All About Gummies

Ah, that's an important distinction Lilah.  I don't think a PTs massage will literally restore feeling, although Juliempw has described how stimulating along the numb edges over time should help stimulate the sensory nerve regrowth.  I'll see if I can dig up the PM she sent me on it and forward it to you.  Its basically stuff you can do frequently - just lightly touch along the edges of wehre you do have sensation with your fingertips and with different textures and with warm/cool (NOT hot/cold) in order to provide stimulation.  She mentioned using a sponge even.  I've been doing this and I think the numb area is shrinking but its so slow its hard to be sure.  Still, ask your PS about PT too - worth getting her input.

I was told by my PT to use 5 different types of fabric to gently stroke over the numb skin as it has been proven to stimulate new nerve growth/repair. I am gradually getting feeling back. I do still have numb areas but its getting better.

Geneskirt~i love P!NKS hair! She's great!

That is Truly interesting - about the fabric!   I can see how that would help.  There is So much out there neurologically that we don't fully understand about the body.  Would you believe that I feel having my nips done has enhanced feeling????? YUP!  Crazy, I know, but I think my body remembers visually, and tactile wise with touch, and it somehow has triggered 'memory'.  I think the mind regenerates nerves, or at least contributes. 

Or, maybe I'm simply stark raving Nuts!!!!  lol, but my mind remembers sensations.  Maybe I should remember what it felt like to not think about cancer !?.... now THAT would be a mental challenge!!!!

yes fabics like that Lilah!

cotton, silk, soft denim, wool, towelling, courdroy, linen, chenille, satin, leather (!?) lol

Anything really! i was told to spend a few minutes stroking the fabric over the numb areas, then to move on to the next fabric. Sounded crazy when she was telling me but it seems to be helping

hmmm....i only do it once a day but as many times as you like i guess. Im just lazy!

ihave numbness in that place too. On my right side.if i lift my arm, it starts at the bottom of the armpit, and goes down to about half way down my breast,then across to the centre of that breast. There's a whole patch. It feels like its made of rubber or something! lol Hard to shave under there too with that cord thing thats attached to the pec muscle-it sticks out!

The only bit thats still a bit numb on my left side is right where the incision is and the surrounding bits of skin.

oh i've just noticed while i was scratching the skin to find out the numb bits....on the right side,its also still a little numb going a few inches around from my armpit,toward my back.

 But there is def improvement over the last couple a months

Hi Ladies,

catching up here reading your comments about numbness and trying to get back sensation. I have numbness on the back of my arms,armpits and of course all of chest area. Sometimes when I think about it, it is like a suffocating feeling. You know when your feet fall asleep and you get that tingling and you want to just shake them to wake them up. I get that feeling like "wake up" breasts and it drives me nuts. It's weird though sometimes if you bump up against something you get that jolt of nerve sensation almost painful. so weird.....

Definitely examine yourself Gene!  And yeah time will restore a lot -- my dad had gallbladder surgery years ago (the old fashioned way) and it took something like 7 years for the area where he was cut to regain feeling.

Now that the swelling has gone down, I have noticed rippling, especially if I don't stand with perfect posture. I really thought I wasn't going to have any but I guess the swelling was hiding it really well. Has anyone else had a problem with rippling with the gummies? It's not bad, just a little annoying.

goldie - no rippling for me.  sorry to hear you're getting some.

bcincolo - i'm glad you're getting PT since you definitely sound limited.  You definitely deserve to get that ROM back.  I started PT again 2 wks ago, about 4 wks after my xchg susrgery.  My PT is all massage of the tissues and muscles and the scar a bit too, so as to release adhesions mostly.  I don't have limited range of motion in my arm or shoulder from anything other than the implant being under my pec.  My implant is also just a tad too high and the PS thought the massage might help release it downwards just the right amount.  Not sure I believe that will happen but I like the massage and it does help the pec so I'm going anyway. 

CS

goldieknox~ did your PS go smaller with your gummy,than what was in the TE? And did you have full submuscular implants?

my ps said one of the reasons they go smaller with the implants is to allow for skin shrinkage and that means helping to avoid rippling. I am wondering if they pec is really overstretched,could that cause you to see rippling also? guess it might make it more thin and see through.

I am dreading thingslike this happening. you just want things to look great =(

can they do anything about the rippling goldie?

Wow  I didn't realize how much I have to learn.  Thank you.

I had my BMX on June 24th.  I did some research and thought i wanted gummies but now I'm not sure.  I was a B-C cup most of my adult years (My husband was satisfied so i thought).  When I turned 50 I grew to a D cup (then he was happy).  It was cool but didn't make much difference to me.

I have expanders but they have not been inflated yet.  I get this phantom pain/feeling where my nipples should be.  I can lift my arms over my head.  I tire easily.

I know nothing about ripples or most of what you've been talking about.  I work with kids with sensory issues so i can understand how the sensory stimulation would be helpful.  I'm going to start today->Thanx

Can someone give me a quick overview of the different implants? I did research them but now I'm unsure again.  I would love to have soft boobs to cuddle my future grandchildren.  (Yes, I am old 58.) 

THANK YOU

I had my gummy placed a little over a year ago, and at my six week post-op visit, the rippling was definitely noticeable.  I too had thought that, with gummies, you didn't have ripples.  But apparently, it can happen, particularly in women who are very thin and have thin skin due to the mx. 

This past January (so 9 months after the gummy placement), I had my areola and nipple reconstruction, and while I was under, I also gave consent for the PS to do some fat grafting from my stomach to fill in some of the ripples.  He did a great job, and the ripples are barely noticeable now.  I think the success rate with fat grafting varies, but my own belief is that the succes is also dependent on the PS' skill.  Anyway, my PS has always done a beautiful job every step of the way with the reconstruction, so I trusted his judgement, and I'm really quite happy with the result.  The gummy does still feel like a bowling ball on my chest, but aesthetically, it looks quite good.

I thnk the numbness will get a little better at some point in time but I don't think we will ever feel "normal" again.  It is a matter of getting used to a "new normal".

I get the itch too.....I find slapping lightly in the general area helps some. Scratching numb areas is just so weird and it feels "icky" to me, so I avoid it as much as possible.