Breast lift surgery

Mastopexy or breast lift refers to a group of plastic surgery procedures designed to lessen the degree of breast sagging (ptosis) and loss of volume and sometimes reduces the size of the areola. Over the years, pregnancy, nursing, force of gravity, sudden weight gain, and weight loss take their toll on a female's breasts. As the skin loses its elasticity, the breasts often lose their shape and firmness and begin to droop. A breast lift can enhance your look and your sense of worth, but it will not necessarily change your appearance to match your ideal, or cause other people to treat you in a different way. Before you make your mind up to have breast lift surgery, think cautiously about your expectations and talk about them with your plastic surgeon. The best candidates for mastopexy are healthy, emotionally secure women who are reasonable about what the surgery can accomplish. Your sense of fulfillment with a breast lift is likely to be bigger if you understand the procedure in detail and if your expectations are realistic. The best results are usually accomplished in women with small, sagging breasts. Breasts of any size can be lifted, but the results are not likely to last as long in heavy breasts.

Many women opt for mastopexy alone but frequently breast implants are placed as a part of the procedure. There are several techniques for this surgery. The most common, called full mastopexy procedure begins with the surgeon making a three-part, anchor-shaped incision:

• incision around the areola and extending above it (this is to create a new position for the nipple and areola)
• vertical incision down from the areola to the crease beneath the breast
• horizontal incision along the crease underneath the breast

Then, the plastic surgeon will remove the excess skin and perform elevation of the nipple and areola, as well as redesign the shape of the breast. The skin that was originally above the nipple and aureola is brought down around the nipple and connected together. The nipple and areola remain attached to the underlying glandular tissue and the associated nerves and blood supply at all times, preserving sensation and lactation functionality. If desired, a breast enlargement procedure can also be carried out at the same time to give additional breast volume.

Some women, especially those with comparatively small breasts and only minimal sagging, may be good candidates for modified procedures that require less extensive incisions, e.g. doughnut (or concentric) mastopexy, where circular incisions are made around the areola, and a doughnut-shaped area of skin is removed.

You can experience some loss of sensation in your nipples and breast skin, caused by the swelling after your surgery. This numbness usually goes away as the swelling disappears over the next six to eight weeks. In some women, however, it may last for a year or more, and occasionally it may be for ever.

Note:

Many women ask for mastopexy for the reason that pregnancy and nursing have left them with stretched out skin and less size in their breasts. However, if you plan to have more offspring, it may be an excellent idea to put off your breast lift. While there are no special risks that affect future pregnancies (for example, mastopexy usually does not interfere with nursing), pregnancy is to be expected to stretch your breasts once more and offset the results of the procedure.

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