Breast Reduction & Lift

Breast reduction surgery, or reduction mammaplasty, removes excess fat, breast tissue and skin to achieve a smaller, more proportionate breast size. Most patients come to it for physical relief as much as for appearance: chronic back, neck and shoulder pain, grooves worn into the shoulders by bra straps, skin irritation underneath the breast, and activity that breast size has made difficult.

A breast lift, or mastopexy, reshapes and raises the breasts by removing excess skin and adjusting the breast tissue. On its own it will not change breast size, which is why it is often combined with a reduction, or with an augmentation, depending on the result you are after.

Both are outpatient procedures. A reduction is typically performed under general anesthesia; a lift can be done under general anesthesia, or local anesthesia with sedation. Incisions run around the areola and vertically down to the breast crease, with a horizontal incision along the crease itself when a larger reduction calls for it. Excess tissue, fat and skin are removed, the areola may be resized, and the nipple is repositioned so the reshaped breast looks natural. A lift usually takes two to three hours, and a reduction generally takes several.

You go home in bandages and a support bra. Swelling, tenderness, bruising and soreness are normal for the first weeks. After a reduction a compression bra is worn continuously for four to six weeks; after a lift, a surgical support bra for the first few days and then a soft support bra for several weeks. Physical activity and heavy lifting are limited while you recover, and incision sites should be kept out of the sun. Scars fade over the year or two that follow, though they are permanent.

The improvement in shape shows immediately, and the breast keeps settling over the few months afterward as swelling subsides.