Most patients who undergo a tummy tuck surgery want to achieve an abdominal contour as flat as possible. In the majority of patients who present for abdominoplasty surgery, the abdominal muscles bulge to various degrees from weight fluctuation, previous surgery, or pregnancy. Tightening the muscles will lessen bulging of the abdominal wall. There are some instances where a person has flat muscles that are tone and do not cause muscle bulging. If the muscles are flat and tone, often seen in women who have not had children or in men, tightening of the muscles may have no affect on the outer contour and result. Another group of patients who may not need or want muscle tightening are young women who have loose skin from weight loss, yet want to have kids so that tightening the muscles at an early stage may be an unnecessary nor worthwhile part of the procedure. When you do not tighten the muscles, the operating room time is reduced and patients tend to recover faster with less discomfort and time off work.

It is impossible to tell you exactly what bra cup size you will be after breast reduction surgery. First of all, all bras fit different, and there is no standardization of bra sizes among bra manufacturers. In addition, many large breasted women fit their larger breasts into smaller bra sizes which may offer more support and concealment of their breasts. If you are broad and wide, you will still fit into large bra sizes as your chest circumference and breast width do not change after breast reduction. Also, we must preserve a certain amount of tissue during surgery so that the overlying breast skin and nipple heal properly with enough blood supply. Breast reduction surgery has a very high satisfaction rate; results are dramatic and you will be smaller. You cannot judge the success of the operation on your final bra cup size.

I would not recommend getting pierced nipples right before any type of breast surgery. The piercings all need to be removed during surgery as part of our normal surgical protocol. In addition, I worry about bacterial contamination from the skin tract within in the nipple and higher risks for infection. If you desire piercings, it would be best to do it after you have healed from your breast reduction.

Cross fit is a high intensity workout. For that reason, I would not recommend starting this type of program before 4-6 weeks after breast reduction surgery. The variability has to do the size of the reduction and how fast you heal after surgery. I do not let patients perform high intensity workouts until all of their incisions are healed, minimum of one month. Sometimes, small raw spots take longer to heal. In these cases, strenuous exercise is not advised until complete healing is achieved.