Breast Lift In Louisville, Lexington, Kentucky
At the Louisville plastic surgery office of Marc. J. Salzman, we are committed to helping our patients achieve their cosmetic goals. Whether you feel your breasts are undersized or asymmetrical, we will work with you to get the results you're looking for.
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Reasons for Mastopexy (Breast Lift)
Sagging breasts due to past pregnancies, weight changes, genetics, or aging. Enlarged nipple-areola complexes (pigmented areas around the nipples). Nipple position asymmetry during a standing position.
Why Do Women Opt to Have a Breast Lift?
After having children and with the passing years, flattened, sagging breasts can really be depressing for a woman. Significant weight gain and subsequent loss can also create flattened, sagging breasts. If these characteristics would be how you would describe your breasts, a breast lift could be a great procedure:
- Your breasts have lost their shape or volume
- Your breasts sag The skin on your breasts is stretched
- Your breasts are flat, elongated, or pendulous
- Your nipples point downward
- Your breasts are asymmetrical
As mentioned above, if you’d also like to return volume or increase your original breast size, then you could have a breast lift with augmentation.
Can I Correct Breast Asymmetry With a Breast Lift?
Having breasts that are not exactly symmetrical is quite common, but it can really bother some women and they would like to address this. During your breast lift, Dr. Salzman can definitely make your breasts more symmetrical. This is possible because the breast lift procedure changes the elevation of the breasts and that can be customized to each breast, so they end up symmetrical.
Should I Wait Until I Have Children to Have a Breast Lift?
Dr. Salzman stresses to patients interested in breast lifts that they need to be sure they are not going to have any additional children to qualify for this surgery. After all, most patients want breast lifts due to the sagging, stretched skin, and volume loss that has been caused by pregnancy and breastfeeding. If you become pregnant and breastfeed again, you’ll simply negate all of the results from your surgery. And you’ll likely distort your incision scars.
Breast lifts are involved procedures and they require a significant recovery, so they should only be considered if you’ve already decided to not have any additional children.
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What To Expect During a Breast Lift Consultation
The consultation for breast lift first begins with a question. Are you happy with the size of your breasts? From this point, we can then decide if we will be augmenting, reducing, or keeping the same size as we lift the breast. We stress to our patients that gravity is unyielding. Adding weight to an already-sagging breast and then trying to lift it and keep it there is often hard to accomplish. Therefore, adding large implants and doing a lift at the same time may be counterproductive. It is always better to add a smaller implant to just fill the upper portion of the breast and perform a lift that removes as much of the stretched skin as possible. There are many different types of lifts, ranging from the removal of small crescents of skin above the areola to lifts that produce scars extending around the areola and vertically downward to the crease (lollipop shape). The options of each type of lift and whether an implant will also be used will be discussed at consultation.
What if I want a lift but also want to increase my Breast size?
Breast lifts do not increase the size of your breasts; they simply bring the breast mass back to a higher position on the chest instead of most of the mass being at the bottom of the breast. So, while this surgery will elevate and firm the breasts, and possibly move the nipple/areola complex to a higher position, it does not add volume or size to the breasts.
To do that, many patients opt for Dr. Salzman to place breast implants during their breast lift. This can add volume, particularly to the upper breast area, in addition to removing sagging, excess skin. Adding implants during a breast lift is actually quite simple, as Dr. Salzman can use the same incisions he is using for the lift to place the implants.
How long does Breast Lift Surgery usually take?
Breast lifts typically take from two to three hours. The variation is due to the varying amounts of sagging tissue that needs to be removed and the different possible incision options.
Mastopexy Procedure
Mastopexy (either with an implant or small reduction) is performed as an outpatient procedure under a laryngeal mask anesthetic with added local anesthesia. The design of the incisions can be a crescent, lollipop, or “T” shape, depending on the amount of the skin that needs to be removed to correctly position the breast on the chest wall.
Crescent Mastopexy
A small crescent of skin is removed from above the areolae, leaving a scar at the top of the areolae only. This procedure is reserved for very small amounts of lifting and asymmetry correction.
Purse String (Periareola) Mastopexy
In small to moderate breast skin removals, we can sometimes perform the lift using only a scar that surrounds the areolae in a circle. We will also utilize this technique for misshapen breasts that have a pointy appearance (tubular breasts) in order to flatten the contour of the breast.
Lollipop
When more skin removal is necessary to lift the breast, the extra is removed from the bottom in a vertical direction and around the areola. The resulting scar takes on the shape of a lollipop, but can also have a small horizontal portion, extending out to the side of the breast.
“T” Mastopexy
This type of lift is reserved for situations in which a fair amount of skin needs to be removed. We see this commonly after severe weight loss or when a significant breast volume reduction is also desired. The resultant scar appears as a “T” shape connected to the circle scar around the areola.
What is recovery like after A Breast Lift?
Breast lifts involve extensive incisions for most patients. This leads to initial pain that will require prescription pain medication for the first couple of days after surgery. But the pain will diminish quickly.
Your breasts will be bandaged. You’ll have swelling and bruising; the swelling can come and go for up to a few months. The most important facet of your recovery after a breast lift is to keep all stress off of your incisions. This is accomplished by the diligent wearing of a surgical bra, then transitioning to a support bra, and finally into a strong sports bra.
This may seem excessive, but you need to wear these bras 24 hours a day for one full month after your surgery. This is absolutely necessary to limit any strain on your incisions. Your discipline will be rewarded as your incision scarring will be less visible when the incisions are allowed to heal without any stress.
Most patients can return to work in about one week. However, any strenuous exercise or heavy lifting needs to wait for at least six weeks after your surgery. This particularly applies to any activity that causes your breasts to move. By being prudent and cautious with your recovery, your scar tissue will reach its maximum strength. Plus, this will allow your scarring to fade more dramatically over time.
Other Options for Breast Enhancement
Additional procedures that may enhance the result are a small breast reduction or breast enlargement with implant placement.
Risks of Breast Lift Surgery
The specific risks and the suitability of this procedure for a given individual can be determined at the time of consultation. All surgical procedures have some degree of risk. Minor complications that do not affect the outcome occur occasionally. Major complications are rare.
What kind of results should I expect from a Breast Lift?
With his breast lifts, Dr. Salzman seeks to redistribute the breast tissue to a higher position on the chest. This is because the combination of aging, pregnancy and breastfeeding, and gravity tend to accumulate more and more of the breast mass at the bottom of the breasts.
This can create a pendulum-like appearance. This surgery changes that, returning the breasts to a higher, younger position on the chest. Lifts are very satisfying procedures for women whose breasts have become pendulous.
If necessary, Dr. Salzman can also downsize enlarged areolae. A breast lift can take nipples that may be pointing downward and bring them back to their natural higher position. And if you opt to add augmentation, you’ll gain a curvier figure at the same time.
Schedule a Breast Lift Consultation
To learn more about Breast Lift or other Breast Enhancement options, schedule an appointment with Dr. Salzman! Our practice can be reached at 502-425-5200. We serve Louisville, KY and nearby areas,