When preparing for, and recovering from, top surgery there are certain self massage techniques that will aid in your short term and long term recovery. These techniques will help reduce swelling in the short term and have a massive impact on range of motion and scar mobility in the long term. After treating hundreds of post op clients over the last several years I have seen how a short daily routine in the first several months post-op impact quality of life and results.
In general, there are three tissues we can target to help through recovery with a self-massage care routine – Lymph, Scar Mobility, and Muscle. These videos show the basic self massage techniques to target these, including Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD, for swelling), Scar Massage (for scar and shoulder mobility), and some stretches and muscular technique (for recovery related tension). These can be helpful while recovering from all top surgeries – masculinization, feminization, non-binary – as well as oncology related mastectomy. Oncologists should clear patients before receiving massage therapy.
Manual Lymphatic Drainage
During self-MLD remember that order matters! Start at the shoulders and neck and then move toward the nodes associated with the surgery site (armpits or groin). From there you can move out toward arms and chest, always pulling toward the pits! This touch is light, just pull the skin. A teacher told me to imagine you are just trying to move around the foam on a latte. Appropriate anytime after surgery.
Scar Massage
Scar massage does not need to be painful to be effective. Read that again! If you can only remember one technique, do circles along the scar. Move your scar once a day and you will be happy for years to come! Appropriate to start 4-6 weeks after surgery or once incision has fully healed.
Musculoskeletal Stretches for Healing
These three stretches address the musculoskeletal level of healing. These are also great to do pre-op as your arms will be out-stretched during surgery. As always, consult a PT who is informed in post op care for further exercises. Appropriate once you can move arms to or above 90 degrees.
As always, listen to your body! If one side of your incisions is healing slower than the other, wait on scar massage. If the armpit pull in MLD feels too stretchy on your scar, be more gentle! If you can’t bring your arms out to a T in restorative fish, just lay with the arms down by the sides and the collarbones will still get some opening. These techniques can be applied to many gender affirming surgeries – FFS, other chest surgeries, scar massage for graft sites, and MLD for bottom surgery. MLD is also very helpful for lipo. As always, consult with a doctor concerning medical questions around your healing.
