Questions Asked Regarding a Breast Lift
Posted On: September 04, 2024 Author: The Office of Dr. Stuart Linder Posted In: Breast Lift
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Considering a breast lift is a significant decision that many patients approach with a mix of excitement and concern. To help you feel informed and confident about your choice, I’ve compiled answers to five questions I frequently receive from those exploring this procedure. These questions address the key aspects of the procedure, from the expected outcomes and aim to provide clarity needed to make the best decision for your body and goals.
What qualifies you for a breast lift?
Patients who qualify for a breast lift should be seen by a Board Certified Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon to understand the degree of skin laxity, looseness and sagginess of the breast. The position of the nipple to the bottom of the breast to the inframammary fold is determined by determining the degree of ptosis or skin laxity. Patients with very significant pendulous or saggy breasts are usually excellent candidates for a breast lift. These patients should be obviously healthy and medically cleared for surgery. These patients should not smoke and should be close to their ideal body weight prior to the surgery. The best candidates for breast lifts are patients are usually at their ideal body weight and are realistic as to the expectations and results. A breast lift comes with significant Trade offs, including scarring. The scarring of a breast lift is unpredictable. The scars can of course be thickened, widespread or discolored. As a result, patients must have realistic expectations, understanding the tradeoff of scars for tighter breasts. Beast lifts themselves in general do not increase fullness to the top of the breast. Rather, they tighten up pendulous or saggy breasts and they hope to position the areola prior towards the central portion of the breast itself. Breast lifts commonly are performed with a breast implant placed at the same time. Implants placed with the lift will increase volume and shape to the upper part of the breast. It is important to describe your goal to your plastic surgeon when undergoing a breast lift. Breast lifts also will reduce the size of the breast even though only skin is being removed, skin is still volume. Expect to lose at least one cup size with a full breast lift after surgery. It is important that patients achieve their ideal body weight prior to undergoing a breast lift. If they are continuing to lose weight after a breast lift, they may have increased looseness to the skin and require a revision surgery down the road.
What is the downside of a breast lift?
The downside of breast lifts can occur both immediately after surgery and somewhere the line. Immediately after a breast lift surgery, patients can have bleeding, infection, skin loss, loss of sensitivity of the nipple areolar complex or even loss of the nipple and/or areola. Most common long-term consequences of breast lifts include scarring. Scarring over time is not always predictable. Scarring can include: thickened scars, hypertrophic scars, keloids, widespread scars, hyperpigmentation and hypopigmentation or loss of pigmentation in the incisions. Patients can also have recurrent skin laxity over time which may require a secondary procedure and re-tightening of the breast lift. Patients may have sagginess of the breast if they do not wear constant underwire support with brassieres and have bottoming out of the breast and what we call recurrent skin laxity where the breastsags again. Scarring is considered one of the highest risk and consistent issues with breast lifts and breast reduction surgeries. These scars must weigh upon the risks and benefits of a breast lift procedure. The amount of skin laxity or how saggy the breast is, is important in make the determination whether an anchor scar or breast lift is appropriate and worth the risk. No doctor surgeon can guarantee the final results of scarring on a breast lift. As a result, patients with darker skin may have a higher tendency for poor scarring, including loss of pigmentation, increased pigmentation, hypertrophic or thickened scars. Also, issues of a breast lift are the breast itself will be smaller in size, almost a cup size smaller. When we do a breast lift and remove the skin, the skin is volume, and that volume once removed and the skin flaps are tightened, will lead to a tighter, but smaller breast. So, the patient needs to be aware that they are downsizing even if tissue is not removed, other than skin, with a full breast lift Wise-pattern procedure.
How painful is a breast lift?
Breast lift procedures in general are not very painful to most patients. Breast lifts usually require removing skin only and as a result, patients usually do not show that much pain. Most of our patients will take Tylenol or Norco for one to two days; however, it should be noted, some do not take any postoperative pain meds. Breast lifts are not usually as painful as breast augmentations, especially under the muscle. When removing skin of the breast, patients usually do not feel much nerve pain and therefore there is not that much discomfort. We recommend ice compression for the first 48 hours and analgesics or Norco as necessary after the breast lift procedure. Because the breast has fewer nerves this surgical procedure, most patients really do not complain of nerve pain, other than a dull pain which can be controlled nicely with ice compression postoperatively in the first 48 hours.
How long does a breast lift last?
Breast lifts can last for many years, depending upon the type of lift that’s performed, as well as the activities and the behavior of the patients themselves. Breast lifts can include periareolar lifts, round block lifts, lollipop lifts and full anchor scar lifts. For this question, we will discuss breast lifts using the full anchor scar with a Wise-pattern technique. Breast lifts can last longer when patients wear supportive brassieres or underwire bras throughout the day and a soft sports bra during the evening during sleep, in order to maintain the inframammary fold support, reducing gravitational descent or what is considered bottoming out of the breast due to poor support along the fold. Women that wear bras, especially underwire bras after breast lifts, have been shown to maintain their breast shape and position better than those who do not wear a bra or go braless. Sleeping at night wearing a bra will help keep the breast lifted. You actually must understand the quality of the tissue. Women who have had tremendous weight loss after weight gain such as in pregnancy, may end up having damage to the skin and tissue which can cause increased skin recurring, which is called laxity and skin loosening requiring a secondary lift. Lifts in patients who require breast lift revision or secondary as little as five years later and some may last up to 20 years. The average breast lift will last approximately 10 years. Again, the behavior and activity of the patient, wearing bras throughout the day as well as at night, will help to support the breasts and help to prevent them from sagging and falling once again. Women with implants and breast lifts have a higher recurrence of the skin loosening and requiring a second breast lift, especially when patients do not wear underwire bras. The weight of the implant, weighing on the skin fat and sometimes submuscular area can lead to the breast sagging once again and require a full breast lift, even after one to two years. Again, quality of tissue, stretchmarks, elasticity and a history of weight loss, including patients taking weight loss medications, including Ozempic and Wegovy, have a much higher risk of recurrent skin loosening and requiring secondary breast lifts.
How many cup size do you go down after a breast lift?
Normally, after a full formal mastopexy or full breast lift, patients will be downsized by approximately one cup size. This can vary, depending upon the size of the patient, their height, their weight, base diameter of their breasts and the breast size preoperatively. The majority of our patients noted that even removing skin around the areola vertically and along the fold will reduce and flatten the breast with a close four to six weeks to at least one cup size smaller. It should be notable that patients who desire to have the same size breasts after a breast lift, even though that would not be the case, skin is volume and removal of full amounts of skin on a full formal breast lift, what we call the Wise-pattern or anchor scar technique, will lead to a decrease in size of the breast by at least one cup size. Breast lifts can be combined with breast reductions. If that is the case, a breast reduction can remove tissue from the inner and outer side of the breast and above the areola and lead to a much greatly reduced size breast, if that is the desire of the patient. Patients who undergo breast lifts should always understand the tradeoff of scarring and need for secondary surgery in case the breasts should sag again over time, especially when patients fail to wear a large supportive brassiere underwire bra. Gravity will cause increased sagginess to the breasts over time. Remember that if you need a breast lift that your tissue and skin have probably had some damage due to weight gain and loss, especially after a pregnancy and especially if you have stretchmarks and that you are at risk for having to undergo a second breast lift surgery down the road.
To schedule your consultation with Dr. Linder and learn more about breast lift surgery, call our office at 310-275-4513 in Beverly Hills or fill out our online contact form today.