Real breast lift (also known as breast uplift or boob lift) results from patients treated at our Baker Street day surgery facility, grouped by concern. Jump to Breast Uplift for Sagging (Ptosis), Side Profile & Upper Pole or Post-Pregnancy Breast Lift.
Results vary from patient to patient. All photos are published with written patient consent and are examples of outcomes achieved at Centre for Surgery, not guaranteed results. After photos were taken at least six months after surgery unless the caption says otherwise. No photograph has been retouched or filtered; some are cropped or masked only to protect patient privacy. Full disclaimer below, and how to read these photos — including the thing a breast lift photograph almost never shows you.
Breast Uplift for Sagging (Ptosis) — Before & After
16 photographs
A breast lift, or mastopexy, raises and reshapes the breast and repositions the nipple higher on the breast mound. It removes excess skin rather than adding volume. Techniques range from a periareolar uplift for mild sagging through to a full inverted-T procedure where more skin must be removed. Read more about the surgical options for sagging breasts.
The side profile is the view in which nipple position, upper pole shape and the degree of droop can actually be judged. It is also the view in which the vertical scar of a lift begins to become visible, which is why it appears in galleries far less often than the front view.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding stretch the skin envelope and can leave the breast emptier and lower than it was, particularly in the upper pole. A lift reshapes what remains. Where volume as well as position has been lost, some patients combine a lift with an implant or with a mummy makeover. Read more about timing a breast lift after pregnancy.
Breast Lift with Implants (Augmentation-Mastopexy) — Before & After
5 photographs
Where the breast has both descended and lost volume — most often after pregnancy, breastfeeding or weight loss — a lift alone raises the breast but cannot restore upper pole fullness. Breast lift with implants, clinically an augmentation-mastopexy, addresses both in a single operation: the skin envelope is tightened and the nipple repositioned, while an implant restores the volume that was lost.
It is a more complex procedure than either operation performed alone, because the surgeon is reducing the skin envelope and increasing the volume it has to contain at the same time. Our guide to augmentation-mastopexy explains when it is performed in one stage and when it is safer to stage it across two.
About These Breast Lift Photos
The breast lift photos above are presented for educational purposes only and should be interpreted subjectively. They do not represent the opinion or view of any patient regarding their result, and they are not intended to suggest the result that any other patient may achieve. No two patients are alike, and no two results are necessarily alike. Only a personal consultation with your surgeon can provide you with a reasonable expectation of the results you may achieve from any specific procedure. We only publish photographs of patients who have given written consent for their images to be used.
How to Read Breast Lift Before and After Photos
A breast lift is a trade. You exchange sagging for scars. Everything else — the technique, the shape, the projection — follows from how much skin has to come out, and how much skin has to come out determines how long the scars are. Any honest reading of a mastopexy gallery starts there.
Look for the scars, and notice when you cannot
Depending on the degree of lift, the scar runs around the areola alone; around the areola and vertically down to the fold beneath the breast, which is sometimes called a lollipop; or around the areola, down, and along the fold in both directions, which is an anchor or inverted-T.
Now look at how these photographs, and every other clinic’s, are taken: from the front, at or above the level of the breast. In that view a vertical scar is foreshortened and a fold scar is invisible entirely. The photographs are not dishonest — this is the standard clinical view — but you should understand that the gallery is showing you the benefit of the operation in the view that hides its cost. The correct response is not suspicion. It is to ask your surgeon, at consultation, to show you the scars of their own patients at six months and at two years, from below.
A lift does not add volume
Mastopexy moves breast tissue upward and removes skin. It does not create fullness that was not there. If a patient’s upper pole looks distinctly fuller and rounder afterwards, either the tissue has been reshaped into that position, or an implant was placed at the same time. Both are legitimate. But if you are looking at a gallery labelled simply “breast lift” and comparing it to your own deflated upper pole, ask which one you are seeing, because the operations are different, the recoveries are different, and only one of them involves a device.
Learn to look at the fold, not the breast
Ptosis is defined by where the nipple sits relative to the crease underneath the breast. Above it, mild; at it, moderate; below it and pointing downward, severe. This is what determines which technique you need and therefore how much scarring you accept. Judge the before photographs by that landmark rather than by how the breast looks overall, and you will identify the cases that actually resemble yours.
The areola is a tell
A lift almost always reduces the diameter of the areola, because the skin is closed around it. A markedly smaller, rounder areola in an after photograph is a reliable sign that a lift was performed, and its absence in a fuller breast suggests an implant did the work.
Arms, posture, camera
As with any breast photograph: arms hanging identically in both frames, shoulders at the same angle, the same distance from the lens. Arms held back lifts the breast without surgery.
What Stage of Healing You’re Looking At
Two separate things are settling after a mastopexy, on different timescales, and they pull the photograph in opposite directions.
The shape settles first. In the early weeks the breast sits high and can look flattened or boxy at the top, because the tissue has been repositioned and the skin closed under tension. Over the following months the breast relaxes into its final shape, dropping slightly and becoming rounder. A photograph taken at six weeks shows a shape the patient will not keep.
The scars settle much more slowly. They are firm and pink or red for the first months and soften and fade gradually. In many patients they become considerably less noticeable over roughly twelve to eighteen months, though the extent varies with skin type, tension and individual healing, and some patients develop thickened or raised scars. The scars never disappear. They fade. A photograph taken at two years shows the best the scars will look; a photograph taken at three months shows close to the worst.
That combination is worth holding in mind. An early photograph shows a shape that will change and scars that will improve. A late photograph shows a settled shape and faded scars. Neither is dishonest. But a gallery that never states the interval is inviting you to assume the flattering point on both curves at once.
The after photographs in this gallery were taken at least six months after surgery, unless the caption says otherwise. For what to expect at each stage before then, see our breast lift recovery guide.
What These Photographs Cannot Show You
There is a limit to what any gallery can tell you, and a clinic that pretends otherwise is selling rather than informing.
- The scars. Stated again because it matters more here than in any other breast operation. They are permanent, they are the price of the shape, and they sit exactly where a front-facing photograph does not look.
- Sensation, and breastfeeding. Nipple sensation is commonly altered after a lift and may not fully return. The ability to breastfeed can be affected. Neither photographs.
- How long it holds. A lift resets the position of the breast. It does not change the skin’s elasticity, stop gravity, or prevent the effect of future pregnancy or weight change. Some recurrence of sagging over the years is normal, and how much depends on tissue quality no photograph can show.
- Whether an implant was involved. Volume and position are different problems with different solutions. A gallery cannot tell you which one you have.
- Nipple position at rest, out of a bra, lying down. Every photograph here is a woman standing, facing forward. That is one of the positions a breast occupies.
None of this is a reason to distrust before and after photographs. It is a reason to treat them as the beginning of a conversation with a surgeon rather than the end of one.
Breast Lift Results: Common Questions
How long does it take for a breast lift to look normal?
The breasts usually look high and firm at first, then settle into a softer, more natural shape over three to six months as swelling resolves. The scars take longer: they are typically pink and firm for several months and continue to fade for 12 to 18 months.
Are nipples removed during a breast lift?
Not in a standard breast lift. The nipple stays attached to its blood and nerve supply and is moved higher on a stalk of breast tissue, with the areola often made smaller. Removing and regrafting the nipple is reserved for some very large breast reductions, not routine uplifts.
What are the downsides of a breast lift?
The main trade-off is scarring around the areola, and often vertically down the breast and along the fold. Other considerations are changes in nipple sensation, possible effects on breastfeeding, asymmetry, and the fact that the breasts keep ageing and may descend again, particularly after pregnancy or weight change.
Breast Lift (Breast Uplift) Surgery at Centre for Surgery
Centre for Surgery is a private hospital for plastic and cosmetic surgery on Baker Street in Marylebone, London, registered with and independently inspected by the Care Quality Commission. Our plastic surgeons perform all types of breast lift — sometimes searched for as breast uplift or boob lift — from a periareolar uplift through to a full inverted-T procedure. Whether breast sagging has followed pregnancy, breastfeeding, weight loss or the natural ageing process, your surgeon will recommend the technique that suits your anatomy and the degree of lift required.
Specialist Breast Surgeons
Every plastic surgeon on our team is GMC-registered and independently verifiable on the General Medical Council register. Some patients choose to combine a breast lift with augmentation or reduction, and your surgeon will discuss whether that is appropriate for you.
Day-Case Surgery
Breast lift surgery at Centre for Surgery is performed as a day case at our Baker Street facility, meaning you go home the same day to recover. You have your surgeon’s direct number for the first 24 hours after surgery, and your surgeon will see you at regular follow-up appointments to monitor your healing.
Scars and Scar Management
Scarring is an unavoidable consequence of a breast lift, and the extent of it depends on how much skin must be removed. Our surgeons use meticulous closure techniques and provide a full scar management programme following surgery. In many patients, scars fade substantially over twelve to eighteen months, though healing varies between individuals and the scars themselves are permanent. Your surgeon will show you what to expect and where the scars will fall before you decide to proceed.
Verified Patient Reviews
We invite you to read what our breast lift patients say on independent, verified review platforms. Every review is publicly verifiable, dated, and linked to a real named patient.
- Google Reviews: Read our Google reviews — rated 4.6 stars based on hundreds of verified patient reviews.
- Patient reviews page: Read patient reviews by procedure — Google and Trustpilot reviews brought together on our own site.
As a CQC-regulated provider, every surgeon on our team is GMC-registered and independently verifiable. View our CQC rating.
Related Reading
- How to Fix Saggy Breasts
- How Soon After Pregnancy Can You Consider a Breast Lift?
- Sagging Breasts After Weight Loss — Surgical Solutions
Explore More Before and After Galleries
View our full collection of plastic surgery before and after photos, or browse related breast surgery galleries: Breast Augmentation Before and After Photos | Breast Reduction Before and After Photos | Mummy Makeover Before and After Photos
Subject to status, we offer finance options with Chrysalis Finance. For a full price breakdown, see our breast lift cost guide. Learn more on our About Us page, browse our Plastic Surgery Blog, or find answers in our Clinic FAQs.
To book a face-to-face consultation with an expert breast lift surgeon, call us on 020 7993 4849 or complete the contact form below.
