BREAST LIFT

A woman’s breasts may change during the course of her life, at some point losing the shape and firmness they had during youth. First of all, breasts get softer with age because the glandular tissue is replaced by fatty tissue. Also, the skin gets less firm. Generally, the sagging of the breasts means there’s loss of glandular tissue in the upper part of the breasts, as well as a change in the shape of the breast towards a more tubular one and the downward migration of the nipple and areola. In other occasions, as well, the areola increases in size. Age isn’t the only factor involved with these changes, since there are others such as the effect of gravity, pregnancy, lactation and weight fluctuations that are also involved in this process. In order to fight it, breast lift surgery, also known as mastopexy, rejuvenates the breasts which have lost their shape and volume, removing the excess of skin and tightening the surrounding tissue in order to give a better shape to the breast. Also, in case that the areola has increased in size, it can be reduced with surgery. The surgery is performed under general anesthesia, and it can last from 2 to 3 hours. The location and number of incisions may vary from person to person, depending on the degree of sagging, tissue laxity, areola size and the experience, preference and recommendations of the surgeon. The most common technique for breast lift includes a vertical incision or an incision around the areola. When the degree of sagging isn’t that big, it may be corrected with a breast augmentation in case the patient also wants bigger breasts. However, when the sagging is considerable, these bigger incisions are needed to correct the issue. Th time of recovery changes from person to person.