In our previous blog post, we discussed what are ptotic breast or saggy breasts, what are the likely causes and what types there are. We also mentioned that women with moderate or severe forms of saggy breast are the most likely to turn to a plastic surgeon.
Now that we covered that, let’s see what surgical solutions are there for ptotic breasts.
Ptotic breasts and cosmetic surgery
When it comes to ptotic or saggy breasts, there are a few surgical options that you can choose from. These include:
- Breast lift without implants or the so-called Mastopexy
- Breast Augmentation which usually involves inserting implants but no re-positioning
- Breast lift that also includes implants or also known as Masto-Augmentation
- Combination of the above-mentioned procedures (so more than one surgery)
Key to a good ptotic breasts surgery
As with all invasive surgeries, scarring cannot be avoided. But if you pick a highly-skilled surgeon to do your surgical procedure, there should be minimal scarring.
And even if there are some scars, a good cosmetic surgeon will also have knowledge and experience in various techniques that minimize post-surgical scars. So the results will be visible, but without a scar, which is the goal.
Minimizing scaring after ptotic breast surgery is very important. First, minimal scaring provides better and quicker healing. Second, patient that are happy with their surgery will be more confident and will make sure that they follow the post-surgical instructions in order to maximize recover and results.
In case that you have some minor scarring, don’t be alarmed. Scars usually take some time to settle and fade away.
Mastopexy or breast lift without implants
You can thing of breast lift or Mastopexy as wearing a bra without actually wearing one. The goal to this surgical procedure is to reposition your breast to a higher position. Now as with every surgery, there are certain pros and cons.
Cons of Mastopexy:
- Scaring – since the skin in the breast area is pretty soft, some scarring is to be expected, but that will fade over time
- Even though this procedure aims to ‘pull’ your breasts up, it won’t provide any additional firmness or fullness
- Mastopexy also doesn’t alter your breast size. So if you want to have slightly bigger breasts, you’ll have to consider implants as well.
Pros of Mastopexy:
- Mastopexy will give your breast the look and position that they had before
- The end results of this surgery will boost your confidence and appearance
- You don’t have to think about picking the right type and size of implants, if you don’t want to have bigger boobs
Breast Augmentation
Breast augmentation is an option for those women whose breast don’t have enough ‘filling’ in their breast but have too much saggy skin. This can be rectified with breast implants under some guidelines.
Choosing this surgical options is guided by the following 3 tests
The ‘pencil or finger’ test – If you can fit two fingers behind your breasts, at the crease or inframmary fold, Breast Augmentation is not a good option for you. In addition, if you put a pencil behind your breast (same location as with the fingers) and it falls then you pass this test so Breast Augmentation is a good surgical option for you.
Hands on your head test – You know that your breasts are pulled up when you put your hands on your head, right? Well if you put your hands on your head and your breasts are still saggy, then it’s less likely that a simple breast augmentation will do to trick. You will most likely need to combine breast lift with augmentation to achieve the desired result.
The IMC test – If your nipples fall below your inframammary breast crease, then solely going for breast augmentation won’t be enough.
Note: If the implant that you want is bigger than an ice cream container (larger than 400ml), that is probably a too big implant so breast lift (along with augmentation) is required.
Pros of Breast augmentation
- You can have bigger breast and a more appealing cleavage
- It is budget-friendly and popular with many patients
Cons of Breast augmentation
- Less-desirable aesthetic results are possible, regarding nipple position and breast shape
- You will have small incision scars along the breast crease, but those will fade over time
Masto-Augmentation for ptotic breasts
Masto-Augmentation presents a combination of the previous two surgical procedures i.e. Breast Lift and Breast Augmentation.
It is considered to be a more challenging surgical procedure for ptotic breasts because the surgeon is using two different surgical directions. With Masto-Augmentation, your surgeon wants to achieve:
- Higher, smaller and tighter breasts – that’s the Breast Lift side
- Lower, bigger and wider breasts – that’s the Augmentation side
Since this surgical procedure represents a combination of two techniques, that appear to be on the opposite sides, a skilled and experienced surgeon should be performing it.
Pros of Masto-Augmentation:
- If done properly, by a skilled cosmetic surgeon, this technique can yield truly impressive results
- This procedure offers the option to alter nipple and breast positioning for individual taste
Cons of Masto-Augmentation:
- Challenging surgical procedure that is not easy to master
- Similar scarring as with breast lift, but they will too fade over time
Multiple surgeries for ptotic breasts
If your breast are uneven or asymmetric, cosmetic surgeons will advocate that you do two separate surgeries in order to get the best possible results.
With this approach, each patient will go through two surgeries. First they will have the first, heal fully and then have a follow-up surgery.
Pros of staged surgeries:
- Better aesthetic results for some patients
- If you’re not yet sure whether you need both augmentation and lift surgeries, you can first do one and then decide on the other latter on.
Cons of staged surgeries:
- 2 costs, 2 procedures and 2 recoveries
What’s next?
This information should only serve as general guidelines on what you can choose from for ptotic breasts. The actual decision will be after you consult with a skilled and experienced cosmetic surgeon, who will determine the severity of your saggy breast and recommend the best surgical option.
