Breast lift surgery – with or without Breast Implants?
Weight fluctuations, multiple pregnancies, and the natural aging process – these are just three of the many potential causes of breast sagginess. In medical terms, we call it breast ptosis. Breast ptosis is a condition defined by the unnatural position of the breasts on the chest wall. In other words, when some or most of the volume of the breasts is under the level of the mammary fold, you might be suffering from breast ptosis. Saggy breasts are easily noticeable as they hang lower on the chest wall and the upper pole of the breast usually lacks volume. Fortunately, we have options to correct saggy breasts today – the procedure is called breast lift. Breast lift surgery can be performed with breast implants or without them – what should you choose?
Big Breasts and Breast Ptosis
Did you know that the volume of the breasts can actually be a cause of breast ptosis? Yes, that’s right, overly large breasts are often sagging, even if the patient is rather young and never gave birth or breastfed. This is one of the … let’s call them “inconveniences” of having large breasts – they can be easily associated with breast ptosis. Heavy breasts can pull on the ligaments that support the mammary gland tissue and trigger breast ptosis.
This doesn’t mean that women with smaller breasts are not affected by this condition – it is just that the breast ptosis might occur later in life in patients with smaller breasts.
Breast Implants to Correct Breast Ptosis
When it comes to correcting saggy breasts, the only solution that delivers long-lasting results is the breast lift intervention. But many patients wonder whether they can get breast implants to correct the breast sagginess. So, is it possible to treat breast ptosis with breast implants?
Well, it depends! If you have small breasts and a minor or moderate level of breast ptosis, the sagginess can be solved with a breast augmentation procedure. However, if the patient has normal or big breasts, breast implants cannot correct sagginess. More than this, if we insert breast implants and don’t correct the position of the mammary gland on the chest wall, the sagginess can be even more accentuated. Or, even worse, the patient might look like it has two breasts on each side – one breast on a normal position – the implant – and another one lower on the chest wall – the mammary gland tissue. It is not a very pleasant look, and the patient will require revision surgery to fix it. This situation can occur when the plastic surgeon uses the trans-axillary incision to insert the implants and doesn’t correct breast sagginess.
When to get the Breast Lift WITHOUT Implants?
Patients interested in a mastopexy procedure should understand that the intervention only aims to correct the breasts position on the chest wall, eliminate excess skin, and make breasts perky again. The breast lift procedure has little or no impact on the volume of the breasts. It is indeed possible for the breasts to look a bit smaller when the surgeon needs to remove a considerable amount of skin when the procedure is performed. Still, the volume of the breasts is more or less the same after the intervention.
If you are happy with the breast volume, you might be satisfied to get just the breast lift without implants. After the surgery, your breasts will be perkier and their contour and shape much improved. However, it is important to keep in mind that the breasts natural shape is preserved when breast lift surgery is performed. So, if you have pear-shaped breasts, they will look the same, but perkier and more firm after the intervention. You can’t get a completely new shape of the breasts after the breast lift surgery, as this is not the role of the intervention. And we can only change the shape using breast implants.
When to get a Breast Lift Surgery WITH Implants?
If you feel your breasts are a bit on the smaller side, you might want to augment them aside getting rid of sagginess. The breasts can be lifted and augmented during the same operative session. The procedure is called breast lift with implants. In other words, the plastic surgeon will correct breast sagginess, eliminate the excess skin and reposition the mammary gland tissue on a correct anatomical position, but also insert implants to make the breasts bigger.
The breast lift with implants can be a good solution even for patients who are happy with the volume of the breasts but want to remodel their shape. We can do this using certain types of breast implants. For example, a round implant with a high profile can give the breasts an impressive upper pole fullness. If you want a spectacular looking cleavage, getting breast implants at the same time with the breast lift might be the best option for you.
Getting the breast implants with a mastopexy is a good idea as combined procedures have certain benefits such as reduced costs, one general anesthesia, and one recovery period (instead of two!).
Final Words
The breast lift procedure is performed to correct the breasts position on the chest wall, eliminate excess skin, and make the breasts firm again. The plastic surgeon will recommend a breast lift if you have saggy breasts with a normal volume. However, if your breasts are small, the surgeon might indicate the breast lift with implants as the best surgical option for your particular case.
Get in touch with Dr. Essie Yates, our board-certified plastic surgeon, at the Yates Institute for Plastic Surgery in Fort Lauderdale to discuss your options today.