When Can I Sleep On My Side After Breast Augmentation? Dr. Ted Eisenberg

Side Sleeping After Breast Implants

There’s a myth that after breast augmentation surgery, you’ll need to sleep on your back for a week or longer. Many of my patients believe it, and they are worried that they won’t be able to get to sleep, because they normally sleep on their side or their stomach.

They are not alone. According to the Better Sleep Council, fewer than 15 percent of people prefer to sleep on their back.

Let’s bust this myth: You don’t have to sleep on your back after breast augmentation surgery. You don’t have to stay up all night to make sure you don’t doze off and turn over onto your stomach. You can sleep any way you want from the night of surgery on, including on your stomach if you’re comfortable enough.

[WATCH OUR VIDEO: Do I Have to Sleep on My Back?]

Saline and silicone breast implants won’t pop if you sleep on them; they are extremely durable and can withstand a lot of weight. In fact, Allergan, an implant manufacturer, tests its implants by exerting 55 pounds of force on them repeatedly, up to 6.5 million times. (That would be equivalent to sleeping on your stomach for the next 17,808 years.)

Just as your contact lens can’t slip behind your eye, your breast implants can’t disappear into your body. They are carefully positioned in a space (a pocket) behind the pectoral muscle. Just like contact lenses, the implants can’t go anywhere because they bounded by muscle and strong tissues. The normal movement in the pocket won’t disrupt your healing.

The only factor limiting your sleep position is comfort. Most women tell me that they are fully comfortable sleeping on their stomach in about three weeks on average. They are comfortable sleeping on their side much sooner.

During the day, do I have to stay in bed? 

No, but after surgery you do need time to rest and heal, and you should take it easy for one week. Listen to your body and to me – not to the voice in your head that tells you the laundry needs to be done now. Patients sometimes call me on Day 2 and ask why their breasts feel so sore. When I ask what they did, they tell me they vacuumed their entire house or carried their laundry basket up and down the stairs. After exerting themselves, they realized that they did too much too soon. Leave the vacuum cleaner in the closet for a few weeks; if you need an excuse note, I will be happy to write one for you

When can I take a shower or bath?

You can take a shower the day after surgery, but you should wait until the third week to take a bath. If you soak in a tub, the water could penetrate the incision and cause an infection, whereas the shower water runs off the incision and doesn’t soak into it.

Find out more about breast surgery recovery. Read “What to Expect the First Week.”

The information above  is what I tell my patients to do and to expect after breast augmentation surgery: Each doctor has his or her specific postoperative protocol, and it might vary greatly from what you read here. It’s imperative that you follow your doctor’s instructions.