“How painful is a breast lift?”

Interestingly, enough breast lift surgery is not that painful. In general manipulation of skin and fat in the body is not near as painful as having surgery for bone and muscle. That being said, breast reduction surgery takes approximately two hours and requires approximately 7 to 10 days of initial recovery with final results being seen at approximately three months. If you would like to set up a virtual consultation to further discuss, you can direct message me your name and number on Instagram @DrDaddyK and my staff will contact you.

Most people say it is not painful.

In general, not as painful as you would think. A usual procedure that goes with a breast lift is an abdominoplasty which is much more painful.

Minimally painful

Not very painful if you only do the breast lift. Painkillers are usually stopped in less than 48h. It’s a different story if you add a breast implant at the same time.

From my experience in my practice, a breast lift is not particularly painful and recovery is quick. Expect to have tender areas for a few months but wearing a comfortable soft support bra takes care of most of the discomfort.
Dr. M

It depends on the surgery, how it is done, who does it, and the care post-operative. The doctor should have experience in this operation, the people rendering the post-operative care should have experience, and instruction should be accurate post-operatively. This is a good operation. But only on who does it, how the post-operative care is rendered, and how the patient takes care of the wound.

Thank you for the question. Most patients get by with 2-3 doses of pain meds than Tylenol for 12 days.. depending what really is done. That is a straight lift, type of lift with/without an implant. Hope that answers your question.

Generally speaking, I am always surprised how little discomfort most of my breast lift patients have after this surgery.

Breast lifts are not a painful procedure. Discomfort occurs when you are moving arms or engaging pectoral muscles. Most patients require 1-2 days of pain medication to be able to get around.

A good question, thank you for asking!

Everyone's pain tolerance is different, and it is tough to know for certain how you would do with postoperative pain unless we had a detailed conversation about recovery from any other past procedures or surgeries. It is also important to know if you have or direct family members have had issues with postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) with general anesthesia, as narcotic prescriptions can make that situation worse!

However, with a good pain control plan, recovery from a breast lift (mastopexy) can be well-tolerated and in some fortunate individuals, with relatively low pain. In my own practice, I perform a nerve block of the breast tissues before I even make an incision, which helps with pain control during the first several hours after surgery. Additionally, and if more than just skin tightening is performed with the lift (i.e., I have to remove a small quantity of breast tissue as well to give you a good breast shape), then I will have access to the chest muscles underneath your breast tissues - in those cases, I perform a nerve block all around your chest muscles, which can provide really good pain relief for up to 1-2 days post-op, so that you do not have to take many narcotic pain pills to keep your soreness under control.

Doing these nerve blocks has helped my patients immensely, so that they are typically taking only Extra Strength Tylenol supplemented by over-the-counter, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory pain medication (NSAIDs) such as Aleve, Ibuprofen, or Motrin (taken with food to avoid stomach upset). By two (2) weeks post-op, most of my patients who get a breast reduction (which is more involved than a breast lift, given the removal of breast tissue) are taking only Tylenol as needed, or not even taking any pain medication.

In some cases, I also prescribe a strong anti-inflammatory called Toradol (Ketorolac) by mouth for a maximum of five (5) days post-op, which, combined with Tylenol, handles pain better than most of the typical narcotics surgeons prescribe. I also - working with your anesthesia provider - allow for an IV dose of Toradol in the Operating Room as we close up your skin, which, with the nerve blocks, does wonders for post-op pain in that critical 1st and 2nd post-op day period.

You have to understand that your post-op pain will NOT be zero, but it can be managed quite well with what we call a multimodal (multi-pronged) approach. This keeps narcotic use down, as narcotics are addictive, constipating, and can trigger side effects such as rashes or nausea/vomiting. Some incisional soreness, as sutures resorb and normal scar healing takes place, should be expected, and after "getting over the hump" of the 1st postop week, it is usually very well tolerated without heavy duty drugs.

Seek a Board-Certified plastic surgeon for your breast lift (mastopexy) who is well-qualified in managing your postoperative pain with minimal to no narcotic use, and one who has familiarity performing some of these nerve blocks that I mentioned. Narcotics are definitely not the answer these days!

Nirav B. Patel, MD, JD, FACS, FCLM

Most patients describe a breast lift as a 2-4/10 in regards to pain. You should expect to use narcotic pain medication for 2-3 days following the procedure, then transition to acetaminophen and ibuprofen for a few weeks.

1 to 2 weeks of discomfort