As a plastic surgeon, I have the rare opportunity to see women’s anatomy in a different way. At least 5 times a week, I am operating on my patients’ breasts, making them bigger, smaller, perkier, rounder, lifting them, more symmetrical, or creating mounds after they have conquered breast cancer.Prior to each surgery, I prepare for their case by reviewing their history, measurements and photographs that are taken in an upright standing position.When we are in the operating room, the patients are laying on their backs. I began taking notice of the position of their breasts when they were laying down. Typically, at the start of the surgery, the breasts were at the patients’ sides and not on their chests until we had repositioned them there. 

About 5 years ago, it puzzled me that women would come in with encapsulated, rock-hard implants that were decades old. Or breasts that were so saggy and displaced out into their sides. I remember thinking, “Our breast surgery patients are so happy. But how do they go from happy, perky breasts to the very saggy and malpositioned breasts decades later?” One day, it struck me. One of my patients was asleep on the operating room table and I was cleaning her skin with a special solution. I noticed that her breast implants were so far on the sides of her chest that they were not only no longer sitting on top of the chest where they belonged, but they were nearly touching the sides of the operating room table. Her implants were so far apart that they were at least 15cm or more apart; that’s the width of a palm! Given that she was a slender patient, I was able to see that the implants clearly followed the natural curvature of her rib cage when she was laying down. That was the A-ha moment!

With each similar case, I began to see a pattern. Old implants, armpit boobs. Old implants, armpit boobs. Stretched and widened breast pockets were the norm and became my specialty. With each secondary breast surgery, I was always doing a lot of internal breast pocket work to close off the lateral, stretched portion of the pockets and reposition the implants back onto the chest wall. This entailed thickening up the capsule, or breast pocket by cauterizing it and then oversewing it almost like a small corset to narrow and shrink the area where the new implant would be placed. When I would debrief with the patient the following day by sharing our intraoperative findings, the patients would almost predictably say the same thing, “No one ever taught me how to take care of my breasts.” But then again, was this even possible before? Just a few decades ago, plastic surgeons weren’t completely clear on the safety of breast implants. Silicone breast implants were pulled off the market for cosmetic use in 1992 for worldwide studies. It was only as recently as 2006 when these implants were deemed safe and released for cosmetic use again. Furthermore, plastic surgeons back then were predominantly male and likely understandably, not thinking about how breast implants feel in their own bodies.

“Wouldn’t it be better if we could help educate women on how to maintain them?” I thought. My easy solution at the time was to tell patients to keep them in a sports bra. However, after I had my own surgery, I felt pain on the sides of my chest about 6 months postoperatively. I found this very odd since I should already be feeling normal and pain free by then. Why was I getting new pain? I also was religious about wearing my sports bra to sleep. Yet, my breasts were trying to migrate to the sides of my chest. Well, of course! Sports bras only smash your breasts into amorphous blobs. They do not offer any support and certainly, no hard stops on the sides. Sports bras give a false sense of security, but they are not designed to shape and not all brands are designed to even support.

We spend approximately 8 hours a day sleeping (if we’re lucky); that is one third of our lives! That is one third of our lives where our breasts are being smashed, pulled, unsupported and aging ever so quickly. Although women are becoming more empowered and knowledgeable about health, there is still such avoid in women’s health. I set out to create a sleeping “bra” that would be comfortable and also keep the breasts where they should be, on the chest wall.I use “bra” in quotations because I was not looking make a brassiere, rather I was creating something with support from the sides, not the bottom (we do not stand when we sleep). I also wanted to avoid having traditional uncomfortable straps that cut into the shoulders. 

Enter the Lovoire nighttime “bra,” the first ever garment designed specifically for sleeping and keeping breasts positioned youthfully. The most important feature of the Lovoire is that it creates the essential vectors that bring the breasts in and up. The breasts are cupped from the sides and moved inward like a hug.This patent-pending design is the magic! To put on the Lovoire, place your head through first, then your arms. The final step closing the hook to your desired comfortable fit, which brings the breasts together. The band is adjustable to fit all sizes within a range. The straps are designed to be wide and contain padding within them to distribute pressure, thereby avoiding the pain of shoulder grooving caused by typical bra straps. Made with Coolcore® fabric, the Lovoire is comfortable, breathable and beautiful. Many of us get hot when we sleep; having something that can breathe with our skin is important to having a good night’s rest. Lastly, the Lovoire has sex appeal with its little peekaboo cleavage. 

As Test Patient Number One, I slept with and tried on the Lovoire for weeks. I was amazed that the pain on my sides was gone. I got a good night’s sleep and felt supported. I am so excited to offer this to my patients because I want them to love their breasts and results for years to come. As a busy working mom myself, I do not have time, desire, or energy to get a touch up surgery every 3-5 years. Wearing the Lovoire during the week has helped me preserve my own results and can help other women enjoy their results too. The Lovoire is the first of the many innovative garment ideas I have to help women in a different, special way. I truly hope we can make it a success and continue evolving and innovating for the empowered woman today. I believe that if a woman has implants for cosmetic or reconstructive reasons, they could benefit from having a Lovoire.