Breast lift surgery is a procedure to lift sagging or drooping breasts. Also known as a mastopexy, a breast lift is able to create firmer, more supported breasts. Dr Isolde Hertess from Cairns Plastic Surgery says breasts lifts are common for women after pregnancy and breastfeeding, following massive weight loss, or to bring the breasts back to a more youthful position due to gravity and ageing. Dr Hertess shares some of her before and afters with us and talks about what’s involved in the breast lift surgery.
What does breast lift surgery involve?
Dr Hertess explains what the breast lift surgery involves. “During the procedure, excess skin and tissue are trimmed away and the breasts are tightened and lifted. The nipples may be repositioned to create the most natural-looking results. Breast lift surgery is not designed to change the size of the breasts; rather, it is to correct their position and create a higher and perkier bust line. An aesthetically pleasing bust line is not always about size – repositioning the breasts through a lift can improve the contour of the bust line, resulting in a more youthful look and boosted confidence.”
There are several benefits to a breast lift including:
- Giving shape back to sagging, shapeless breasts
- Giving the woman back her self esteem leading to all sorts of benefits including sexual confidence
- Helping with the physical issues that come from sagging, drooping breasts including back, shoulder and neck pain, chafing on the underside of the breasts (from where they rub as they sit/swing against the belly)
- Enable the woman to better fit clothes and bras
- Enable the woman to exercise and participate in physical activities that were previously difficult from swinging, sagging breasts. Running is often described as extremely difficult and painful for women with sagging breasts.
Dr Hertess says you can generally put breast lift patients into three categories. “A woman’s body changes drastically during pregnancy and a large amount of strain is placed on it including the breasts which can grow – sometimes a few sizes, stretching the skin – and then undergo breastfeeding where they don’t always bounce back to the shape they were before! Loose, sagging skin is common after breastfeeding, and exercise and diet won’t work to tighten the skin or lift the breasts.
Losing weight and taking control of your health is one of the most powerful things you can do but often women in this position find themselves disappointed by the loss of volume, extra skin and sagging of their breasts. This can affect self-esteem, however a breast lift can remove excess skin and reverse the effect of lost laxity.
Then you have many patients frustrated by their breasts losing elasticity, volume and beginning to sag as part of ageing. A breast lift can help with this and give the patient a renewed lease of life! We also have teenage girls who have larger breasts and suffer from back, shoulder and neck pain, and who suffer from self-esteem issues. They can also be a good candidate for a breast lift procedure.”
A breast lift can also be combined with getting breast implants to create a more desirable shape and size. Often patients who need a breast reduction also have a lift at the same time. Dr Hertess says this is something you should discuss with your surgeon.
To learn more about Dr Hertess visit her website. If you’d like to arrange a consultation with her phone (07) 4031 5755.