Breast Reduction: Info, Prices, Photos, Reviews, Q&A

Breast lifting is advised for reducing the size of areolas, which have become enlarged over time.

What breast lift surgery cannot do is do is significantly change the size of your breasts.

Because of this, it is mostly used in conjunction with breasts augmentation or reduction.

Breast lift surgery can be helpful for patients who:

– are bothered by the feeling that your breasts sag, or have lost substance or firmness
– have breasts that are pendulous or which have a flatter, elongated shape (especially without volume)
– have nipples that point downward or fall below the breast crease when the breast is unsupported
– have stretched skin and/or enlarged areolas
– have breasts which are positional-asymmetrical (one breast lower than the other)

To be a good candidate for this surgery you must be a non-smoker who has no significant health problems and maintains a stable weight. Having unrealistic expectations about the surgery is not a good thing to have, as it is very important to maintain a positive, realistic mindset.

Mastopexy can be performed at any age but usually doctors recommend waiting until breast development has stopped. Most surgeons also recommend waiting until a woman has done children as pregnancy and even breastfeeding may have significant and unpredictable effects on the breasts.

The doctor may order pre-op lab tests so he can confirm your health status. He may also advise you to stop taking certain meds such as aspirin and herbal supplements before the surgery.

The doctor will want to know more about family history including breast cancer and the results of previous mammograms or biopsies. He will most likely examine your breasts and take photos and measurements of the size and the position of your breasts, nipples and areolas. He may ask you for a mammogram, which is recommendable.

Most of the patient can return to their activities after 10 days but strenuous activities and sports should not be practiced until at least a month has passed, and sexual activity should be avoided for a minimum of 1 or 2 weeks. It is very important to understand that these tips can vary very much accordingly to the patient’s personal health, the techniques used and other variable factors surrounding the surgery.

Procedure Overview

First, anesthesia is administered to the patient. After that, medications are given for the patients comfort during the surgical procedure. Usually, a general anesthetic is administered so that the patient will fall asleep during the surgery. However, breast lift can also be performed using a combination of local anesthesia and intravenous sedation. Your doctor can recommend the best choice for you.

Breast incision patterns vary depending very much on the amount of excess skin and position of the nipples but mostly because of patient and surgeon preference. The patient and the doctor must determine which incision type will work best for the patients needs.

After the surgeon makes the incision, the breast tissue is repositioned and reshaped, the skin that is in excess is surgically removed. The nipples and the areola are usually repositioned to a better-looking height.

If there is the need, the size of the areola can be reduced by exercising the skin around the perimeter.

After the breasts are reshaped and the excess skin is to be removed, the remaining skin is mostly tightened as the rest of the incisions are closed. The sutures that are layered deep within the breast tissue to support the newly shaped breasts, along with the possible use of skin adhesives and/or surgical tape to help close and support the skin.

After the surgery

After the surgery, the patient must be taken to a recovery area where it must be monitored by authorized medical staff. In some cases, tubes must be placed in the breasts and drain excess fluid and blood. Sometimes, dressing must be placed on the breasts and covered in an elastic bandage or a surgical bra. In most cases, the patients are permitted to go home after a few hours had passed but in many cases, the surgeon may suggest it s better to remain In the hospital or clinic for the night. If the patient has to go home, it is advisable to be driven and supervised by a friend or relative.

Final Touches

Mastopexy is often called breast lifting and it is a procedure that improves the appearance of sagging large breasts. The surgeries goal is to improve the shape of the breast while minimizing visible scars.

For achieving such results many procedures and modifications are used in this surgery.

Mastopexy usually present one of the biggest challenges to the breast surgeon. Many techniques provide improvement in the appearance and shape of the breast but the objectives are to create a more youthful appearance and improved projection.

Many aesthetic improvements and good looks, unfortunately, come with the price of permanent scars. Although breast implants can provide the good looks most patients usually want; they come with their fair share of complications and problems.

Through nobody knows for sure the prevalence of breast ptosis, mastopexy frequency can be seen to be clearly on the rise.

Etiology has numerous causes but gravity seems to be the biggest issue. Younger patients are more prone to ptosis because of excessive breast size or thin skin, thus the need of using both breast reduction and mastopexy procedures.

Ptosis in middle-aged patients usually is due to postpartum changes, the breast skin is stretched during lactation or engorgement and after that the breast gland atrophies leaving loosened skin. Finally, in postmenopausal patients, further atrophy, gravity, loss of skin elasticity due to age, and weight gain are factors in creating breast ptosis.

Of course, relaxation of Cooper ligaments and dermal laxity cause descent of the breast tissue and NAC but postpartum evolutional changes exacerbate the laxity of the suspensor ligaments and skin envelope.

It is very important to correct these changes and elevating the breast parenchyma is necessary.In addition, redundant skin envelope must be removed and NAC must be transposed.

A classification of the ptosis exists and you can find a summary of it below:

• Grade 1: Mild ptosis – Nipple just below inframammary fold but still above lower pole of breast
  Grade 2: Moderate ptosis – Nipple further below inframammary fold but still with some lower pole tissue below nipple
  Grade 3: Severe ptosis – Nipple well below inframammary fold and no lower pole tissue below nipple; “Snoopy nose” appearance