Yes it is 3am. That is sort of the point of the post.
Gland and lipo both sides, fifteen days ago. Pain is honestly fine now, bit of a bruised ache, nothing like I expected. The problem is sleep. I have slept on my right side with one arm under the pillow my entire life, and I have been told back only, propped up, vest on. I lie there like a mummy, drift off, half roll, the chest pulls and I am wide awake. Repeat until it gets light.
Is there a trick? And realistically, when did people get back on their side? The leaflet says "until advised" which is not a date.
Wedge pillow. I resisted buying one for about five nights of stacked pillows sliding apart and then got one and wished I had done it before the op. Rolled up towel either side of your hips stops the half roll.
Side came back for me at about three weeks, but only a quarter turn with a pillow behind my back. Full on my side closer to five. Face down was after the vest came off. Everyone I have spoken to has a slightly different number so ask yours at the next check.
#4October 31, 2026, 10:05 am Lewis, I was a right side sleeper too and the nights were the worst part of my first fortnight, so you have my sympathy. The short answer: back and propped up for the first weeks is the usual rule, side sleeping tends to come back gradually once the worst swelling has settled, often within the first few weeks, and face down waits longest. Danny's quarter turn is a very common first step. The actual date is your surgeon's call and depends on your operation, so ask at your next check rather than testing it at 3am.
Ben's wedge and towels are the two things I would buy again. I would add a pillow under each arm, which takes the pull off the sides of the chest that wakes you on a half roll, and a pillow under the knees, because a fortnight on your back starts to tell in the lower back. I wrote the whole setup up, including getting in and out of bed without using your chest, in sleeping after gynaecomastia surgery.
Two other things that helped me: taking whatever simple painkillers the surgeon recommends half an hour before bed rather than when the ache wakes you, and not napping after about 3pm. Ask the clinic before adding any sleep aid from the chemist, some do not mix well with what you were sent home with.
And the one sleep related thing that is not about sleep: waking to one side suddenly bigger, tight and more painful is a call to the clinic that day, not a position problem.
Wedge arrived Friday, towels in, pillow under each arm. Five hours last night, which felt like a holiday. Asked at my check this morning and got the go ahead for a quarter turn on the less sore side, so I am counting that as a win.
