Recent Mastectomy? What You Should Know About Mastectomy Bras

Having recently undergone a mastectomy is a traumatic process, and a time of extensive healing. It's also a time when you're left trying to decide if you want to undergo reconstruction or invest in mastectomy bras instead. If you've decided to invest in mastectomy bras, you'll need to go for a fitting to choose the right ones. Here's what you need to know about the process.

Heal Before You Schedule A Fitting

While you may be eager to restore your appearance after your surgery, you need to be sure that your surgical site has fully healed before you schedule a fitting. This protects against infection, but also ensures a proper fit. Remember that there will be swelling around the surgical site until it heals, so you won't get a proper fit on the bras until that swelling goes down. You will need to wait six to eight weeks after your surgery before you schedule the fitting. Your doctor will give you the clearance based on how you are healing.

Be Prepared To Make Some Choices

There are a lot of choices to be made throughout the mastectomy bra selection process. While the original mastectomy bras were all full-coverage and not very attractive, there are many different options now. You can choose lacy, racer-back, seamless, and even underwire bras available that will accommodate a breast prosthesis.

Not only will you have to choose the bra you like, you'll also have to select the prosthesis style and shape that you feel most comfortable with. Try several different ones, and take your time before you make a final choice. You may even want to choose more than one style so that you have options for different outfits and days.

Buy Multiple Bras And Inserts

While you might think that you'll be fine with just one bra and one prosthesis, it's in your best interest to buy at least a couple, even if it's a couple of the same kind. You'll want at least two so that you have one you can wear while you're washing the other one. Your mastectomy bra measurement specialist can help you determine how many you really need based on your lifestyle and needs.

Choosing mastectomy bras is a personal process, and it's different for every person. Take the time to understand what you can expect, and be prepared for the consultation process when it's time to go shopping for one.

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