Breast Lift vs Breast Reduction: Which is Best for Me?

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 that your surgeon may ask you to learn more about during your consultation, and you may even have certain preferences before you come to see one of our plastic surgeons. As with all treatments we offer, patients who carry out detailed and extensive research have been shown to have better outcomes following cosmetic surgery.

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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 are women who have undergone 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 to the touch and these factors can determine your levels of body confidence.

Factors to consider for breast lift surgery

For patients who are happy with the size and volume of their breasts and do not want to change the size of their breasts, a breast lift could be ideal. Pregnancy and breastfeeding can lead to a loss of skin elasticity over time, leading to sagging of the breasts and droopiness. The loss of breast projection can be improved with a breast uplift which helps to make them feel firmer as well as make the nipples sit higher.

Patients who find their nipples are pointing downwards or that the bulk of their breasts is positioned below the inferior breast fold may be excellent candidates for breast lift surgery. The breast uplift procedure repositions internal breast tissue, which helps to lift breasts that have lost volume and developed droopiness. An improved breast shape can be attained by increasing the level of the nipple and by removing redundant excess skin from around the breast mound.

The ultimate aim of breast lift surgery is to achieve breasts that are positioned higher up on the chest, which helps to give them a more youthful appearance as well as improve the shape of the breast in harmony with the rest of the body.

Factors to consider for breast reduction

On the other hand, if the size and volume of the breasts are a problem for you, then a breast reduction procedure could be ideal. It’s important to ask yourself if the size of your breasts is a significant problem for you. Does the size or weight of the breasts impact your daily life? Many women choose to have breast reduction surgery as the size of their breasts significantly limits what activities and types of exercise they are able to carry out, and they often find that large and heavy breasts are a source of significant pain and discomfort. Many women are aware that their excessively large breasts are overly large compared with the rest of their body, and their heavy breasts often lead to poor posture. Overly large and heavy breasts can also be a common cause of back pain or neck pain, and in many cases, localised skin rashes or fungal infections may develop in the inferior breast fold.

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Women who have excessively large volume breasts may also find that they are limited to wearing certain types of clothing in addition to restrictions on their activities of daily living. Breast reduction surgery essentially involves the removal of internal breast tissue, leading to a reduction in breast size, along with the removal of excess fat and skin to help shape the breast into a cosmetically acceptable appearance. If women are finding that the size and excessive weight of their breasts are the most concern, then breast reduction surgery could be an ideal treatment option.

Do I need both breast lift and reduction?

For many women, the choice between a breast lift and breast reduction can be a difficult one, and in many cases, patients may require a combination of both procedures to achieve what they are looking for. For women who are looking to both reduce the size of their breasts and to improve the nipple position to allow it to sit higher up on the chest, then a combined breast lift with a breast reduction is an ideal treatment option.

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In many cases, having breast reduction surgery on its own will be unable to give patients the extra uplift to the breast, which means combining a breast reduction with the breast lift could work best. Having both procedures together in the same surgery leads to a significant reduction in recovery time compared with if you had both procedures separately.

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To decide what treatment is best for your needs and preferences and which surgical procedure would help you achieve the desired results, we would always recommend coming in to have a face-to-face consultation with a specialist plastic surgeon experienced in breast reduction surgery. Our surgeons are always pleased to meet new patients and help them achieve their aesthetic goals at our state-of-the-art surgical facility on Baker Street.