When deciding on the best type of surgical procedure, such as a breast lift or breast reduction, to achieve an aesthetic goal, there are a number of factors to bear in mind. The most important factors are your anatomy and your treatment goals and preferences.
Perhaps you’ve done your research, and you’re still trying to decide whether a breast lift or breast reduction — or perhaps even combining both procedures — would be best for you. There are a number of questions your surgeon may ask to learn more about your goals during consultation, and you may already have certain preferences before you come to see one of our plastic surgeons.
Breast Lift or Breast Reduction: Which Breast Surgery Is Right for Me?
There are a number of reasons that lead women to seek treatment for the shape of their breasts as they change over time. The most common factor by far is pregnancy and breastfeeding. Significant weight loss, the ageing process, and even gravity can all have a major impact on the way the breasts appear and feel, and these factors can affect body confidence.
Factors to Consider for Breast Lift Surgery
For patients who are happy with the size and volume of their breasts and don’t want to change breast size, a breast lift could be ideal. Pregnancy and breastfeeding can lead to a loss of skin elasticity over time, causing sagging and droopiness. The loss of breast projection can be improved with a breast uplift, which helps the breasts feel firmer and the nipples sit higher.
Patients who find their nipples pointing downwards, or that the bulk of their breast tissue sits below the inferior breast fold, may be excellent candidates for breast lift surgery. The procedure repositions internal breast tissue, lifting breasts that have lost volume and developed droopiness. An improved shape is achieved by raising the nipple position and removing redundant excess skin from around the breast mound.
The ultimate aim of breast lift surgery is breasts positioned higher on the chest, giving a more youthful appearance and a shape in better harmony with the rest of the body.
Factors to Consider for Breast Reduction
On the other hand, if the size and volume of your breasts are the problem, a breast reduction procedure could be ideal. It’s worth asking yourself whether the size of your breasts is a significant problem for you day-to-day. Does their size or weight impact your daily life? Many women choose breast reduction because the size of their breasts significantly limits the activities and types of exercise they can comfortably do, and large, heavy breasts are often a source of real pain and discomfort. Excessively large breasts relative to the rest of the body frequently lead to poor posture, and can also be a common cause of back or neck pain — in many cases, localised skin rashes or fungal infections can also develop in the inferior breast fold.
Women with excessively large breasts may also find themselves limited in the types of clothing they can wear comfortably, in addition to restrictions on daily activities. Breast reduction surgery involves removing internal breast tissue to reduce breast size, along with removing excess fat and skin to reshape the breast into a well-proportioned appearance. If the size and weight of your breasts are your primary concern, breast reduction surgery could be the ideal treatment option.
Do I Need Both a Breast Lift and Reduction?
For many women, the choice between a breast lift and breast reduction isn’t a straightforward either/or — many patients benefit from a combination of both procedures to achieve what they’re looking for. For women wanting to both reduce breast size and improve nipple position, a combined breast lift with breast reduction (reduction-mastopexy) is often the ideal treatment option.
In many cases, breast reduction surgery alone won’t provide the extra lift some patients want, which is why combining a reduction with a lift often works best. Having both procedures together in the same surgery also means a single recovery period, rather than two separate ones if the procedures were done individually.
To decide what’s best for your needs, preferences, and goals, we’d always recommend an in-person consultation with a plastic surgeon experienced in breast reduction and lift surgery. Our surgeons are always pleased to meet new patients and help them work through these decisions at our Baker Street clinic.
