How Long Does it Take to Move Migrated Breast Tissue?

One of the most common side effects of wearing the wrong bra size (or style) for a long period of time is migrated breast tissue. Migrated breast tissue is fatty breast tissue that gets displaced from the main mass of fatty breast tissue into the area around your armpit. This is usually caused by the edge of a cup that is too small or positioned in the wrong place due to a band that rides up and tilts the cups forward. The edge of a cup that's in the wrong place bisects the breast tissue forcing some fatty tissue outside the cup into your armpit.

You can move this tissue back into your cup by getting good bra fit which essentially stops the pressure that bisects your breast tissue. The time it takes to move tissue back into your cups depends on a few things:

1. How much tissue has been displaced
2. How long the tissue has been displaced
3. The density of the breast tissue

1. It's not uncommon for a cup size or more of tissue to be displaced. I have helped a lot of Butterfly Collection clients move their migrated breast tissue back into their cups and on average a cup of displaced tissue takes 6-12 months to migrate back into the cup.

2. If your breast tissue has been displaced for 15+ years it can take longer for the tissue to be repositioned back into the cup. The skin that bisects the main breast tissue mass and the displaced tissue can become toughened from the daily pressure of an ill fitting bra. In a well-fitting bra the pressure is relieved and over time the bisect tissue will soften and the tissue migration back into the cup can begin. My clients with 15+ years of migrated tissue find that it takes about 18 months to migrate tissue back into the cups.

3. In my experience dense breast tissue migrates back into the cup faster than soft breast tissue. I have tried to find the medical reason for this but as of yet I'm still not 100% sure why. I'm assuming that the connective tissue between the fat cells are closer together so as one cell is moved back into the cup the adjoining cells follow on quickly. As the fat cells in soft breast tissue are farther apart this may explain why migrating soft breast tissue back into the cups takes a little longer.

If you are attempting to migrate tissue back into your cups then remember to be prepared for an increase in cup volume or a change in breast shape. It's probably a good idea to invest in just two or three well-fitting bras while you migrate your breast tissue and wait to assess any size or shape change before going to town on an array of lovely well-fitting bras! xx