At Grail, we see tons of clients who have had medical or cosmetic breast surgery. Besides lumpectomies, the most common procedure is overwhelmingly breast reductions, but we work with a fair number of folks who have had augmentations or reconstructions as well. What all of these clients have in common is that they’ve experienced a significant physical change and are seeking guidance on the best bra options for their new bodies. In fact, there are number of ways in which our fitting team can be a resource for plastic surgery patients throughout their journeys, pre- to post-procedure, from consultation to healing and beyond.

• An accurate fitting can help individuals considering a breast reduction or augmentation procedure to understand and articulate their size expectations and goals to their doctor. For many people, how happy they ultimately are with the outcome of their surgery depends on how closely their healed results match the body they’d envisioned prior to the procedure. We can help to quantify those goals in order to improve communication with your surgical team.
• Some insurance companies require attempts at non-surgical intervention before they will approve coverage of breast reduction surgery. We can help troubleshoot the specifics of your situation and provide assurance that a bra adjustment alone doesn’t fully alleviate your symptoms. A professional fitting can also provide baseline information on sizing that may help with documentation of medical necessity for your insurance provider.
• During the recovery period, your surgeon will have a lot of specific instructions for you regarding care of your healing breasts. Most clinics also provide their patients with some sort of surgical garment for the initial post-operative period. However, you may prefer to choose your own post-surgical bra for some portion of your recovery or for the transition between the immediate aftermath of your surgery and the fully healed period once swelling has subsided and your new size has settled.  A dedicated fitting boutique can also supply compression garments for abdominal surgery.
• Once you’ve healed fully and your surgeon has given you the go-ahead to wear whatever you’d like, our fitting team can collaborate with you to explore a full range of bra options. Depending on your procedure, you may experience changes to your breast shape in addition to size. A skilled bra fitting accounts for both size and shape, then combines these elements with your personal preferences to identify your best bra matches.

I do want to add a quick word about a situation we occasionally encounter with clients we’re fitting for the first time after their breast surgeries, especially breast reductions: try to set aside expectations of particular letter sizes, or at least, don’t let disappointment about being fitted into a particular size sour you on the results of your procedure if you’re otherwise happy with the change. Sometimes, patients who have undergone a breast surgery are upset to be told that “their size” is still bigger or smaller than they’d hoped. Remember that cup size letters have no meaning by themselves because they’re proportional with the band size. 32DDD cups have the same volume as 34DD cups, 36D cups, 38C cups, and so on. There are also no universal size standards for bras, so everyone really occupies a bit of a size range in practice, rather than one consistent size. Generally, a conscientious plastic surgeon will talk about your augmentation or reduction in terms of volume or breast weight because these are concrete and objective measures. Bra sizes are neither concrete nor objective; they’re relative, proportional, and somewhat dependent on bra manufacturers’ whims. I really encourage folks to focus on what fits and not get too hung up on a somewhat arbitrary size label.

Lastly, I feel any like treatment of this topic requires me to acknowledge a troublesome fact: some of the most egregious, infuriating, and just downright bizarre misinformation about breast size and bra sizing that exist on social media and elsewhere online is coming straight from the mouths of plastic surgeons. (To the best of my knowledge, none of this rubbish has ever been generated or perpetuated by any of the plastic surgeons or clinics local to our area around Athens, Georgia. I’ve had occasion to network with a number of these doctors and their staff, and we regard them highly. The clients we share also seem overwhelmingly happy with their experiences.) I have a collection of links to some of the most jaw-droppingly atrocious examples that I’ll take on individually at some point down the road. Just as I am no doctor, this man is no bra fitter. There are some great sources online for bra fitting info. Then, there are folks who are claiming that almost everyone is walking around in bra bands that are too tight (nope!), that fitters want to put you in a larger cup size to flatter your ego (definitely not!), or proudly explaining that they’ve invented their own new way of measuring your bra cup size that has nothing whatsoever to do with how bra makers label their sizes (which is approximately as useful as coming up with a “new way” to measure lumber for a construction project or ingredients for baking and then wondering why the results are disastrous.) Bra sizing is enough of a mess already. I hope you’ll trust us as dedicated professionals to help cut through the confusion.