01Article · After breast augmentation
Is it normal for one breast implant
to sit higher than the other straight after surgery?
In the first few weeks, usually yes. Swelling does not arrive evenly on the two sides, and where the implant sits under the pectoral muscle, that muscle can grip harder on one side and hold the implant up towards the collarbone. So week one is mostly fluid and muscle tension, not the position the implant ends up in. The shape starts to mean something at three months and is close to final at twelve. One exception, worth knowing now. A high-sitting breast that is also hot, hard, painful, or changing over a day or two is a phone call rather than a wait.
02Key takeaways
In short,
before the detail.
- 01In the first two or three weeks it is usually the swelling and the muscle, not the implant. Neither arrives evenly on both sides, and the higher side is often just the side gripping harder.
- 02The bad news is that nobody can promise you two matching sides. The good news is that they were not matching before surgery either, and most of the early difference does reduce.
- 03Three months before you judge anything. Twelve before you call it settled. Week one is not evidence of anything except that you have had an operation.
- 04A high-sitting implant that is also hot, hard, painful, or changing over a day or two is a different question entirely. That one is a phone call, not a wait.
- 05Photograph it. Same mirror, same light, same distance, dated. Memory is a poor instrument for slow change and a worse one at 2am.
03What is going on in the first fortnight
Mostly fluid,
and a muscle holding on.
Several things are moving at once in the first two weeks, and only one of them is the implant.
- 01Swelling is rarely symmetrical. Fluid collects and drains at its own rate on each side, and a few days of difference in that alone will change how high an implant looks.
- 02Where the implant sits under the pectoral muscle, that muscle can grip. A muscle in spasm holds the implant up towards the collarbone, and it commonly grips harder on one side than the other.
- 03Your two sides were never identical to begin with. Rib cage shape, sternum angle, nipple height and existing volume all differ slightly in almost everybody, and an implant makes small pre-existing differences easier to see rather than harder.
Put those together and the early picture is not a picture of your result. It is a picture of an operated chest at day six. Which is why being told to wait is not being fobbed off. Our note on recovery through the first six weeks covers the rest.
04Why the two sides settle at different rates
One body,
two timetables.
Even where the operation is identical on both sides, the healing is not. The usual reasons:
- 01The lower part of the breast stretches over months as the skin and muscle accommodate the implant. That process gives the eventual shape, and it does not run to the same clock on both sides.
- 02The dominant-arm side tends to be used more in ordinary daily life, so muscle tension on that side often takes longer to quieten.
- 03A pre-existing volume difference between the two breasts does not disappear under implants. It presents differently, sometimes more visibly, which is why it is measured before surgery rather than after.
- 04Implant size relative to the width of your own chest matters. A larger implant on a narrower base has less room to settle downward, so it holds high for longer.
The size point surprises patients most, and it is settled before the operation rather than after. How a given volume sits on your own chest width is what the sizing conversation is for, covered on our page about choosing implant size in Melbourne. The procedure itself is on the breast augmentation with implants page.
05A rough timeline
What each window
can actually tell you.
Individual recovery varies. Read this as the usual shape of things, not a schedule you should be meeting.
Week one to two
Expect the picture to be misleading. Swelling is near its peak, muscle tension at its highest, and the two sides can look quite different from each other. Very little useful information is available here, which is the part patients find hardest to accept.
Week three to six
Swelling comes down and the muscle starts to release. Many patients notice the higher side drop here. Some notice the sides swap which one looks higher, which is unsettling and also ordinary.
Month three
The first point at which the shape means anything. Most of the swelling has gone and the lower breast has begun to stretch. A difference still obvious now is worth raising at review rather than sitting on.
Month six to twelve
The shape at twelve months is close to the shape you keep, and twelve months is also the formal surveillance review. A difference persisting to here is assessed with examination and imaging if indicated, not watched another year.
06Expected, worth raising, or ring today
Three lists,
and the third one matters.
Most of what worries patients in the early weeks sits in the first list. All three are written out so the third is recognisable when it happens.
Expected, and not a reason to ring
One side higher, firmer, more swollen or more tender than the other. Shape changing week to week. Numb or hypersensitive patches of skin. A sensation of tightness across the chest that eases as the days pass. All of this is ordinary in the first several weeks.
Worth raising at your next review
A difference that has not improved at all between week four and week eight. Implants that feel unequally firm at three months. A nipple sitting noticeably lower on one side once the swelling has gone. None of these is an emergency, and all are easier to assess in person than over the phone.
Ring the clinic today
Redness, heat, a breast that is suddenly hard, a rapid change over a day or two, fever, spreading pain, wound discharge, or a sudden change in shape after a knock or a heavy lift. These are not the settling question. They are their own question, and waiting until a scheduled appointment is the wrong call.
If you are unsure which list you are in, ring. Nobody minds a call that turns out to be nothing, and a call that turns out to be something is far better placed on a Tuesday than a Saturday night. The general risks of any procedure are on our risks of surgery page.
07A note about the mirror
The instrument
is the problem.
Something odd happens after surgery on a visible part of the body. You start looking at it properly for the first time, several times a day, and you find asymmetries that were there for years and never once registered. One shoulder sitting lower. A sternum not quite straight. Bathroom lighting makes it worse, because a single overhead light throws shadow unevenly across a chest and will make one side look higher depending on where you stand. So use the camera instead of the eye. Once a week, same spot, same light, arms relaxed, dated. Three photographs a fortnight apart tell you more than a hundred glances, and they give whoever reviews you something better than a description to work with.
08When early asymmetry is not the settling question
Three other
explanations.
A high-sitting implant at three or six months can have causes that waiting will not resolve. Each is assessed in person, not from a photograph.
Firm scar tissue forming around the implant
Capsular contracture tightens the pocket and can lift an implant high and hard. It is a recognised complication of any implant surgery, it is graded by examination, and it can appear months or years later rather than in the first weeks.
The implant sitting outside its pocket
An implant can move higher, lower or sideways relative to where the pocket was made. Assessed by examination and, where needed, imaging. Not corrected by massage, exercises or time.
Asymmetry that was always there
Sometimes the honest answer at three months is that the difference was present beforehand and is now more visible. Worth naming plainly rather than treating as a complication, because the options it opens are different.
Where one of these is the answer, the conversation moves to whether a further operation is worth it to you, and that is its own decision with its own risks and cost. What it involves is set out on our revision breast implants page. The TGA breast implant hub publishes current guidance and runs the surveillance program, and it is worth reading directly rather than through anybody's summary of it.
09The framework around this operation
Two consultations,
and a cooling off period.
A GP referral is required before your first consultation. At least two pre operative consultations are required, including one in person with Dr Nara, and a written itemised quote is provided rather than a figure over the phone. After informed consent there is a minimum seven day cooling off period before surgery can be booked. These requirements apply nationally, and they exist to give you room to change your mind.
The guidelines are published by the Medical Board of Australia, the reform program by the Department of Health and Aged Care, and the AHPRA register lets you check any doctor in Australia. Asking for a second opinion about your own recovery is reasonable.
10Frequently asked questions
Questions patients
actually ask.
How long before I can tell whether my implants are actually uneven?
Three months for a first honest look, twelve before calling anything final. Before three months you are largely looking at swelling and muscle tension, which resolve on their own timetable and not in step with each other. If a difference is still plain at three months, raise it rather than waiting out the year to be polite about it.
Will massage or exercises bring the higher implant down?
Follow whatever aftercare instruction you were actually given, because advice differs by implant type and pocket. Generally: the internet's confident massage routines are not a treatment for an implant sitting in the wrong place. If someone has told you to massage, ask what it is meant to achieve and by when.
One side dropped and the other has not moved in weeks. Is that a problem?
Common, and also worth mentioning. Sides releasing at different rates is ordinary through the first couple of months. A side that has not changed at all between week four and week eight, while the other has, is the detail that makes an in-person review useful. Bring your photographs, dates and all.
Could this mean I need another operation?
Possibly, and far too early to know in the first weeks. Revision is considered for persistent malposition, firm scar tissue around the implant, and asymmetry that still bothers you once healing has finished. It is a separate operation with its own risks and recovery, set out on our revision breast implants page.
Is any of this covered by Medicare or private health insurance?
No. Medicare and private health insurance rebates do not apply to treatment at RevAesthetic, including a revision. Every procedure here is private and self funded, the clinic does not offer payment plans, and a written itemised quote follows your consultations.
11If you are in the early weeks now
What to do
this week.
Take one photograph today and diarise the next for seven days from now. Read back over the aftercare instructions you were given, because the garment and activity advice is usually the thing that has quietly slipped. Then check the third list above against what you can see and feel, and if anything on it applies, ring the clinic rather than finishing the article.
If you have not had surgery yet, bring this to the consultation in these words. Ask what your own pre-existing difference measures, and what the plan is if the two sides do not settle together. Consultations are available in Melbourne, Tasmania and Adelaide, and you can begin a confidential enquiry whenever you are ready.
12About the practitioner
Dr Kishen
Nara.
Dr Kishen Nara is a registered medical practitioner. He sees patients across Melbourne, Tasmania and Adelaide. The team at RevAesthetic includes practice manager Cate, Patient Liaison Jenny, and registered nurses, all involved in supporting your enquiry.
- MBBSBachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, Monash University
- FACCSM(Surg)Surgical Fellow, Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery and Medicine
- AHPRARegistered medical practitioner, General Registration MED0001201549
13Continue reading
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What actually moves the cost of a breast augmentation in Melbourne — implant choice, placement, anaesthesia, whether a lift is combined, and the line items in a written quote. - 2026 Recovery from breast augmentation — what the first six weeks actually feel like
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All surgeries carry risks. Please seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner before proceeding. For more information regarding surgical risks, please visit our website: https://www.revaesthetic.com.au/risks-of-surgery/
Dr Kishen Nara | MED0001201549
Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS)
Fellow of the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery and Medicine (FACCSM)
Registered Medical Practitioner | General Registration
Book a consultation: https://www.revaesthetic.com.au/book/