With age, a woman’s upper breasts become diminished, as the breast skin becomes stretched. Since the breasts are supported and shaped mostly by the breast skin, this leads to sagging breasts where more mass is consolidated in the lower part of the breasts and less high on the breasts. Natural aging is the main culprit at work, but pregnancies, breastfeeding, and weight changes also play significant roles in a woman’s breasts sagging or becoming droopy.
A breast lift with Dr. Lavey can reshape the breasts to a younger position.
Three methods
To Dr. Lavey, there are three options for improving the youthfulness of a woman’s breasts:
- If a woman wants just a modest elevation of her breasts and wants larger breasts, a breast augmentation is a good option. With augmentation, the nipples will appear higher, and the upper part of the breasts will become fuller. Plus, with augmentation scars can be kept to a minimum and barely visible.
- If a woman likes the size of her breasts but wants to reshape them, then it’s necessary to reduce the amount of skin. This is a breast lift. The downside is that the scars created are more extensive and more visible than with augmentation. There are two degrees of lift, and they have different scarring. For a lift of roughly two inches, the scars will circle the areola and extend down to the crease at the bottom of the breast. If a greater degree of lift (and skin removal) is desired, the incisions will follow the path noted above, plus will radiate outward along the breast crease. Dr. Lavey will sometimes also include some liposuction with a breast lift to remove excess fat where the armpit area merges with the breasts.
- The third option is to combine breast augmentation with a breast lift. While this will involve more extensive scarring than augmentation alone, it will provide the best upper breast fullness with the optimal nipple and areola position. It will also give the patient larger breasts.
Recovery
When breast augmentation is involved, patients usually take 1-2 weeks before returning to work and household activities. Breast implants are usually placed below the chest muscles, so the patient will feel as if she has severe muscle strain for around one week as the muscles stretch. Any jogging, swimming, or any exercises involving upper body lifting need to be avoided for at least one month.
In a lift, there is a little pain after surgery, and patients return to work within a week. Upper body exercise usually can be resumed after 2-3 weeks.
Interested in lifting your breasts, and possibly your spirits? Call Dr. Lavey at 925-820-3633 and schedule a consultation.
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