Non Surgical Breast Reduction Options – Plastic Surgeons Opinions

There are no nonsurgical procedures that can safely and effectively reduce and reshape the breast. Some women will achieve breast reduction through diet and exercise, but short of this surgery of some type (liposuction, breast reduction) is required. (Shahram Salemy, MD, FACS, Seattle Plastic Surgeon)

There is no safe nonsurgical breast reduction technique

Unfortunately, there is no safe way to reduce breast size without surgery. Although you will occasionally see pills and injections advertise, there is no technique that has been proven to be effective in reducing breast size without the use of surgery. (Pat Pazmino, MD, FACS, Miami Plastic Surgeon)

Options for breast reduction

Most of the breast is fat and that fat can be reduced in a number of ways all of which have advantages and disadvantages. A breast reduction where skin and soft tissue is removed is the only method currently available to remove and tighten the skin envelope as well and to shape the breast.

Alternatives To Breast Reduction

Non-invasive: Cryolipolysis or other non invasive fat reduction systems. Reduces the fat but does not reduce the skin or shape the breast. Currently not universally approved.

Minimally invasive: Liposuction. reduces the fat and can do same contouring but does not reduce the skin envelope or lift the breast

Surgery: breast reduction. have to have some type of incision. (Remus Repta, MD, Scottsdale Plastic Surgeon)

Liposuction is an alternative

For the most part, surgery is the only way to reduce the size of the breast and keep a natural appearance. However, for smaller volume reductions, liposuction is an alternative. You have to keep in mind, however, that by deflating the breast with liposuction and not resecting the skin, you have a risk of breast ptosis (hanging skin) that may leave you worse off that you started.

Before After Breast Exercises

However, for small volume reductions, you can achieve very nice results with liposuction. Also, breast reduction incisions tend to heal very well. Breast reduction patients are some of the happiest patients that we see.

So, the tradeoff of an incision for enhanced lifestyle and relief of neck and back pain is generally a good decision. (David Shafer, MD, New York Plastic Surgeon)

Reduction Mamoplasty requires surgery but sometimes it can be done with liposuction.

While the best way to get not only a reduction in the size of your breast but also a lift and reshaping of your breasts is with one of several surgical techniques. These include either superior or inferior pedicle techniques which require incisions around the nipple areola complex and down the breast from the nipple and often an incision under the breast.

Cryolipolysis Breast Reduction

In the past few years the use of suction lipectomy has become a reasonable alternative to reduce the size of the breast with only small stab wound incisions. Interestingly the breast is lifted and the nipple areolar complex is elevated to some degree but not to the degree that open surgery offers.

Liposuction reduction mamoplasty is particularly good in somewhat heavier patients in which open surgery may well be more risky. (Carl W. “Rick” Lentz III, MD, Orlando Plastic Surgeon)

In some patients liposuction may be used, with less scars, but standard surgical breast reduction is usually necessary (Steve Merten, FRACS, Sydney Plastic Surgeon)

A breast reduction is the only effective method for reducing your breast size

Currently there are NO non-surgical options to reduce the size of a patients chest besides weight loss. With that said, while weight loss can reduce you in size, it does not always provide you with the best cosmetic result and can change the volume distribution, shape and severity of breast ptosis or sag.

Liposuction Is A Less Invasive Surgical Choice

If you are considering a procedure to reduce the current size of your breasts, your best option is a surgical breast reduction. While you will have some scarring, most patients are happy to trade their large and uncomfortable breasts for a perkier and more youthful breast shape with the necessary scars.

Please schedule a consultation appointment with a board-certified plastic surgeon who is well-experienced in performing breast reduction procedures. A thorough exam, evaluation of your current breast size, skin quality and desired outcome will be discussed at length and you will be able to better determine whether a breast reduction is the right procedure for you. (Stephen T. Greenberg, MD, Woodbury Plastic Surgeon)

No Scar Breast Reduction

The usual answer to this question is “no, only surgery.” I suspect that most younger women are mostly concerned about the typical scars from breast reduction, not the fact that it is “surgery.” I have performed liposuction on a number of younger patients with good results.

MicroLipo Breast Reduction

Younger women, who have no stretch marks (or few) and good elasticity can do very well with liposuction alone. That said, it is a bit of a compromise in that while we can certainly achieve volume reduction we can only achieve the lift that comes with reductions in some patients, not all. (Clayton L. Moliver, MD, Houston Plastic Surgeon)

Breast reduction

Surgery is really the only way to go. You can either have liposuction to reduced the volume or surgical excision of the breast tissue. To have liposuction, your breast must have significant fat rather than breast gland.

Also liposuction only removes volume without correcting the shape. (Siamak Agha, MD, PhD, FACS, Orange County Plastic Surgeon)

Non-surgical breast reduction not an option

Surgery is the only way to reduce the breast. It can either be performed by surgical removal of the excess tissue or by using liposuction to remove the excess weight. Remember that liposuction is surgery too! Liposuction has the advantage of very small scars and it can be performed in patients with fatty breasts, however I do not prefer this method.

Reduction Mammoplasty Is A Significant Surgery

It does not remove excess skin and, in my opinion, results in a deflated, sagging breast with a poor contour. If you are one of the lucky ones, and there are very few, your breasts might get smaller if you are overweight and you lose weight. (Tracy Pfeifer, MD, Manhattan Plastic Surgeon)

Not likely for a few years

Safety and medicolegal issues will likely delay external, “nonsurgical” breast reduction procedures from reaching the States for a while, but you may have access to them in your country. Check with a plastic surgeon in your area for details on the availability of these technologies. (Kenneth R. Francis, MD, FACS, Manhattan Plastic Surgeon)

Weight loss, Stop Birth Control Pills or Surgery

Most people will experience a loss of breast size with weight loss. There is a small percentage of patients that will not respond because their breasts are predominantly gland (the tissue that makes milk and gets bigger and smaller with your period).

There Is Limited Scarring And The Recovery Is Easy After Liposuction

Birth control pills make some women’s breasts larger. If you are one of those people and want to have smaller breasts then stop the pills and resort to another type of birth control. Finally, whether you have a liposuction or conventional breast reduction – they are both surgery and require anesthesia and some amount of cutting and injury.

Breast liposuction will reduce volume but will leave the breasts appearing saggy. For breasts reduction surgery, my favorite are the vertical scar techniques (especially Lejour, not Hall-Findlay) and a circumareolar breast reduction called a Goes technique.

Both give wondeful, natural, durable sexy results. (Robert M. Freund, MD, New York Plastic Surgeon)

Surgery is Most Reliable.

Weight loss works for some patients. Unfortunately, non surgical solutions leave most patients short. Liposuction only breast reduction works for some young women, only if they have fatty breast tissue, and insurance almost never pays for this.

Liposuction May Result In Sagging Breasts With Loose Skin

Surgical breast reduction has a very high satisfaction rate and is the gold standard for back pain relief. (Luke J. Curtsinger, MD, Savannah Plastic Surgeon)

Aside from weight loss, which will impact your breasts depending on how much of your breasts are fat vs breast tissue, breast reduction surgery remains the only reliable way to reduce breast volume. (Samir S. Rao, MD, Chevy Chase Plastic Surgeon)

Surgery with a breast reduction is the only reliable and predictable method for an aesthetic result. Liposuction can be done on the breast, but it may cause a more deflated look and won’t put the nipples in their proper position. (Orna Fisher, MD, Palo Alto Plastic Surgeon)

Surgical Breast Reduction Is The Way To Go

Typically it is not possible to achieve any significant breast reduction without surgery. Weight loss may result in somewhat smaller breasts, but that might also change the shape and result in sagging. Surgery is an excellent way to achieve a reshaped, smaller, better positioned breast. (Gary Lawton, MD, FACS, San Antonio Plastic Surgeon)

Non Invasive

Reducing breasts without surgery

For most women, weight loss may be the only way to reduce your breasts without surgery. The breast reduction surgery is designed to reduce, reshape, and lift your breasts to a size that is comfortable and fits your frame.

Some women can also achieve reduction with liposuction, but no reshaping or lifting is done. Liposuction does use very small incisions, but is limited in the amount of tissue that can be removed. External ultrasound is limited and not too predictable in the amount of fat that can be removed from the breast. (Connie Hiers, MD, San Antonio Plastic Surgeon)

Exercise can cause a reduction to an extent.

Exercise can lead to weight loss and enhanced muscle tone, which can in turn lead to a reduction in breast size, but not necessarily several cup sizes. If the size of your breasts are causing discomfort on a daily basis or symptoms such as back and neck pain, you may want to consider speaking with a doctor about a possible breast reduction.

Non Surgical Treatment For Breast Reduction

Breast reduction by liposuction may also be considered as this procedure is not as invasive and produce much smaller scars. Your doctor will be able to tell you more details about these types of procedures. (Norman G. Morrison, MD, FACS, New York Plastic Surgeon)

Other than good ol’ fashioned weight loss, there is no non-surgical option to breast reduction

Unfortunately, other than losing weight in general and expecting the breasts to follow suit, there really is no satisfactory non-surgical way to reduce the breasts. If you are mainly interested in reducing the VOLUME of the breasts and you aren’t too interested in optimal nipple position or don’t mind a little looseness of the breasts, there is an option that will leave more minimal scars.

Liposuction breast reduction is a surgical procedure, but it does not require the long scars that traditional breast reduction does. It is best suited for ladies who have more fatty tissue than glandular tissue and ones that don’t mind a little bit of residual ptosis, or sag, to their breasts.

While some nipple elevation does typically occur with liposuction breast reduction, it is hard to predict how much and on whom that will happen. More often than not, the ideal candidates for this procedure tend to be a little older and not as concerned about the aesthetic aspect of the procedure as they are the functional reduction in size and weight of the breasts. (Joseph L. Grzeskiewicz, MD, San Diego Plastic Surgeon)

Breast Reduction Surgery is the Best Option to Reduce Breast Size

Reduction Mammoplasty Reduces The Amount Of Fat And Glandular Tissue In The Breast

Unfortunately, there’s no way to significantly reduce breast size without surgical intervention. Weight loss can result in minor changes in breast size but this is usually accompanied by increased breast sag. Only breast reduction surgery reduces the size of the breast while simultaneously addressing the excess skin, which causes breast sag.

At this time, breast reduction surgery is the only viable alternative that alleviates symptoms while improving breast aesthetics. (Richard J. Bruneteau, MD, Omaha Plastic Surgeon)

Currently, the best way to reduce the size of the breasts is surgically by excising breast tissue and redundant skin. Some have used liposuction on select candidates to reduce the size of the breasts.

There are other methods being studied to alleviate the problems of macromastia but they are not available yet. (Thomas Guillot, MD, Baton Rouge Plastic Surgeon)