Breast surgery

[waitingforever]

I am looking for breast reduction surgery in London. Looking to go down from H size to maybe D. Has anyone got any recommendations? Really fed up of this and now having done with kids, just want to go for it. Please please please ... help me get me going with this!! I think the cost is around 8-10k, is that correct?

Forgot to add - looking for recommendations for surgeons? And also how to go about researching for it.

I’m 5 days out from breast reduction, can’t help with a recommendation as I’m in the NW but I would say go to a private hospital rather than through one of the cosmetic surgery ‘chains’/clinics. Already I’m seeing a huge improvement, even though I’m pretty bruised and battered. I was a 32K, it’s too early to know my final size, but I’m 8 pounds down :). I paid 6.5K all in. I was initially meant to be in hospital one night, ended up three because I had some complications, but there was no additional charge for that.

I've looked into having this done.
Initially went to my GP and they recommended me to approach my local BMI hospital. I rang them and looked up their surgeons online for reviews, chose one and paid for a consultation (think that was £200).
I wanted a surgeon that did NHS as well as private.
They quoted me £6,000 (I'm in the SE, not far from London).
I am not sure if I will go ahead with the surgery, the money but mostly the recovery time puts me off, so I am trying to lose that last stone in weight to see if that helps reduce my breast size.
If I go ahead with the surgery the price quoted includes follow ups and further consultations before surgery.
I know I haven't answered your question, but I hope that helps and if nothing else I've given your thread a bump!

My surgeon also told me there is a limit to how much they can reduce the size of the breast.
I was looking to go from an F to a C, (I'm small framed) and they told me that might not be possible as they want to leave me with nicely shaped breasts and minimised scarring.
I'm going to lose weight anyway, and so hopefully that will make it a smaller reduction as I also assume as I get older my breast size will increase naturally through the ageing process (middle aged spread) so want to go fairly small (for me) to an C cup which I haven't been since I was 12

@ilovecherries thanks! How is the pain now? Is it something that can be coped with painkillers? I have a very low threshold so very worried about it?

@apparentlyso thanks for answering! This is exactly what I wanted to know. I am going to head to GP as the first step.
I really hope the surgeon can suggest massive cup reduction as I am so frustrated and it would be useless to go for surgery if it can't be for a good reduction.

waitingforever, the strangest thing is it has been virtually pain free. I watched all the you tube videos etc and was prepared for significant pain and reduced mobility, but there has been hardly any. Over the course of the week I think I’ve had maybe two doses of paracetamol and three or four doses of ibuprofen. I’m not driving yet, although I probably could if I really had to, and I can’t reach up to the top of the kitchen cabinets. But I can pull clothes over my head etc without any issue. Mine was a massive reduction, and I still have my chest wrapped so I can’t shower yet - they were unwrapped yesterday for the first time, but surgeon felt they’d do better with support for another week. I’m a bit tired still, and extremely bruised but I am much better than I expected.

I decided just to trust my surgeon re final size. He knew I wanted to go as small as possible but he also said there were limits in order to get a good shape and preserve the nipple. I’m still far too swollen to guess a final size, and I would be surprised if I achieved the C cup I’d hoped for - but 8 lbs gone is pretty massive either way.

@ilovecherries this is so reassuring to hear! Pain was what I was worried about ... I am going to go for it this hear now. My frustration is so high that I can't take it anymore and no amount of bra fitting can sort it except a reduction.

Have you needed help around the house to get on? I have a baby and an older one so maybe would need some to look out for kids.

Ilovecherries I would be really interested to hear how your recovery/mobility goes...I have a pretty active job/lifestyle and hope to return to all that as soon as possible, but it's difficult to get a straight answer from the surgeon as obvious they don't want to commit to giving a timeline as everyone recovers differently.

I think I could have managed a baby (though thankfully didn’t have to!), but would have struggled with a more active toddler who might have needed picked up a lot/ head butted my chest, etc. The only help I’ve needed has been carrying shopping, dog walking and showering - the latter only because my chest needs to stay dry so I need a third hand to hold the shower head. I’m not allowed to run or swim for 6-8 weeks but already I’m walking 3 miles a day. It’s big surgery and I was unusually unwell for three days post op, so I don’t want to minimise it, but once I got those three days over it’s been nothing like as bad as I expected.

Following with interest. Cherries I know from other threads you lost a significant amount of weight prior to the surgery; had you discussed the surgery pre weight loss or did you wait until you were at goal weight?

I'd be interested to hear how recovery continues if you don't mind keeping us updated.

Yes, I lost nearly 6stone in 2017, then maintained for a year. Before weight loss, I was a 40K, after weight loss I was 32K, so proportionally, my boobs were the same size on my frame afterwards. I was gutted, to be honest. I had always wanted a breast reduction, but they won’t touch you with a bmi over about 27 and I was assured I’d lose boobage if I lost weight. When I didn’t, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I was approved for a rarer-than-hens-teeth nhs reduction but it kept getting postponed so I went back to GP andasked for a private referral in October 2018.

So I didn’t lose weight in order to have a reduction, but once I’d lost weight and still had massive boobs, I just couldn’t stand it any longer. I just reached my line in the sand.

@ilovecherries it's so interesting to hear about your journey. It feels so reassuring. I have lot of weight to lose post baby around 10-15kgs. Is it good to wait till the weight loss and then talk to the surgeon or have a chat and lose weight and get surgery? I am so impatient that I just want to talk to the surgeon and have an ops date in sight.

Yes please keep us posted about your recovery. Your story is a beacon of hope for me!!

I think it would be worth having an initial consult, explore what might be possible and get a target BMI. I would def go via GP then a private hospital - all the big ones: BMI, Nuffield, Spire etc require the surgeons who work there to also be NHS consultants within their speciality, I looked for someone who did a lot of breast reconstruction work, rather than someone who mainly did, eg, face lifts and the odd boob job. Then you will get a package price which will cover you in the event of complications as well, so you won’t find yourself paying more. All I paid for above my package was an initial assessment fee, which included a mammography. The hospital will usually have a zero finance payment plan as well, if that would help you - I wanted it done and over so I paid up front, but I was offered 10 months finance.