Peri recovery

[Khatru]

I had periareolar top surgery on Friday 16th (4 days ago) and I got one of my drains removed today (the other was still bleeding a bit) and I was wondering how long it took for you guys to recover. I hear about people not being able to move their arms and being miserable but I'm starting to feel pretty OK and I can move my arms around (though not completely) and it doesn't hurt, which makes me think I'm doing something wrong because I shouldn't... I still have wear a compressive bandage thing and I'm not allowed to take it off yet and it kills me, especially when trying to sleep. Most of the pain from the actual surgery is starting to go away, it's just the binder that hurts (and the remaining drain) and I just want to take it off!! Somehow it's starting to feel like it's just becoming tighter and tighter and I don't know if this is because I'm swelling up or w/e. How long did it take for you guys? And do you have any tips on how to deal with the compression thingy? I'm thinking of just wearing my regular old binder instead but that might be Bad, i don't know.

[Sir Real]

I only needed pain meds for the drains for the first 2-3 days. Even then I would have been fine without any pain meds. My mind freaked out at the idea of the drains and the small amount of pain just highlighted it and made it harder to try to ignore. Drains could have been taken out after the 2nd day but were left in for 5 because... blah... a story for another time.
Overall, I was tender, but not in pain, if that makes sense. My mobility came back very quickly. Swelling and bruising were minimal. My main issue was that I was very weak and tired for a couple weeks. For the first week or two, I had trouble even holding a ceramic mug.
I didn't wear any compression.

[Elis]

I had the double incision procedure without drains; but I found the binder was the worst part of the healing process. I had to take it off for a few mins everyday to give myself a break and it didn't compromise the healing process.

[Khatru]

I didn't wear any compression.

And it turned out alright anyways? Because I've been thinking of at least taking it off at night because I can't sleep with it, but my surgeon said I should wear it but it feels a bit unnecessary. The first four or three nights I had to take oxycodone to help me sleep just because of the compressive bandage and I do not want to do that (getting dependant on morphine does not really sound like a good idea). And now I'm starting to feel fine? I understand that with DI you need to "push the nipples in" but since they aren't moved with peri you shouldn't need to do that.

[November Fox]

It took about a month for me to regain most of my mobility. No real pain, just stiffness in the muscles.

I would personally recommend wearing that thing for as long as your surgeon wants you to. It helps shape your chest and guards against complications. 4 days in is very early. Your nipples may not be completely loose, they need to re-grow to the surrounding skin, and complications can still occur.

I wore the compression garment happily after I had several complications, knowing that it potentially safeguarded me from further trouble.

Perhaps you can ask your surgeon if you can loosen it a bit. Play it safe, man.

[Khatru]

I've loosened it as much as I can but it's still too tight. I ended up wearing my old binder over my dressings instead and that was much better. But I'll ask on friday if I can get a new compressive thing a size up. I mean it feels like if it's so tight that my ribs hurt and I can't breath it's too much.

[November Fox]

That does sound a bit extreme.  Good idea wearing your old binder.
Congrats on getting surgery!