Went back to my desk on day 5 and I can't tell if I was brave or an idiot. How much time did you actually take off?

#1LaurenP83(Joined Jun 2026 · 14 posts)August 17, 2026, 7:05 pm

I'd budgeted two weeks off and took five days, because on day 4 I felt fine sitting on the sofa and I'm self-employed so every day off is money.

Day 5 back at the desk: fine for about three hours, then a deep aching tiredness I can only describe as being hollowed out. Day 6 I lasted until lunch. Today, day 8, I've done a full day but I've been useless at anything requiring actual thought, and by 4pm my chest was tight and heavy in a way it isn't when I'm lying down.

Nothing hurts in an alarming way and my wounds are behaving. But I keep wondering if I've set myself back, or if this is just what everyone's week two feels like whether they're working or not. What did people actually take, as opposed to what the leaflet said?

#2Jade R.(Joined Mar 2025 · 18 posts)August 18, 2026, 8:11 am

Took ten days, office job, and came back on half days for the first week which was the single best decision of my recovery. Not because of pain, because of the tiredness you're describing. General anaesthetic plus healing plus broken sleep is a genuine energy tax and it doesn't show up as pain, it shows up as being thick and useless at 3pm.

The bit that caught me out wasn't the sitting, it was everything around the working. The commute, the laptop bag, reaching for things on high shelves, and about nine hours a day of holding myself slightly wrong because I was guarding my chest.

#3EmmaLouise31(Joined Jan 2026 · 22 posts)August 18, 2026, 1:44 pm

Two weeks, and I'd take two weeks again. I had mine under the muscle and the first ten days were noticeably more uncomfortable than the friend of mine who had hers over, so I don't think there's one number that fits everybody.

Please don't carry a laptop bag on your shoulder yet though. Wheels, or leave it at the office.

#4Miss Charlotte VaneSurgical moderator(Joined Sep 2024 · 58 posts)August 19, 2026, 10:27 am

Nothing you've described sounds like damage, and the distinction I'd draw for you is between fatigue and strain, because they need different responses.

The typical guidance for sedentary work after a straightforward breast augmentation is a return in the region of 3 to 7 days, so day 5 is inside the usual range rather than reckless. What that guidance does not promise is that you'll be at your normal capacity when you get there. You've had a general anaesthetic, your tissues are healing, and you're a fortnight into disturbed sleep, so the flat, hollowed-out feeling by mid afternoon is expected and it improves week on week. Physical jobs, anything involving lifting, reaching overhead or driving long distances, sit on a different and considerably longer timeline, and the lifting restriction commonly runs to around 4 to 6 weeks. That restriction is the one people breach without noticing, usually via a bag, a child, or a supermarket shop.

What separates ordinary fatigue from something to report: pain that is increasing rather than settling, new swelling or asymmetry, a wound that opens or discharges, redness and heat over the breast, or a temperature. Those warrant a call to your surgical team the same day rather than a wait. Tightness and heaviness that eases when you lie down, on the other hand, is the ordinary version.

On driving specifically, do not take a date from a forum: it depends on whether you can perform an emergency stop and control the vehicle comfortably, on any medication you're taking, and on your insurer's terms. Ask your own surgeon. The site's recovery timeline and the guide to getting back to exercise cover the wider staging, and your own surgeon's aftercare sheet outranks both of them for your case.

#5Natalie88(Joined Nov 2024 · 26 posts)August 20, 2026, 9:02 pm

Self-employed too, so I'll say the thing the employed people can't quite say. The pressure isn't really about whether you can sit at a desk, it's about money, and pretending otherwise doesn't help anyone.

What I'd do differently: I'd have blocked the calendar for two weeks and then quietly worked the days I felt like working, rather than committing to five and then having to perform being fine in front of clients. Same number of days worked in the end, about a tenth of the stress.

#6LaurenP83(Joined Jun 2026 · 14 posts)August 31, 2026, 5:19 pm

Day 22 and the 3pm collapse has gone. Bought a wheeled bag, which I resented for approximately one day and now recommend to everyone.

Would I do day 5 again? Probably yes, but I'd tell people I was on half days and I'd stop trying to sound normal on calls in week two. Nobody was checking. That was entirely me.