CASE STUDY – BREAST LIFT/MASTOPEXY

mastopexy

This pleasant …. year old patient was very happy with the size of her breasts, but not with the sagginess of her breasts. She had ….  children and noticed that after her last child was done breast feeding, her breasts lost fullness on top and became saggy on the bottom. She wanted her breasts to be “perky” again.

            About 40% of ladies’ breasts get bigger and stay bigger following childbirth and breastfeeding. Another 40% of ladies’ breasts get bigger and then end up smaller than they started following childbirth and breastfeeding. This second group loses breast volume but not skin, and that makes them saggy.

            The treatment for saggy breasts (breast ptosis), if you are happy with your cup size, is a breast lift (mastopexy). She was very happy with her cup size.

            Her surgery was done under general anesthesia (she was asleep) as an outpatient (she got to go home the same day). Once she was asleep, the skin was removed from the bottom part of the breast and around the nipple. The size of the nipple was reduced. Smaller nipples are usually more youthful, but they can be made any size you want. Then the remaining breast tissue with the nipple attached was moved up to where it should be. Her incisions were then closed. All the stitches were under the skin. There were no drains. The surgery took about 3 hours, and she was ready to go home after about an hour or two in recovery.

            Everybody thinks “These are breasts. This is really going to hurt!”, but recovery is usually well tolerated. She did well with a long-acting numbing medicine and oral pain medication.

            At first, her breasts seemed way too full on top and kind of flat on the bottom, as expected. Most patients feel like I put their breasts up under their collarbone. They usually LOVE them there and want them to stay that high. But there is that thing called gravity. In about a month, they will start to flatten out on top and round out on the bottom. It takes about 3-4 months to get the final shape. The “After” picture above is 4 months after surgery.

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Dr. Jeff Church