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Breast lift surgery, also known as mastopexy, offers many advantages for the right candidate. A breast lift can elevate sagging tissues, eliminate excess skin, reposition and resize the nipples, and create a more youthful appearance to the chest. Breast lift surgery alone often cannot improve volume, but we offer a range of options, including breast lift with implants, to restore the shape and fullness of the breasts with natural-looking results.
If you are 18 or older and healthy, mentally stable, and realistic about the limitations of breast lift, you are a good candidate for this procedure.
Breast lift is not recommended for:
These concerns may be better addressed by a breast reduction or breast augmentation. However, in many cases a breast lift is successfully combined with breast reduction or breast augmentation. Discuss your individual situation with Dr. Charles Perry.
**Disclaimer: If you are a smoker, you MUST DISCONTINUE smoking a minimum of 4 weeks BEFORE & AFTER SURGERY. A nicotine test will be administered.**
Breast ptosis, the medical term for breast “sagginess”, is one of the factors Dr. Perry considers when determining candidacy for breast lift surgery. He tailors the surgery based on your particular level of ptosis in addition to your individual anatomy and aesthetic goals. The condition is generally divided into three categories according to severity:
Also known as “glandular ptosis”, pseudoptosis is the most mild form of ptosis. At this stage, the breasts droop slightly below the inframammary fold, though the nipples typically remain upward-pointing.
Grade I ptosis is characterized by a somewhat more noticeable degree of sag. Breasts at this stage droop below the inframammary fold, and the nipples are centered at the fold.
In a case of Grade II ptosis, both the breasts and nipples have sagged below the inframammary fold. The nipples may remain pointing upward, but they may also point downward at this stage.
The most advanced form of this condition, Grade III ptosis manifests as a much more prominent droop. Generally, both the breasts and nipples will have sagged well below the inframammary fold.
There are several techniques that can be used to accomplish this type of breast surgery at our practice, and the surgical method the surgeon chooses is dependent on your breast size and degree of sagging.
For women with relatively small and less droopy breasts, a concentric (also called “doughnut”) breast lift is ideal. In this technique, the surgeon will cut a circular strip of tissue from around the areola, the skin is removed, and then the nipple and areola are moved upward, restoring a youthful profile to the breast. *The advantage of this approach is that the incisions are relatively small, simplifying healing and minimizing visible scarring.
*Individual Results May Vary
In a variation of the concentric breast lift, Dr. Perry extends the excision down to the crease of the breast. This incision allows more skin to be removed and the breast to be lifted more dramatically.
For women with larger breasts, the more classic anchor-shaped breast lift incision is generally more appropriate. This approach utilizes an incision around the areola, and another incision extending down to the lower breast fold. Some skin is removed, and the sides of the incision are brought together, elevating the nipple and areola and giving the breasts a new shape. This technique utilizes larger incisions than the concentric breast lift but is necessary to effectively lift larger breasts.
Everyone heals at a different rate, and you should listen to your body to determine when you are ready to move onto the next stage of recovery. Most patients take one week off from work, and during this time you should get plenty of rest and avoid bending or lifting. You will wear compression garments for about one week and, depending on your situation, you may have drains placed as well. Regular follow-up appointments will be scheduled to monitor your progress. After about one month, you should have a good idea of your results, although there will be some residual swelling for some time. You may not even notice this effect, and it should fade within one year.
Patients thinking of undergoing breast lift surgery should consider the following:
If your breasts differ in size or shape going into surgery, it is unlikely they will be completely symmetrical afterwards.
Breast lift can only bring your breast tissue upwards and excise excess skin. In many cases, breast lift combined with breast augmentation—sometimes called a breast lift with implants—is the best way to restore volume to the breast.
This combination procedure is designed to reduce the size and heaviness of breasts, in addition to lifting them for a more youthful appearance.
This is done in addition to the usual lifting of the nipple and areola during the surgery.
While breast lift can create a more youthful looking bust line, it cannot permanently halt the natural aging process.
As pregnancy stretches the breast, this surgery is not recommended for women who may become pregnant in the future. However, breast lift should not affect one’s ability to breastfeed.
Breast lift, especially the traditional anchor-shaped technique, will leave a scar. Even if you refrain from smoking and carefully follow all instructions, scars are to be expected after breast lift surgery.
Breast lift surgery is performed on a fee-for-service basis, meaning that the surgery is not covered by health insurance. Your total surgical fee will include the cost of surgical supplies, anesthesia, laboratory tests, medications, surgery center charges, and possibly more. If you experience complications, you will incur additional expenses. However, if the complication is considered a health risk, your health plan will cover the cost of hospitalization, anesthesia, and/or additional surgery.
All breast lift procedures involve major surgery and will therefore produce noticeable scars; however, the extent and visibility of residual scars will ultimately depend on the breast lift technique that is performed. Some techniques require less lengthy incisions than others. Dr. Perry will determine which technique is most suitable to your needs during the initial consultation. It is important to remember that, while some degree of scarring is inevitable, Dr. Perry has performed this procedure many times and will work to minimize the appearance of scars as much as possible. Additionally, the passage of time tends to diminish the visible signs of scarring to some extent.
We encourage patients to become educated on the risks of breast lift surgery, so that they can make an informed decision about whether the surgery is right for them. Some of the risks of breast lift surgery include:
Patients can experience a bleeding episode during or after breast lift surgery, and infection is a risk of any surgery. These complications may require a return trip to the hospital and, in the case of infection, treatment with antibiotics.
Breast lift will leave scars, even if all post-surgical instructions are followed. However, poor healing sometimes occurs, especially if the patient smokes during the healing period. In some cases, this poor healing requires additional surgery to correct.
Anesthesia-related reactions are the most common of any type of surgery. They cannot be predicted and can cause serious injury or even death. In addition, surgical materials such as tape, sutures, or medications can cause an allergic reaction. Usually this reaction is localized and easily addressed.
If breast implants are used to restore volume and fullness to the breasts during a breast lift, they introduce another set of risks.
Some temporary numbness is to be expected after breast lift; in some cases, this numbness will persist for months or even permanently.
The answer to this question depends on each patient’s unique concerns and overall goals for breast enhancement. A breast lift alone can certainly provide beautiful rejuvenation of the breasts by addressing breast ptosis and giving the breasts a firmer feel and a more youthful projection; however, it cannot add volume to the breasts or enhance their size. For women who desire larger breasts along with the benefits of a standard breast lift, a procedure known as augmentation-mastopexy (breast lift with implants), may be an ideal option to consider. This treatment involves a breast lift in combination with the placement of breast implants to enlarge the breasts while simultaneously reducing signs of sagginess.
Patients who are planning to breastfeed after a breast lift should be able to do so as long as they had the ability to breastfeed before undergoing the procedure. A sizable percentage of women are not naturally able to breastfeed, but it is possible for those who are to retain that ability following surgery. With that in mind, it is very important to let Dr. Perry know during the initial consultation about your wishes regarding future breastfeeding. With that information, he can be sure to plan the surgery in such a way that the function of the milk ducts and other anatomical structures necessary to breastfeed are preserved as much as possible. Generally speaking, Dr. Perry advises patients who may be planning to nurse in the future to wait until they have completed their families before undergoing a breast lift. This is due to the fact that pregnancy and breastfeeding after a breast lift could ultimately compromise the aesthetic results.
Pricing for breast lift surgery at our practice is typically as follows:
The final cost will include the surgeon’s fee, expenses associated with anesthesia, and use of the operating facility. During your initial consultation, Dr. Perry and our medical team will go over the details of your treatment plan and review the total cost of your program. This is not the habit of all plastic surgeons, so we encourage our patients to ask what is included in any estimate they receive. If you want to consider plastic surgery financing, we work with several reputable agencies with appealing terms. We can explore that avenue at your first appointment as well.
There is currently no non-surgical equivalent to breast lift surgery that can effectively achieve the same kind of results. The fact is that, while there is no shortage of claims that certain exercises can provide a “natural breast lift,” they cannot address many of the factors that cause breasts to sag in the first place. Loose, excess skin and stretched breast tissue cannot be effectively improved without a procedure such as breast lift surgery, which is designed to address those very concerns and reposition the breasts to create a more youthful and “perky” appearance.
Following the surgeon’s instructions before and after breast lift surgery is crucial to a smooth healing period and a good surgical result with minimal scarring. We have compiled this comprehensive list of pre- and post-surgery instructions for you to reference. Study the instructions before surgery. Then, print them out and bring them with you on your surgery day.
Please contact Chrysalis Cosmetics today to learn more about breast lift surgery, or to schedule a consultation.
*Individual Results May Vary
While Dr. Perry takes every precaution to make the procedure as comfortable as possible, it is important to note that everyone reacts differently to pain. That said, the breast lift surgery itself should not be painful as we administer general anesthesia throughout the procedure. You will likely experience some degree of soreness and swelling as you recover, but these effects can often be mitigated with over-the-counter anti-inflammatories.
Swelling is a normal reaction to this surgery, but there are ways to reduce this side effect. Getting proper rest, wearing your compression garment as prescribed, and taking regular light walks can help control swelling. Additionally, minimizing intake of foods and drinks that contain large amounts of salt can also be helpful, as these items can exacerbate inflammation.
A sports or “support” bra without an underwire and one that easily opens from the front is usually what is recommended after a breast lift. The support bra should help retain the immediate results of the procedure and encourage safe healing. Once the recovery period is complete, you will likely be able to wear other types of bras; however, we do advise breast lift patients to consistently wear bras that offer good support in order to help slow the progression of ptosis as the natural aging process continues.
When breast lift surgery is performed by an experienced surgeon like Dr. Perry, the results can last for years; however, please bear in mind that this surgery cannot stop the effects of aging, and extreme weight loss or gain can also disrupt the “lifted” effect. To reap the full benefits of this surgery, Dr. Perry advises you to maintain a healthy diet, avoid tobacco products, and wear high-quality, supportive bras.
Please contact Chrysalis Cosmetics today to learn more about breast lift surgery, or to schedule a consultation.
*Individual Results May Vary