Breast Lift

Over time, the effects of gravity along with the loss of the skin’s natural elasticity begin to have an effect on the appearance of a woman’s breasts. These factors, combined with pregnancies and nursing, will often cause the breasts to lose their youthful shape and firmness. A breast lift, or mastopexy, is a surgical procedure to raise and reshape sagging breasts.

A breast lift is performed to return youthful shape and to lift breasts that have sagged as a result of weight loss, pregnancy, loss of the skin’s natural elasticity, or simply the effects of gravity. The procedure can also reduce areolar size (the dark skin surrounding the nipple), and it can be combined with mammoplasty (breast augmentation) for added breast volume and firmness. Breasts of any size can be lifted but results last longest when they are originally small and sagging. Breast implants inserted in conjunction with a mastopexy procedure can increase both firmness and size. Our surgeons have extensive experience in this area, one of the most difficult of all plastic surgery procedures.

A number of pre-operative steps are typically taken before breast reduction surgery, such as a mammogram, measurement of the bustline, and discussion with the surgeon about the desired size and shape of the breast and placement of the nipple.

Once the patient is ready, the procedure is usually done on an outpatient basis under general anesthesia. Breast lifts typically take 1-4 hours to complete, depending on the extent of the correction. During the procedure, an incision is made beginning from the nipple and down the lower portion of the breast crease. A second incision may be made across the crease, forming an anchor shape. If less correction is needed, two circular incisions may be made around the areola instead to minimize visible scarring afterward.

Through those incisions, your surgeon removes excess skin, relocates the nipple and areola, and reshapes the breast using skin from around the areola before closing the incisions with stitches.