What is breast lift surgery?

The medical term for breast lift surgery is “mastopexy”, and it is used to restore breasts that have begun to sag, losing their previous contour.

Breasts sag for a number of reasons:

• If you have large breasts, ordinary gravitational pull is enough to cause breasts to sag over the course of time.
• As women age, ligaments may begin to stretch, causing sagging. The natural support that your body gives your breasts becomes less effective. Many women notice this effect during menopause.
• Over decades, lack of a properly supportive bra can aggravate the effects of ageing and other factors that contribute to sagging breasts.
• Weight gain followed by weight loss plays a role.
• Breast feeding does not lead to sagging breasts, but the natural changes in breast size associated with pregnancy can.
• Smoking causes the loss of elastin that keeps skin flexible, and sunburn can also have a similar effect.
• Hereditary factors can play a role.

Breast lift surgery removes stretched skin and reshapes the tissues, restoring the youthful look of breasts. It does not enlarge breasts, but they may look a little fuller once sagging is eliminated. If you think that the size of your breasts has contributed to sag, you can also consider having breast reduction surgery at the same time. Another popular option is to combine a breast lift with breast augmentation, since this can round out the upper portion of the breast, something that a breast lift cannot do.

Various types of breast lift surgery are used depending on your needs

Crescent lift

This technique is used when sagging has been relatively minimal. A very small incision is made around the upper half of the areola. This type of breast lift surgery is seldom used.

Peri-Areolar Lift

An incision is made right around the areola, and areola size reduction can also be accomplished. This technique is only effective if sagging is slight, but if you are also having breast augmentation, it may be sufficient.

Vertical Lift

This is a common type of breast lift. An incision is made around the areola, and a second incision from its edge to the bottom of the breast is made. Now your surgeon can remove extra skin and reshape the underlying tissues.

Inverted T Lift

This technique is chosen when dramatic reshaping is needed. It requires three incisions. Two of them are the same as those we discussed in the vertical lift procedure, and a third incision is made along the fold under the breast. If you are combining your lift with breast reduction surgery, this type of surgery is a common choice.

Both vertical and inverted T lifts will leave visible scars, but if you take good care of them, they will fade rapidly. Your plastic surgeon will provide you with the advice you need to hasten scar fading, and even during the time when scarring is visible, it is easily hidden by your bra or even a bikini top. If you think you are a candidate for breast lift surgery, you can find out more by consulting your surgeon.