Tissue expander moved

jhunter

I had bilateral mastectomies about six days ago. Air filled tissue expanders were placed. The day after surgery, the plastic surgeon took a lot of the air out to reduce the pressure on my “struggling” skin. In retrospect, the expanders were then able to wiggle around a bit. I reached to the top shelf of my linen closet and the expanders shifted. It was like they suction cupped to my chest wall. What had been unnoticeable became an uncomfortably tight squeezing/stretching sensation. Has this happened to any of you? No one told me not to reach above my head. I only found about that we shouldn’t do so for at least 3 weeks when I googled moving tissue expander. Thanks.

hippie3

I had saline filled expander. My dog would constantly flip it with his head when he snuggled. I would try to turn it but if it didn't go back I'd leave it until I went to see my plastic surgeon. They were filling it once a week so it was normally only a few days with it incorrectly positioned. They never made a big deal about it or said that it was bad.

Not sure how the air filled ones are different tho.

I'm really surprised they didn't tell you about reaching upwards. You can reach just don't lift anything above you for the first healing time.