For transgender individuals, the chest area can cause significant feelings of gender dysphoria. The chest can visibly project a physical identity that does not match a person’s true self. If your chest keeps you from feeling like yourself, top surgery can give you an appearance that matches your true gender. Top surgery has immense emotional and psychological benefits.
What is Top Surgery?
Transgender or nonbinary individuals often want to change the appearance of their chest to achieve a look that matches their gender identity. Top surgery can create a more masculine or feminine-looking chest. It is often one of the most significant steps people take in asserting their identity. The chest is a highly visible area with many social expectations and responses attached to it, making it a potential source of great discomfort.
Why Top Surgery is Important
Top surgery is far more than a cosmetic procedure. People who have top surgery usually feel more comfortable with their bodies and more confident interacting with others. For many trans people, top surgery can be life-transforming.
Relieve Gender Dysphoria
For those who struggle with gender dysphoria, the chest can be a visible reminder of a body that does not match the person inside. Top surgery helps your body look and feel more like your own.
Improve Confidence
Top surgery provides many people with a tremendous confidence boost. You may feel more confident that you present yourself to the world the way you want, not the way your chest demands.
Change Others’ Reactions
Unfortunately, people often look at the chest when they make assumptions about gender. Top surgery can help people escape some of these assumptions and feel more comfortable living as their true selves.
How Does Top Surgery Work?
Top surgery to create a flatter or more masculine chest removes excess fat and breast tissue to smooth the area and remove the appearance of breasts. Top surgery to create a more feminine chest usually uses implants or less commonly, fat injected to the breast to add projection and volume. Those wishing to transition to a female-presenting chest should be on prescribed hormone therapy (e.g. estrogen) for at least a year. This will promote the development of natural breast tissue.
What is Recovery Like From Top Surgery?
Each top surgery is unique, and recovery times will vary. Most people will need about a week to recover enough to return to work. You can expect some swelling and bruising after the procedure, and you may have a surgical garment to wear as support. Your surgeon may recommend waiting six to eight weeks to resume strenuous exercise or lifting.
Am I a Good Candidate for Top Surgery?
If you feel like your chest does not match your gender identity, you may be a good candidate for top surgery. Ideal candidates have reasonable expectations and no significant health problems. People with gender dysphoria can benefit from top surgery if this area of the body bothers them.
Take the Next Step
Interested in learning about top surgery? Schedule your consultation with Longwood Plastic Surgery today by calling our Brookline office at (617) 383-6250. We serve the Brookline and Greater Boston area with distinction