started sleeping on my stomach again (I'm also a stomach sleeper so I feel your pain lol) 4 weeks after surgery. I was still covering one nipple for a bit...so I was just very careful to cover it well so that it wouldn't move if I shifted. I also don't put my arms up under the pillow like I used to...I keep them down at my sides, at most just bending one arm a bit.

I'm currently 6 weeks post op, and I feel like if I move too much my scars will still stretch...so I can't give you an estimate on that lol.

[Guest OneSmallStep]

Thanks! I can't wait to stop using band aids, my skin is so super sore from putting them on and taking them off all the time :-/ The only brand I could get to stick properly are band aid brand's cloth ones which stick a lil too well ... also, I've been keeping the band aids on to shower... is that what you did? Or did ya take them off?

[Guest AndrewK]

I actually developed a rash from the bandaid adhesive...so what I did instead is cut off the sticky part of the bandaids (so I used the solid gauze from the bandaid -- regular gauze with the holes pulled out some stitches early and peed me off lol) and used medical tape to tape it in place......but I ended up being allergic to the medical tape too, so I switched to paper tape...which didn't stick as well, but I used hugeee lines of tape over my chest and that helped with it sticking lol. My mom also bought me 4x4inch gauze pads to try so that it would cover the already irritated area to let it heal.

I never wore bandaids in the shower, I just made sure to keep my back to the shower head until all of the stitches/scab was gone. I think the only time the scab/stitches really came off properly was in the shower.

[Guest AndrewK]

Also - you might have a problem with bandaids sticking because of the oil in your skin if you aren't washing there are well as you used to. Rubbing an alcohol swab over the area helped a lot for me.

[Guest StrandedOutThere]

My nipples took a while to heal completely. I think most of the scabs were gone after 3 to 4 weeks. I still covered my nipples after I ran out of that yellow stuff though. All I did was loosely cover them with a dry gauze pad, just to keep things from rubbing on them. Also, my skin was DESTROYED from the adhesive. I had to keep rotating the places where tape touched me. I think I have scars from the tape damage in a few places!!

It's hard to say much about the scars. Mine didn't start looking bigger until about a month later but never did stretch all that much. I stayed REALLY still and didn't lift my arms for several weeks. Even after I could lift my arms, I avoided doing it as much as possible for probably a month and a half after surgery.

It was probably a month before I stopped sleeping on my back, maybe longer.

[Guest OneSmallStep]

I actually developed a rash from the bandaid adhesive...so what I did instead is cut off the sticky part of the bandaids (so I used the solid gauze from the bandaid -- regular gauze with the holes pulled out some stitches early and peed me off lol) and used medical tape to tape it in place......but I ended up being allergic to the medical tape too, so I switched to paper tape...which didn't stick as well, but I used hugeee lines of tape over my chest and that helped with it sticking lol. My mom also bought me 4x4inch gauze pads to try so that it would cover the already irritated area to let it heal.

I never wore bandaids in the shower, I just made sure to keep my back to the shower head until all of the stitches/scab was gone. I think the only time the scab/stitches really came off properly was in the shower.

Ya my girlfriend has been helping me with bandaids and putting them on in ways to not get the irritated skin, cuz we tried all sorts of other brands and gauze pads with the medical tape and found it wasn't sticking properly. The only tape I found to actually stay on (and stay on Gosh darned good that it hurt when I took it off) was the tape that Garramone put over the gauze at the unveiling... LOL...

Ya I've been keeping my back to the shower head and holding my hands over the band aids cuz I wasn't sure if water would be okay on them. So far only one stitch has come out of my right nipple, and that was from me noticing something sticking up with brown (scab) stuff on it and flicking at it and it came off and I realized it was just a stitch coming out. I'll be sure to take the bandaids off before showering next and maybe more will start to come off since I'm now 4 weeks post-op...

[Guest OneSmallStep]

It's hard to say much about the scars. Mine didn't start looking bigger until about a month later but never did stretch all that much. I stayed REALLY still and didn't lift my arms for several weeks. Even after I could lift my arms, I avoided doing it as much as possible for probably a month and a half after surgery.

It was probably a month before I stopped sleeping on my back, maybe longer.

Ya I've been being super careful, I figure why pay so much for something only to let it get all stretched out right? Thankfully my girlfriend is very understanding and she's taken on all my household chores and basically let me not do much of anything as far as lifting of my arms or other things goes. Of course she's also loving the fact that she gets to drive since my Mustang's power steering isn't working and it's a stick shift so that'd be too much for me to worry about hurting/stretching myself on... Lol...

[Drea]

I don't know what happens really long term but I observed, in a period of a year, the areas that stretched faded in color faster and are actually less visible than the areas that haven't stretched.

[Guest Joe Joe]

Im 6 weeks post op with Garramone as well. And the bandaid thing is public enemy #1 if you ask me. I feared I would never stand straight again....BUT I do more and more each day...almost back to my pre-op stance. Take AndrewK's advice and twist and turn the band aid anyway you can to keep the same area from being hit. My nipples healed rather kwik...so im not putting any covering on them now. Kept my back to the water in the shower and that worked well. Due to the band aid burn I have been using a medicated anti-itch cream...i dont think i can say the brand on here...but this particular brand works better than ANY of the stuff that has hydrocortisone in it. PM me or something and maybe I can tell u the name that way. I did try paper tape...but my skin was too oily for it.

long story short...u will walk talk again.

[Guest OneSmallStep]

Im 6 weeks post op with Garramone as well. And the bandaid thing is public enemy #1 if you ask me. I feared I would never stand straight again....BUT I do more and more each day...almost back to my pre-op stance. Take AndrewK's advice and twist and turn the band aid anyway you can to keep the same area from being hit. My nipples healed rather kwik...so im not putting any covering on them now. Kept my back to the water in the shower and that worked well. Due to the band aid burn I have been using a medicated anti-itch cream...i dont think i can say the brand on here...but this particular brand works better than ANY of the stuff that has hydrocortisone in it. PM me or something and maybe I can tell u the name that way. I did try paper tape...but my skin was too oily for it.

Ya after hearing Andrew say he was showering without bandaids, I went ahead and did that the other day and literally 5 stitches came out of my right nipple when I just touched the neosporin to it with my finger (had been putting it on the bandaid and then bandaid on the nipple) ... and then another few fell out actually in the shower too. My left one followed suit within a day. Now I'm just going without a bandage and since my left one has more of a neosporin scab (yellowish) I've gone a day without puttin it on there and now it is starting to not look like puss is coming out of my nipple (I was worried there for a bit!)

Last night was the first night without any bandaids on at night either, but I'm also still sleeping on my back. And finally put some hydrocortisone cream on my bandaid rashes. Can't wait till that goes away cuz I'm pretty sure that is where my "soreness" is actually coming from.. cuz it feels more like a sunburn soreness.

Is the medicated stuff over the counter?