Art of Transliness

How to Emotionally Prepare Yourself for Top Surgery

1. Recognize that surgery will not solve all of your problems in regard to the way you view your body, dysphoria, etc. It is not a cure-all and shouldn’t be viewed as such. 

2. Realize that bottom dysphoria often flares up after top surgery, even if you’ve previously never experienced any negative emotions regarding your genitals. 

3. Know that most people feel disappointment or depression once completing a long awaited milestone, be it the time immediately after the honeymoon, postpartum depression, or the days after your remove the bandages. Even if your surgery goes perfectly and the results are great, it will likely be difficult to live up to the expectations you’ve set-this is truer the longer you’ve waited for surgery. 

4. Remember that your results will only get better with time. It can sometimes be disappointing to unravel the bandages and see puffiness that looks like breast tissue or scars that are worse than what you were expecting. If you got the peri areolar surgery, you may find it takes several weeks in a compression binder (if your surgeon requires one) for the swelling to go down in your chest and for your chest to start looking its best. If you got the DI, the scars fade with time, especially if you use scar treatment. You may need to get a revision, which can be frustrating and upsetting, but try to look on the bright side as much as possible (hey, at least you’re better off than you were before). 

5. Understand that your chest may take some getting used to. It may be weird to look down at your chest and have it look completely different, and it may take a little while before you fully recognize it as your own. A lot of guys talk about running their hands over their chest and feeling as if it’s all a little surreal. Don’t panic if you don’t immediately love the way it looks or feel like your chest looks too surgically altered or like it’s not yours, these feelings are fairly common and usually go away after your initial recovery process.