lled,
If I remember correctly you should feel the suction. I still feel the suction. You can try sucking out the air by mouth and then sticking the smartbox on to control changes in pressure. The wipes are dripping wet when I open them but they dry within seconds of using them. Where did you get your skincare kit?
i got my skincare kit from the same seller that sold me the brava. she said she's an authorized seller but my brava sport didn't come with a user ID number.
the skin-prep wipe is wet when i open the package. but it dries pretty much like.. 3 seconds later. i don't even have enough time to wipe all the way across the breast. i don't understand. i have two boxes... i tried the wipes from the other box and it's the same thing.
first night sleeping with brava: overall, not as bad as i thought it would be, but certainly not great. i woke up 1hr after falling asleep due to pain. i had to take an advil in order to fall back asleep. slept all the way til early morning. i had a decent amount of swelling after taking off the domes... the swelling amount was the same was the swelling i would get with the NB. measured a little over 32.5".... certainly not the best swelling i've ever gotten which was 33".
i'd say the most painful part was tearing the domes off my skin! i gotta figure out an alternative to the skin-prep because it didn't do much for me. maybe aloe-vera gel? or maybe saran wrap?
the swelling lasted only until early afternoon. the red marks/rash? lasted til nighttime. tonight, i used even more skin-prep.... see if this helps any. if not, i'm trying something else for sure because with the way this is going, i might not have any skin left by next week!
Ok, my skin preps do the same. I think what you describe is normal. I definitely wait the full 8 minutes. It says they are supposed to form a protective coating between your skin and silicone and I want to give it time to do that.
When you remove the domes, don't tear them off, you'll mess them up if you do that. Turn on the water and wet your hand, very slowly easy your wet finger between your skin and silicone to break the seal. Then work it all around wetting your hand/fingers as necessary. Be gentle, once you mess up the silicone it stops being sticky. I messed mine up a little on the first day!
Tylenol is a must during the first week. Your swelling will get better with time. Having any swelling your first day is amazing! You're doing better than me, and I measure a full 35" in the mornings now.
This is just the beginning of your Brava journey, be very very patient, it takes a long time to complete your course.
thanks malina for the tip! i tried taking off the domes with wet fingers and that made it easier. i'll try waiting a whole 8 minutes tonight for the skin-prep to dry to see if that helps too. how do you wipe both breasts with 1 wipe when it dries out in seconds? by the time i reach the second breast, it's already dried out. i've been using 1 wipe per breast.
the third night was more painful than the second night. i think i put the domes on wrong and it was digging into my skin. the middle of my chest feels a little sore from the pressure of the domes.
i'm posting a before brava photo and a brava swelling photo after 3rd night of wear. the swelling only seem to last until early afternoon.
i think my breasts look just like the "before" photo in the Brava manual. i would be absolutely ecstatic if i can look like the "after" photo!!!
I was getting the same amount of swelling as you in the beginning, too. It really helps to do long hours on the weekends, you seem to get more swelling afterwards during regular shorter sessions. Either way, it takes time, I started getting awesome swelling around week 6 when I was on vacation in a hot and humid area. After I returned I couldn't get the same amount till week 11. I got less when I was taking swelling reducing steroids for a different issue (which wasn't surprising, but annoying nonetheless). I'm doing pretty well with swelling now (week 13), though to be fair I started PM about a week ago so that may be related.
Brava manual after photo is lovely! I was having the same thought as you regarding it. I suspect that's probably 26 weeks of Brava, not just 10 from the before photo. I do think it's achievable, though as you can see now it's not an easy road to get there :/
This is already serious swelling. If you keep this up for the length of a Brava run, who knows where you'll end up!
Isabelle, the swelling goes away so fast though that it's disheartening.
brava is definitely not an easy ride. it's been 5 nights and the skin around my breasts are battered. I have red lumps bumps dots scratches and maybe some broken capillaries. (I get broken capillaries quite easily). it doesn't go away in hours... my breasts pretty much look like they've been through war all day. it makes the noogleberry seem like child's play.
the stickiness on my domes are getting less sticky, but it seems to me like it's a good thing. my skin is less red when the take the domes off now that it's less sticky. Also, I've been using experimenting with washing, then lotion, then 3 skin-prep wipes, wait a few minutes, then domes application. I did this last night and my skin seemed a little less agitated this morning.
Malina, I too noticed that which ever side I put the dome on first is the side with better swelling. so now I alternate the domes from night to night.
I really hope my skin will adopt to brava. with the way its going now, I have to hide my chest 24/7. I don't see me lasting like this very long. I need intimate time with the bf and I want to be able to wear my tank tops.
tonight before putting on the brava, my breasts looked pretty pathetic... small and battered. I wonder if I am doing more harm than good... and if anything will come out of this torture I'm putting myself through... as I don't the noogling did much for me in a year and a half's time.
(20-03-2012, 05:21 AM)lled34aa Wrote: [ -> ]Isabelle, the swelling goes away so fast though that it's disheartening.
brava is definitely not an easy ride. it's been 5 nights and the skin around my breasts are battered. I have red lumps bumps dots scratches and maybe some broken capillaries. (I get broken capillaries quite easily). it doesn't go away in hours... my breasts pretty much look like they've been through war all day. it makes the noogleberry seem like child's play.
the stickiness on my domes are getting less sticky, but it seems to me like it's a good thing. my skin is less red when the take the domes off now that it's less sticky. Also, I've been using experimenting with washing, then lotion, then 3 skin-prep wipes, wait a few minutes, then domes application. I did this last night and my skin seemed a little less agitated this morning.
Malina, I too noticed that which ever side I put the dome on first is the side with better swelling. so now I alternate the domes from night to night.
I really hope my skin will adopt to brava. with the way its going now, I have to hide my chest 24/7. I don't see me lasting like this very long. I need intimate time with the bf and I want to be able to wear my tank tops.
tonight before putting on the brava, my breasts looked pretty pathetic... small and battered. I wonder if I am doing more harm than good... and if anything will come out of this torture I'm putting myself through... as I don't the noogling did much for me in a year and a half's time.
lled34aa,
I don't know the experience of the other brava girls, but for me, even if I don't get red rash anymore, I can defined tell there is a band around my breasts. It is a lighter color than the color of my skin. I hope it will go away after some months after stopping the brava, but for now I will not wear tanktops without some makeup. I found that Visible lift from L'oreal covers the marks pretty well and blends perfectly with my skin. Lighter makeups (those for 20 somethings) do not cover as well, it has to be a heavy makeup like those for mature skin. Using the make up allows me also to keep the brava as long as possible in the morning, without having to take it one hour early before I leave the house to allow the red marks to go away.
The swelling will last longer as time passes. I too remember feeling so disappointed when by mid morning the cups of my bra were one again huge for my breasts. It will get better. One thing will not get better is the psychological effect of brava. No matter how much bigger they are as compared to our starting size, they will still look small and pathetic compared to the swelling on the morning. Try keep it in perspective.
Best of luck
Feather rose, that's the first time I heard about the white marks and having to conceal them with makeup. I get the white rings from noogling and they took a week to fade away.
Tonight, i decided to do the unthinkable, I'm skipping brava altogether. The reason being something weird is happening and it's scarring me. for the last 3 nights, I noticed that my right breast hurt a lot with the brava on compared to the left. it got so bad that I just had to clamp the left tube and released the air out of the right dome. today, I noticed that whenever I use my right chest muscles ( to turn faucet... pump soap dispenser... light workout, I would feel something pulling inside my right breast right under my nipple. I've never had that sensation before and it's very alarming to me. could I have damaged some tissues underneath. The left chest/breast seem normal. I just don't understand how slightly engaging my right chest muscle would cause a pulling sensation in my breast right under the nipple. Visually, both breasts look the same. any other brava users have experience this? I am so scarred of the possibility of me damaging something!
lled,
I have the same experiences with yours and I'm now in my 3rd week, still very painful at the skin area where stick to the rims, I still have skin pain and redness and blisters and they are not go away in hours.
So what I do is get some cotton cloth and put on between the skin and the rim, but I loose the suction, so I put the cotton cloth only on the Blisters to cover them during the suction. And it help a lot.
I remember you have under bust around 27', mine under bust is 27.5', and I'm using Wide medium domes size, and my nipples are not points to the center of the dome, so it is too near to the side cup in the middle of the 2 breasts. So the nipple are getting pain and swelling very big.
DO you get your nipple swelling? my nipple size almost same like yours.
What size of dome you are using? can you let me know the mesurement of your dome (inner of the rim)? I would like to consider to change my dome size
Have a nice day,
Jen