I'd like to clarify that I will ultimately be checking with my surgeon tomorrow about this, but I'm also curious about other people experiences as much as their advice, which is why I'm asking. So don't worry, I will ask my surgeon.
I've been binding for two years or so before my surgery a week ago. I had a DI and all is well, I had my drains out after five or so days and that went well, bruising and swelling aside, everything has been rather easy... Except my compression vest/binder is crippling me. I feel like I know through experience what is too tight, but then I have the automatic trust in my surgeons judgement to size me up for this kind of stuff. It's the kind that does up at the front, with three hook and eye thingies, and then a zip over the top. Around the bottom of the vest is a thicker, tighter elastic strip, about two and a half inches wide that sits just under my pecs, around my upper waist. It's so tight I have trouble breathing. I undo the zipper and the bottom hook for an hour or so at night just so I can have a moment of peace, and I can feel my ribs moving back into place, and it's a sharp pain as it does. The rest of the binder pulls at my shoulder and back muscles, which is a problem I've had with binders after 5-8 hours, not after two or three seconds as I am in this one. It's so intensely uncomfortable that I tear up at the thought of having another three weeks in this, at least. It's so uncomfortable and I mean, I'm in it 24/7 with very little actual pain from surgery.
I still have the packaging and I sized myself up last night with the company size chart, and my waist measurements are a large, but I've been put into a medium, which does fit my chest, though on the cusp of a large...
Has anyone else had this issue? How did you approach your surgeon about it? I'm not sure how to say it, because I feel like I know what feels like the wrong kind of pressure on my body. This hurts. It shouldn't hurt and hinder breathing, right? I am getting my dressings changed tomorrow so I plan to tell him I think, or know, it's too small, that it hurts and I can't keep wearing it. But... Even if I also feel like I know exactly what wearing a binder feels like, and I know what unhealthy and unsafe binding compression feels like on my body... I feel like I'm telling a surgeon that it hurts after surgery. I mean, like, of course you're going to have some kind of pain, but the pain shouldn't come from the compression I'm talking about, right? Its not the compression on the chest or nipples, but under them, around my lower ribs.
Any advice or stories are welcome. On a more positive note I feel amazing. So there's that. Thanks guys!
Mine was correctly sized, though I still experienced the discomfort that you are describing. I had a lot of back and shoulder pain. I didn't ask about it until they took my drains out. They readjusted the straps on mine at the shoulder (there was velcro there). It started to make me break out, so I called and got permission to leave it off after 2 weeks in it. I had very very little swelling, which is the only reason she allowed it.
When sizing mine, they asked me what size binder I wore and went down a size from there. There was no real measurement involved. If you live close enough, I'd say call and consider going in to have them look at it.
So I saw him today and all is well, I'm allowed to unhook the bottom hook every so often when I feel too much pressure, and sleep in a tight tshirt if it gets too much while I'm trying to sleep. I think I've been pushing it as well, so I was told to just calm down for a bit.
I wish I had some advice for you, but all I have is my share of experience. I've got a perfect sized binder post-op and almost no pain from the surgery, but I've got a lot of side/back/rib pain from the binder. I wake up to the binder being very uncomfortable almost every night, and when I do, I undo the binder and keep sleeping. Once I wake up, I put it back on. It's not as uncomfortable when awake. My only advice is to try and keep it on as much as you can, it helps a lot with the healing process!