Cosmetic Plastic Surgery In New York City:
Breast Lift
Even women who have always maintained a normal body weight can experience sagging and looseness in the breasts. Year after year skin loses it elasticity, and for women, areas like the breasts that experience a great deal of weight fluctuations tend to lose their suppleness even faster. For some women, the problem can become severe enough to affect their quality of life.
Mastopexy
More commonly known as a Breast Lift, Mastopexy is an excellent way for women, who for aesthetic or physical reasons, no longer want to live with the issue, and want to raise and firm their breasts, creating a more youthful profile.
Sagging of the breasts can result from:
- Breast Feeding – loss of elasticity in the muscles and skin
- Aging – natural loss of firmness
- Weight fluctuations – weight gain/loss stretches the tissues, which then lose elasticity
- Genetics – an inherited feature that will not improve through diet and exercise
- Gravity – wearing bras with improper support
The Breast Lift (Mastopexy) can be performed a number of ways:
- With Implants
- With Micro-Fat Grafting
- Incision around the Areola/Nipple
- Incision around the Areola/Nipple and vertically down to the fold under the breast
- Incision like an anchor and around the Areola/nipple
The technique chosen for the Breast Lift (Mastopexy) depends on the patient’s goals, desired scars/incisions, size, the starting shape of the breast and quality of the breast tissue. The desired amount of lifting and shaping will dictate the type of incision. Some breast tissue may be removed with the lift, and the skin envelope is adjusted to shape and lift the breast. The deep layer of breast tissue is shaped with permanent sutures to provide strong, long-lasting internal support. With the strong deep layer closure, the skin is closed without tension and the sutures are dissolving so that scarring is minimal and hard to detect. There are no visible sutures at the end of the surgery and no drains are used. Surgical tapes are worn on the incisions for three months, helping to limit the visibility of the scars.
The lift can be combined with an implant to add size and shape, or Micro-Fat Grafting can be used to enhance the shape – particularly at the top of the breast which tends to lose volume with time.
With Breast Implants
Breast implants vary in shape, volume and type of filler. Dr. Born prefers using a smooth, round implant, as other shapes do not provide any advantage in the end result and shape of the breast. The implant can be filled with either Saline Solution or Silicone. In the fall of 2006, Silicone filled implants were approved by the FDA and Health Canada. Approximately 80% of Dr. Born’s patients choose Silicone filled implants, as they confer a texture closer to actual breast tissue, have less risk of rippling, and maintain a better breast shape and projection than a Saline filled implant.
The surgery is performed with the patient asleep and on an outpatient basis. The incision may be made at the edge of the areola or underneath the fold of the breast; depending on the amount of skin envelope adjustment that is needed. The implant may be placed on top or under the pectoralis muscle, depending on the patient’s preference, the shape of the breast, the shape of the patient’s chest wall, the position of the breast relative to the muscle and the amount of breast tissue.
Preparation
As with all surgeries performed by Dr. Born, patients are prescribed supplements to take before and after the surgery, to help prepare and recover faster and without complications.
Procedure length
This is an outpatient procedure taking three to four hours, and done while you’re asleep.
Recovery
You are encouraged to lift your arms above your head and place them behind your back immediately after surgery. This helps keep the chest wall muscles loose, decreases the amount of pain and increases the speed of your recovery. Three days after surgery, you will be instructed on how to massage the breasts. A small stitch is removed a week following surgery (you may have dissolving sutures only). Oral antibiotics are prescribed for the first week after surgery. Bruising may be present for 3 to 10 days. The breasts will swell for 3 to 5 days and then begin to settle by the end of the first week. There will be changes in size for the first month as the swelling resolves, and the breasts will soften and feel more “natural” in this time period.
Download our Post-Operative Care Instructions.
Micro-Fat Grafting for Breast Augmentation/Lifting and Contouring
The breast’s shape can be changed by adding a patient’s own fat through a procedure called Micro-Fat Grafting, which can be performed on persons of varying size and shape, but the patient must have enough fat to harvest safely enough to make the desired change. Much like “liposuction”, the fat is harvested in a way that preserves it. The fat is then prepared in a specialized way so that it can be injected into the breast through small incisions hidden in the fold and at the edge of the areola, increasing the size, and adding shape where needed.
The fat is placed in small amounts into the tissue where it takes on a new blood supply and behaves the same as the fat anywhere else in your body. If you gain weight it will grow, if you lose weight the fat will get smaller.
This technique can increase the breast by one cup size, and can be used to:
- Add volume around an implant
- Decrease the implant’s palpability/delectability
- Improve the shape of the breast, with or without an implant present
- Correct contour deformities resulting from breast biopsies or irradiation for cancer treatment
- Correct asymmetries or differences in breast sizes
This is a very safe and effective procedure and provides pleasing, reproducible results.
Recovery
You are encouraged to lift your arms above your head and place them behind your back immediately after surgery. This helps keep the chest wall muscles loose, decreases the amount of pain and increases the speed of your recovery. Three days after surgery, you will be instructed on how to massage the breasts. The healing is fast so patients can resume all activities by the fifth day following surgery. No sutures are required. Bruising may be present up to three weeks, and the breasts will swell for 3 to 5 days, then begin to settle by the end of the first week. There will be changes in size for the first month as the swelling resolves, and the breasts will soften and feel more “natural” in this time period.
There may be some lumpy areas which are tender to touch; these will soften over time. The maximum change will be in the first four months. A touch-up (additional grafting to the breasts) may be needed. The earliest this could take place would be two months from the original surgery, keeping in mind that there must be some fat left to harvest.
Download our Post-Operative Care Instructions.
Specific Risks of Breast Surgery
- Pain
- Bruising lasting longer than three weeks
- Nipple sensitivity
- Loss of sensation to the breast and or the nipples
- Firmness along the incision – this is normal for the first few months
- Asymmetry – this is normal and expected, and pre-exists in most people
- Implant palpability – depends on the amount of tissue covering the implant
- Scar – reduced greatly if the tape is worn for three months following the surgery
- Capsular contracture – rate is 2 to 5 % and can be recurrent
- Implant mal-position
- Implant displacement/shift
- Infection
- Calcification of the capsule
- Implant failure
- Replacement
- Mammogram/ultrasound interference – disruption of the implant
- Changes in breast shape with age/pregnancy
- Difficulty breast feeding
- Implant exposure
- Cancer/acquired systemic disease (no direct link has been shown)
- Fluid collection or seroma around implant
- Incorrect size - too big or too small
Harvest Site Risks:
- Pain
- Bruising
- Irregular contour
- Incision scar
- Numbness
- Stain/discoloration of skin
- Seroma/fluid collection
Recipient Site Risks
- Pain
- Bruising
- Swelling
- Lumps/bumps
- Cysts
- Seroma
- Fat Necrosis
- Irregular contour
- Asymmetry
- Incomplete correction
- Calcification on Mammogram
- Scarring interfering with Mammogram or Ultrasound exam
There are some general risks intrinsic to all surgical procedures; please take a moment to review them.
Preparation
As with all surgeries performed by Dr. Born, patients are prescribed supplements to take before and after the surgery, to help prepare and recover faster and without complications.
Procedure length
The length of this procedure varies according to the unique needs of the patient and the areas treated.
The Result
The results of Breast Lift surgery are immediately visible, and as swelling dissipates and incision lines fade, the appearance will continue improving.
It is important to note that each surgery is tailored to meet the unique needs and features of individual patients.
What other patients want
Many patients combine Breast Lift with Liposuction of the flanks, thighs and/or calves to achieve an overall enhancement of their appearance.
If you are considering a breast lift to enhance the shape of your breasts, and give them a more healthy and youthful profile, book your consultation with Dr. Born today. |
