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With age, pregnancies and weight fluctuations, breasts tend to lose their youthful appearance. The upper portions become sunken, and the nipples move inferiorly, sometimes actually pointing down. A bra is required for support and to bring the breasts up to a more normal level. Wearing clothes without a bra creates an unflattering appearance. Sometimes, the overall volume and size of the breasts also decreases, and they feel too soft to the touch; they have lost the “firm and perky” look and feel. These changes are seen as early as the teen years in some patients because of genetic (hereditary) pre-disposition. A Mastopexy (Breast Lift) is a surgical procedure that restores the breasts to their youthful appearance. The actual “lift” is usually accomplished by excising or removing excess skin which bunches up or tightens the deeper breast tissues and makes the overall breast feel firmer. This skin removal results in scars. Luckily, in most women, the scars fade with time and blend in with the surrounding skin. Surgical experience has also taught surgeons where to place the scars to minimize them. Unfortunately, a true breast lift always results in some degree of scarring. In instances where the breasts have just lost so much bulk that they look “deflated” but the nipples are still in a good position up on the breast, a simpler solution may be a breast augmentation (breast implant) without mastopexy scars. Sometimes, the best solution is a combination of a “lift” and insertion of breast implants. Since each patient has her own unique pattern of droopiness or loss of volume, the actual procedure employed to solve the problem varies. Search the Internet and you will see all of these variations: Scar location only around the areola (the dark skin around the nipple), with or without a vertical scar (“lollypop”) or the traditional “Anchor” or “Inverted-T” scar. It doesn’t mean that one procedure is better than another. An experienced surgeon like Dr. Palma will recommend the best procedure for each patient’s anatomy and desires. Mastopexy or Breast lift is one of the most challenging procedures for plastic surgeons. It is somewhat difficult to achieve long lasting good results. It is not unusual for the droopiness to recur after surgery because the 3 main causes for the droopiness are all unchanged and persistent after surgery [Breast Tissue Weight, Gravity, and most importantly, the patient’s genetics]. This is most often seen in the larger breasts with more weight in them. To deal with these problems, surgeons have sometimes “cheated” by using breast implants to create upper breast fullness. Even if the breast tissues droop again, at least the upper fullness remains. These breasts have a tendency to look fine in a bra but not without a bra. In his extensive experience, Dr. Palma has found that in most patients a combination of using implants and removing some breast tissue works best to achieve long lasting and pleasing results. However, there isn’t a single procedure that fits all patients. Dr. Palma will recommend what he believes is the best or optimal procedure for a patient only after a thorough consultation where he has the chance to discuss the patient’s desires and after a full examination where he will take into consideration the patient’s health status, height and weight, tissue quality and degree of droopiness. Every patient has unique breasts and the solutions tend to be different for each. |