How long after surgery to wear bras comfortably (enough)?

Because of post-surgical skin sensitivity and the way my surgeon finished my BMX at the underarms, I still wouldn't be able to wear a bra comfortably at 23 months post-surgery. A lymphedema specialist I was working with today said it's not unusual for MX to leave some flesh at the underarm that bulges out of the cup.

I'm nearly 18 months out from BMX. There's things I still cannot wear and others that work fine. It depends entirely on the type and structure of the bra and your body. The mastectomy bras I bought are still hard for me to wear longer than the work day. I've come to enjoy not having heavy shoulder straps digging into my shoulders any longer after being flat on weekends. But they're quite elastic around the chest and underarm which is more comfortable than a regular underwire pre-surgery bra would be. I even tried wearing a regular small 38A regular bra with padding, but they hit my breastbone in the middle of my chest just so, and chafe, because there's absolutely no breast tissue there.

The bras I opted for were bralettes from Target (shame they don't make them in this style any longer). They looked like Coobies but were much more comfortable because the band around the chest was looser and more comfortable, and the modesty shield in the pocket was better shaped with a rounded top instead of the Coobie triangular and sharp-pointed one that pokes me right in my sensitive flat upper chest on each side. I put hypoallergenic soft polyfill between the bra and my skin. If I can't find an alternative replacement after these wear out, I might get the larger-size Coobie (silly since I'm totally flat) and get creative with scissors and sewing to round out the tops of their modesty shields.

But even the polyfill or a cotton shirt rubbing my scars was tough at first. I felt like my chest and scars and underarms were hyper sensitive while healing. Felt hot like fire. Not numb as they'd suggested. The one thing that helped was massaging Aquaphor into and over the scars and skin. I used to do that twice a day. Eventually that helped, plus time. I still use moisturizer every morning after a shower to keep that skin area moist so I dont feel chapped under bras and tanks. Sometimes moisturize at night too.

Give yourself time to heal, like 3-4 good months, then experiment with different brands and kinds. I hear Genies are soft and forgiving too. This forum has great posts about all kinds of prosthetics and bras.

I had a terrible time healing--over 5 months! I couldn't wear anything on my chest for a full 8 months. At this point I am able to wear my prostheses with a very soft mastectomy bra or cami almost every day without too much trouble. But I do love going braless when I'm at home!