Finding a good sleeping position after a breast augmentation surgery can be a tricky thing for most patients and many of them struggle to find the most comfortable angle of sleeping as it’s important to know that sleeping in a wrong position and putting pressure on breasts can cause problems with healing and even lead to different results after the surgery so it’s important to know all the information regarding sleeping after a breast augmentation surgery.
Sleep is an important part of our daily lives which without it our bodies can’t function well or even not at all, its also important after all surgeries such as a breast augmentation.
Sleep is an important part of healing because during it the brain releases important chemicals many of which act to the growth and healing of the body and improves the defense system.
A good sleep will help reducing inflammation, helping with a good blood flow, increasing cellular regeneration and having a positive effect on cognitive function and as a result boosting the healing speed.
The other benefit of a good sleep after a breast augmentation surgery is helping with the pain, sleep can play an important role of relieving you from your pain after a surgery so getting a good amount of sleep can help you with the pain after a surgery.
Getting around 8 hours of sleep is ideal and should be more after a surgery to help with healing.
The best way is to sleep on your back for the first month or two and you should also elevate your back and get a sleeping incline of 30-45 degrees this will also help to minimize swelling after the breast augmentation surgery.
While you can use regular pillows, using a wedge pillow to elevate your upper body will get you a more comfortable sleeping after a breast augmentation surgery.
Regular pillows that are made of down feather or any alternative are not a good option as they are very squishy and as you lie on them after a while you will sink into them and that elevated position will be lost so they are not a good option.
Wedge pillows are firm and as a result you won’t sick into them and you will stay on that elevated position and as it’s not like regular pillows which you stack on top of one another arranging it before sleep is much easier and you don’t want to be bothered by things like arranging your pillows after a surgery.
Side sleeping is fine after you get through your whole recovery process but right after getting a breast augmentation surgery rolling and sleeping to the sides should be avoided and that’s why some patients will put pillows on their sides to prevent them from rolling
If your someone who rolls a lot in your sleep, putting a pillow beneath each of your arms can prevent you from rolling and if you’re sleeping with a partner, you can ask them to watch over you and if you rolled during sleep, they gently help you move onto your back again.
Most of the time if people are not used to sleep on their back, it will uncomfortable to do as most people are side or stomach sleepers or both.
As sleeping is a crucial part of your healing process you should try to practice sleeping on your back weeks prior to the surgery so you’ll be ready and comfortable with sleeping on your back after your breast augmentation surgery.
After around 6 weeks of sleeping elevated you can resume sleeping on your bed however, it can be a bit hard to transition to that at first but you’ll get used to it and ultimately after around two months you can sleep on your side again.
For a few weeks after your surgery, you should wear a compression garment and because of the similarities some people call it a bra though, it has a medical purpose.
Wearing that bra will reduce the swelling and will ensure that the results of the surgery will stay intact, you should wear it for around two weeks and not take it of unless you want to take a bath then after a while you can limit wearing it to only days and after you completely healed you can stop using it.
As sleeping is an important part of healing here are some important tips to ensure you get a good sleep after your breast augmentation surgery:
Getting a good amount of sleep is an important part of healing as it will help muscle tissues to repair themselves especially after a surgery.
As it was mentioned before wearing compression garments is crucial to the healing process as it minimizes the swelling, bruises and the pressure you feel around the incision site, patients who reliably use their compression garments get the best results possible from their breast augmentation surgery.
This is a general tip which is useful for everyone but regarding the breast augmentation surgery it is even more important and helpful.
Try to turn of all screens and all lights and get in your nightwear a while before you go to bed, this will help your mind to relax and unwind and help you get to sleep easier, so don’t go through social media right before you sleep, instead give your mind, time to relax.
As sleeping after surgeries can be a difficult thing to do setting your mind to ease will be a huge help to experience less difficulties after a breast augmentation surgery.
In addition to the previously mentioned things, if you still struggle with sleeping you can do other things to relax your mind and body such as taking a warm shower, listening to music or podcasts or even reading a book, and if you did all these and still struggled with sleeping and want to use your phone, turn on the blue light filter and reduce the brightness.
You should start walking around after the first day of your surgery as important walking around is for your physical health it is also important for your mental health and your sleep quality, light movement throughout the day will help you improve both the quality and duration of you sleep, and it will reduce the blood clots and prevents ache and stiffness from sitting in one place after a surgery.
Just remember to not go back to your exercise routine until you are completely healed as it will put pressure on your breasts and will cause complications.
Investing in new sheets, blankets or pillows can be a good idea if you are not comfortable in your bed also if you sleep during the day or in the evening when the sun is still up having a black curtain can help you get to sleep faster and get a better sleep quality, so ensuring you sleep comfortable is realty important to your healing process after a breast augmentation surgery.
Alcohol and caffeine are sleep inhibitors, drinking alcohol will prevent your body to go through the deeper stages of sleep and as a result some beneficial chemicals won’t be released to the body by brain and it will have a big impact on your healing process for the worse.