Breast Lift Plastic Surgery Exposed

A woman’s breasts, also known as mammary glands, are largely composed of glandular tissue, connective tissue and fat. All of this is surrounded by skin, and in most young women, each breast will look firm, tight and well positioned on the chest. As you age however, the tightness of the breasts become weaker, which eventually results in sagging or drooping of the breasts on the chest.

The extent of sagging, also known as “ptosis” in the medical world, is judged by the location or position of the nipple relative to the inframammary fold, and when a breast begins to sag the nipple will appear to hang lower than it previously did.

Ptosis can be graded as follows; normal, grade 1 ptosis (mild sagging), grade 2 ptosis (moderate sagging), grade 3 ptosis (significant sagging), pseudoptosis (lower breast sagging) and parenchymal maldistribution (lower breast tissue absent).

In general, the larger and heavier your breasts are the more they will sag and the faster they will sag, although as discussed shortly, there are other factors which can cause sagging to occur.

Fortunately, plastic surgery now provides a very effective solution for reversing sagging with breast uplift or breastlift surgery (mastopexy). This procedure is designed to return a woman’s breasts to their previous position, or any position that you desire, by raising them up on the chest and making them look tighter and firmer.

Before a plastic surgeon will operate on you however, they will first make an assessment to determine the cause of your sagging. This is necessary because it will influence the type of technique used when carrying out your uplift surgery, and whether or not implants will need to be inserted.

Causes Of Saggy Breasts

Below you will find listed some of the possible reasons why sagging of the breasts can occur. All of these causes can effectively be dealt with by a well-trained and experienced plastic surgeon.

Genetics

If you have had saggy breasts since you were a teenager, then it is likely that your sagging is due to congenital reasons. In other words, this means that you have inherited a size and shape of breast which naturally causes it to sag, and so your mother also probably has saggy breasts.

Understandably, this can cause a young woman to feel very self-conscious about the way she looks, as her breasts are different from what society tells us is normal. If not corrected, these breasts will continue to sag and will become progressively more saggy with advancing age.

Cosmetic surgeons are very happy to operate on such breasts, especially on women who are in their late teens, as the results of breast lift surgery can make a big difference to a woman’s ability to form intimate relationships with others and her overall level of self-esteem and self-confidence.

Childbirth

Aside from weight gain, one of the most common complaints that women have after giving birth to a child is sagging of the breasts. This is hardly surprising however, as pregnancy can be very tough on the breasts and the body as a whole.

During pregnancy, a woman’s breasts will swell causing them to increase in both size and weight. This unfortunately, can result in stretching of the skin that surrounds the breast, which then becomes evident after pregnancy when the breasts become smaller. Depending on the extent of sagging, a mother may start to feel that she is less attractive than she was before giving birth, which can then adversely affect the type of relationship that she has with her husband.

A significant number of women who come in for uplift surgery are mothers, so most surgeons will be used to dealing with such cases. It is important to remember though, that if you do have uplift surgery after giving birth, there is a risk of suffering from reduced nipple sensitivity and the surgery may also interfere with your ability to breastfeed future children.

So if you are thinking of having more children at a later date, then be sure to mention this to your surgeon so that you can be made fully aware of the risks involved before deciding to go ahead with your procedure.

Weight Loss

If you lose a lot of weight, or lose weight very quickly, then you may experience sagging breasts as a result. This occurs due to the skin and connective tissue stretching during weight gain, and the subsequent lack of elasticity in the skin when you lose weight which causes the breasts to look stretched and saggy.

This can cause quite some dismay, because even though a woman has been successful in losing weight with the aim of having a better looking and more attractive body, they now find that they don’t like their body any better than when they were overweight, and in some cases, they like it even less.

Not everyone who loses weight will develop sagging, but for those who do, uplift surgery can present itself as a very effective solution that will give a woman a body closer to what she thought she would have after her weight loss.

Aging

Eventually, all women will experience some degree of sagging as a result of the force of gravity combined with the aging process. As mentioned previously, the extent of sagging will largely be determined by your genetics and the size and shape of your breasts. If you do not wear a bra or play sports or jog regularly, then sagging may occur more rapidly and to a greater extent.

Most women will experience some degree of sagging in their early 30s, although it probably won’t be noticeable until they hit their 40s. In a small number of cases, some women will notice sagging in their 20s. In either case, with advancing age the breasts will gradually decline in volume and fullness and will require implants via breast augmentation surgery to correct.

Breast Uplift Plastic Surgery

A common misconception about breast augmentation surgery is that it will help to reverse sagging breasts. Whilst this may be true in some women, in the large majority of cases, a breast lift mastopexy is needed in order to raise the height of the nipple. Breast implants may still be used however, if a patient wishes to increase the fullness of the breast and its projection from the chest.

One downside to having mastopexy breast surgery is that you will be left with some amount of scarring post surgery. How much scarring you get will depend on the extent of your lift, although in general, you can expect there to be a greater amount of visible scarring the more sagging a surgeon has to reverse. As a result, anyone who is considering mastopexy must be willing to make a compromise between having fuller breasts with less sagging and the inevitable scarring that will result.

Below we look at some of the different types of procedures that can be done to lift sagging breasts. It should be noted though, that all of the procedures we are about to look at are designed to address sag or droop (skin laxity). They are not intended to increase or decrease overall breast size by themselves, as this requires breast enlargement surgery or breast reduction surgery. These procedures can however, be carried out alongside a mastopexy operation.

Breast Lift Procedures For Minor Sagging

If you notice that your breasts are looking slightly saggy, for example your nipples are becoming a little droopy, then there are two main types of cosmetic procedures, as described below, that can be carried out to create a lifting effect.

These procedures will leave a minimal amount of scarring, although they are only suitable for women who have slight sagging. For more extensive sagging, different procedures will be required that will also leave larger and more visible scarring.

Crescent Mastopexy

A crescent mastopexy breast lift is a common procedure used on women whose breasts sag very slightly. The procedure itself involves removing skin from around the edge of the areola, which leaves a semi-circular crescent scar either above or below.

The nipple areola can be raised so that it does not point downward, as it has a tendency to do, and breast implants can be inserted through the same incision lines to increase the fullness of each breast via a periareolar breast augmentation procedure.

The main advantage of a crescent lift is that due to the type of incisions which are made, the resulting scars will be less noticeable than with other procedures as they will lie on the outer perimeter of the areola-skin border.

This however, comes at the expense of producing only a minor lifting effect, which usually equates to a 1-3 cm areola lift and a 1-2 cm nipple lift. As a result, a crescent mastopexy tends to be most suitable for women who have minor sagging and smaller rather than larger breasts.

Concentric (Peri-areolar) Mastopexy

If your cosmetic surgeon tells you that your breasts are too saggy for a crescent mastopexy, then you may be offered a concentric mastopexy, sometimes called a doughnut mastopexy, instead.

Generally, this procedure is carried out on women who want to enlarge as well as lift their breasts, although it can also be done for women who only want a small lifting effect without having implants inserted.

To carry out this procedure, your surgeon will make a circular excision line around the edge of the areola. Excess skin will then be removed from above and below the areola, although in most cases, the majority of skin will be removed from above so that the nipple areolar complex can be moved upwards. Usually, the nipple areolar complex can be moved up by about 2-4 centimeters.

In addition to raising the nipple, the entire breast will become tighter. If a concentric lift is also combined with breast implants, the combination of larger breasts, less breast skin and higher nipples can often produce very impressive looking results.

One of the main advantages of a concentric lift is that scarring will only occur around the edge of the areolar, and in the hands of a good breast surgeon, by the time these incision lines heal they will be barely visible. To assist the healing process, you may be advised to use some kind of vitamin C serum so that scarring can be minimized.

As with crescent mastopexy, this procedure is most suitable for women who have minor drooping and a smaller breast size.

Breast Lifts For Very Saggy Breasts

If you are a woman who has very low hanging nipples or heavily drooping breasts, then a crescent or concentric lift which excises only a small amount of skin is unlikely to give you the type of results you are probably hoping for.

In such cases, a far more suitable procedure is the standard or vertical scar breast lift. These surgical procedures can produce very dramatic results by turning low hanging sagging breasts into firmer and fuller breasts which sit higher on the chest.

However, it is important to understand that both of these procedures will result in scarring that is much more noticeable than what occurs with a concentric or crescent lift. If therefore, you are considering either of the following procedures, you must carefully weigh up the benefits of having your breasts lifted with the inevitable scarring that will occur.

Standard (Inverse T) Mastopexy

A standard mastopexy is one of the most commonly performed breast lifting procedures. It allows very saggy breasts with low hanging nipples to be lifted, and also provides the option of using breast implants to increase the fullness of the breasts.

Due to the nature of this procedure, the resulting scars will run around the areola, down vertically from the bottom of the areola to the crease of the breast and then horizontally along and underneath the breast crease. As a result, there will be visible scarring on the front of the breast, but the scarring around the areola perimeter will be less noticeable. The scarring underneath the breast will be hidden by the hanging of the brest.

If you opt to have breast implants in addition to a breast lift, it is advisable to ask your plastic surgeon to place the implants under your pectoralis muscles. This is considered to be the safest method when having breast augmentation with mastopexy, as it minimizes the risk of breast tissue loss which may occur due to inadequate blood circulation when undergoing these types of procedures.

Vertical Scar (Benelli) Mastopexy

Another common breast lift procedure is the vertical scar breast lift, although this tends to be more common in Europe whereas the standard mastopexy breast lift is more common in the United States.

This procedure involves making incisions around the edge of the areola and an incision from the base of the areola down to the breast crease. However, unlike a standard mastopexy lift, there is no horizontal incision under the crease of the breast.

Some cosmetic surgeons are reluctant to use this technique because the breast can have a deformed shape after surgery. This however, is only temporary, and the breasts will eventually return back to a normal shape in a few months.

One advantage of vertical scar mastopexy, is that sutures are placed into the breast tissue to give it shape. This can help to increase the projection of the breasts from the chest, and reduce the likelihood that they will sag later on.

Should You Have Cosmetic Surgery?

Deciding whether or not to have breast lift cosmetic surgery is a big decision to make for any woman, and so is something that should be thought about carefully and not rushed into. Having surgery will bring major changes to your life. Hopefully, these will be positive changes, but there is a risk that negative changes will also occur which you must be prepared for.

To help you decide if you should have plastic surgery, have a look at the following questions and try to answer them as honestly as you can.

Can You Afford It?

Depending on the type of breast lift that you need, and how much sagging you have, mastopexy surgery can cost anywhere from $4000 to $9000. That is for the price of the breast lift alone. If you also want to have implants inserted, then the overall price will go up by at least another $4000.

The best way to pay for plastic surgery is to save up for it in advance, as this will leave you with plenty of time to research your procedure and change your mind if you decide that you no longer want to have surgery.

Alternatively, you may be able to take out a medical loan or plastic surgery financing plan, but these can put you at risk of getting into debt. In addition, if you have to borrow money to pay for your surgery, then you will end up paying back a greater amount than had you paid upfront with your own savings.

If you find that the cost of your surgery is more than you can afford in your home country, then you may also consider going abroad to have your plastic surgery done. For operations such as a breast lift with augmentation, flying out to another country could save you a significant amount of money.

This will however, expose you to additional risks, so if you do decide to go overseas, then this is something that should be carefully researched.

Do You Really Want Cosmetic Surgery?

Some women who get their breasts lifted do so not for themselves, but instead to please someone else such as their partner or lover. Whilst a breast lift certainly can add some spice to a relationship, virtually all cosmetic surgeons warn against undergoing surgery unless you are doing it for personal reasons.

The reason for this is that if your decision is being based on what someone else wants or expects of you, then the type of surgery you have done will be more influenced by another person’s tastes rather than your own.

If your relationship with that person were to one day end, you may end up regretting the outcome of your surgery and could then have to pay for a revision surgery to change your breasts more to your own liking.

How Long Have You Thought It?

If you have thought about having a breast lift for many years, then there is a good chance that you will benefit from having one done.

People who think about plastic surgery for many years usually have a good reason for wanting a particular procedure, because at present, they feel very self-conscious and unhappy with their appearance. In such individuals, undergoing cosmetic surgery can result in a significant and positive change to their personality.

If however, you have only recently begun to think about having your breasts lifted, then most cosmetic surgeons will advise you to wait a while, ideally for a period of at least one year, because sometimes people make decisions but then later change their mind.

By allowing yourself some time to wait before your procedure, you give yourself time to reconsider it, and if you still decide to go ahead, then at least you can be fairly certain that you are making the right choice.

Can You Accept The Risk Of Scarring?

Scarring is an unavoidable part of any type of invasive surgery. If you are not willing to accept some amount of visible scarring on your breasts, then breast lift surgery probably isn’t for you.

If you have minor breast sagging, there will be a thin scar around the edge of the areola. This scar may either be in a semi-circle or a complete circle.

If you have very saggy breasts, then you will have a vertical scar that runs down the base of the breast from underneath the nipple in addition to the scarring around the areola. In some cases, there will also be a scar that runs horizontally underneath the breast crease.

It is a good idea to ask your surgeon if they can show you examples of scarring from breast lift surgeries they have performed, and if possible, to meet someone in person so that you can examine their scars firsthand. This will give you the most realistic expectations as to what your scars could look like, although it is important to remember that your scars may differ as everyone heals differently.

Do You Lack Confidence Or Feel Abnormal?

Society paints a very clear picture of what the ideal woman’s breasts should look like. Unfortunately, for many women who do not match this ideal image, feelings of inadequacy and a lack of self-confidence invariably result.

If you feel that you lack self-confidence because of the way that your breasts look, or that you have intimacy issues, then getting breast surgery can help to improve the way you feel about yourself and make a dramatic change to your life.

If you want surgery for any of these reasons, your surgeon may ask you to see a psychologist or psychiatrist before agreeing to surgery. This can be requested to make sure that you are not suffering from a mental disorder such as depression or body dysmorphic disorder (BDD).

People who are diagnosed with psychological disorders, are unlikely to be satisfied with the results they get because they are unable to accept themselves for the person they are regardless of what they look like. This can then lead to an unhealthy obsession with plastic surgery, financial ruin and ultimately, a grossly distorted, abnormal and artificial looking appearance.

Should You Have Plastic Surgery?

If you are happy with your breasts, then keep them as they are. There is no point in changing something you already like, and the money that you spend on surgery could be better put to use elsewhere in your life. But if you really want to get a breast lift, then go for it! Doing so can help to give you more confidence, improve your relationships with others and even help to boost your career.

Remember, there is nothing wrong with improving the way you look, providing that you are doing it for the right reasons and have thought about it carefully.

Thousands of women undergo breast surgery across the world each year, and in the majority of cases, they are very pleased with the outcome. Those who aren’t so pleased with their results, usually rushed into their surgery and had it done for the wrong reasons. But providing you take your time, and choose your surgeon wisely, you will become one of the many women who are now enjoying the benefits of having more attractive looking breasts.

How To Look At Before & After Pictures

If you are considering having breast lift cosmetic surgery, then you have probably looked at a few before and after pictures to give you an idea as to the kind of results that you can expect. However, to the untrained eye before and after photos can look very similar, and if you don’t know specifically what you are looking for, it is very difficult to tell a good breast lift from a bad breast lift.

Below you will find five points that you should keep in mind when looking at before and after breast lift pictures. Think about these points the next time you see examples of a surgeon’s previous breast lift operations, as they will make it much easier for you to select a good surgeon and will also help you to become more aware of some of the things that could go wrong in the hands of a bad surgeon

1) Breast Folds

When the breasts are lifted, the location of the folds under each breast will change. A good cosmetic surgeon will ensure that each breast fold is aligned with the opposite fold so that they both sit at the same height on the chest.

If the folds underneath the breasts are at a different height, this can cause one breast to look lopsided from the other. It is also important that the folds of each breast sit at a natural height, as if they are too high or too low they will look unnatural.

Be careful however, that the pictures you are looking at contain a person who is standing upright and straight with their shoulders even and not slouching to one side. If all you see are pictures of women leaning to one side, it is impossible to say for certain whether the folds underneath the breasts have been positioned correctly.

2) Filling

You want your breasts to look natural, and so a good plastic surgeon will ensure that they fill out the same near the midline and at the sides. Breasts that do not fill out evenly will look odd and irregularly shaped, so you should be able to spot such abnormalities fairly easily.

3) Nipple Height

In some breast lift procedures, usually those which have been done on women with very saggy breasts, the nipple will be repositioned so that it sits higher on the chest pointing upwards. The nipple area may also be excised and repositioned higher up on the breast.

Pay attention to the location and angle of the nipples. Do they sit in a regular position on the breast or do they look too high or too low? If the nipple is positioned too low, the breasts may still appear to droop. If the nipple is positioned too high, the breast will not look natural.

The angle of the nipple is also important. Ideally, the nipples should be pointing upwards slightly. This effect is usually achieved with a breast implant that was inserted underneath the breast during the breast lift procedure. Can you see any additional scarring which may suggest that an implant was used? Can you see any protrusions of the implants at the sides of the breasts?

If you like the look of some nipples that you have seen in a before and after breast lift photo but are not getting implants, then you may not be able to achieve the same angled nipple effect. So be sure to ask your surgeon if the pictures he is showing you contain women with or without breast implants.

4) Symmetry

One of the most important things to look out for when studying before and after breast lift pictures, is whether or not the breasts are symmetrical. Or in other words, whether one breast looks the same as the other.

Even a small difference in breast size can vastly detract from the overall appearance of the resulting breast lift. A good plastic surgeon will be skilled enough to ensure symmetry.

If you see breasts that do not look symmetrical, you are probably better off going to another surgeon. In order for you to judge this properly, it is important that the woman is standing squarely in the picture and not leaning to one side.

In addition to symmetry, another thing to look out for is whether or not you like the shape of the breasts. Every cosmetic surgeon has their own “artistic vision”, which means that they will shape your body according to what they think looks best.

With a good cosmetic surgeon most people will agree with the surgeon as to what looks good. With a less experienced surgeon, you may find that you do not like the shape of the breasts which they create.

5) Scars

Perhaps the biggest concern that women have when considering mastopexy, is how visible the resulting scars will be after surgery. Depending on the type of breast lift you have done, you may have scars that are hardly noticeable or scars which are very visible. For this reason, it is vitally important that you look at pictures of women who have had the same procedure that you are thinking of having done.

For example, if you have slightly saggy breasts and are only going in for minor breast lift surgery, then you should look at women who have had the same type of surgery which you are considering having. This type of surgery usually involves making a small incision around the nipple region (areola), and so you should not be put off by looking at women who have vertical scars running down their breasts as this will not apply to you.

For minor breast lift surgery the scarring should largely be concealed around the nipple region, so you will probably struggle to see it. That is a sign of a good cosmetic surgeon. For standard breast lift surgery, the scarring will be much more noticeable as it will run down the center of each breast.

The only way to differentiate between scarring is to look at before and after breast lift pictures from women who went to different cosmetic surgeons. You may for example, notice that some scarring is less visible with one surgeon and more visible with another.

However, be careful when judging scarring after breast lift surgery because you may experience different results. We all heal differently, and so some people will naturally heal with less scarring than others.

Aftercare treatment can also play a big role in how much a person scars after elective cosmetic surgery. So use the scars you see in before and after pictures as a guide only, and not as something which definitely will or won’t happen to you.

Risks Of Surgically Lifting Your Breasts

If you are thinking of having a breast lift, then the only way that you can make a sensible and informed decision about whether or not to go ahead with your surgery is by knowing about the possible side-effects and complications that can occur.

Educating yourself about the risks of breast lift surgery will also help you when go to see your plastic surgeon during the consultation period. Some plastic surgeons for example, will purposely not inform you of the risks involved, or play down the risks, so that you won’t be scared off from having surgery.

This is a technique that is often used in an attempt to hard sell you into surgery. So if you know the risks of having a breast lift beforehand, you will stand a much better chance of determining which surgeons have your best interests at heart and which surgeons do not.

Below you will find some of the main risks of having breast lift plastic surgery.

Bleeding

Bleeding that occurs after surgery is called postoperative bleeding, and generally, there will be some degree of minor bleeding after any type of surgery. Where this becomes a problem is when you start to bleed a lot, as excessive bleeding can cause swelling, pain and even change the size and shape of the breast.

If treated promptly, postoperative bleeding is usually not a problem, as all that is required is for the excess blood to be drained from the body and this is normally done by using a special syringe.

For this reason, it is very important that you are aware of what aftercare you will receive once your breast lift surgery is over. Without proper aftercare, minor issues such as postoperative bleeding can become very serious if left untreated. For example, your breast may become hard, lumpy, deformed or infected.

• Postoperative bleeding is considered to be a minor risk of breast lift surgery.

Loss Of Nipple Sensation

The skin in and around the nipple and areolar region of the breast is very sensitive to touch due to the many nerves in the breast tissue. These nerves are invisible to the naked eye, and there is a risk that some of these nerves could be damaged during your surgery.

The risk of damaging these nerves however, will be less if you go to a well-trained and experienced cosmetic surgeon. Although, it is important to note that the risk of nerve damage can never be completely eliminated no matter how good your surgeon is.

Damage to the nerves in the breast can cause a decrease in nipple, areolar or skin sensitivity, which can last for a few days, months or even years. In some cases, sensation may be lost completely, or greatly reduced, permanently.

• Losing breast sensation is very real risk of breast lift surgery. It does tend to be quite common, but most women will eventually make a full recovery and regain any lost sensitivity.

Bad Scarring

Scarring is going to happen regardless of what type of breast lift you have. For minor breast lifts the scarring will be small and barely noticeable. For standard breast lifts, the scars will be bigger and more visible. Scarring is unavoidable and considered to be a normal part of the breast lift recovery period.

The extent of your scarring is difficult to predict, as everybody heals differently and scars differently. This can be influenced by your skin type (e.g. normal, acne, sensitive, oily, dry, combination), your age, your overall level of health, whether you smoke and how well you look after your wounds post surgery. You may be able to minimize your eventually scarring however, with the use of topical lotions such as by using a vitamin C serum.

• There are many risks of breast lifting surgery, but scarring is something that women worry about the most.

Asymmetry

From a cosmetic viewpoint, asymmetry is perhaps one of the worst outcomes that can occur after breast lift surgery. Asymmetry occurs when one breast looks different from the other, such as one breast being a different size or at a different height than the other.

It is not unusual for there to be some degree of asymmetry after surgery, but this is usually so slight that it is not noticeable unless you are really looking for it.

But in some cases, asymmetry can be very obvious and will require revision breast lift surgery to correct. It should also be noted that some women naturally have asymmetrical breasts, and so this may affect the outcome of the end result in some patients.

• Asymmetry is one of the most feared breast lift risks along with the risk of severe scarring.

Infection

Like any other form of surgery, a breast lift is an invasive form of surgery because you are cutting the skin and breaking the body’s natural defence barrier against germs and viruses.

As a result, there is a risk of suffering from an infection during and after your surgery, especially if implants will be used. However, if you go to a reputable plastic surgeon and keep your wounds clean during the recovery period, then this risk should be relatively low.

Most infections can be treated quite successfully with antibiotics, but in a small number of cases, breast implants may have to be removed if you had breast augmentation surgery along with your breast lift.

• Although the risk of infection after surgery is quite low, it can happen, so you shouldn’t become complacent and allow you wounds to get dirty.

Tissue Loss

Breast lift procedures can sometimes result in an area of the breast not getting enough blood due to a lack of circulation. When this happens, that area begins to die (tissue necrosis) and may eventually fall off. Although such complications are rare, they do sometimes occur with less reputable cosmetic surgeons and if a wound becomes infected but is not promptly treated.

• The risk of breast tissue loss is rare, but it does happen. This risk tends to be greatest when you are having breast augmentation surgery with breast implants in addition to your breast lift. In the worst case scenario, tissue loss can result in horrendously deformed breasts.