Breast Reduction Surgery - When is a Good Time to Get It?
Large, voluptuous breasts are a dream for many women nowadays. A dream that can be easily achieved with the help of plastic surgery. As a result, breast implants surgery is, without a doubt, one of the most commonly performed plastic surgery procedures in many countries from all over the world. However, while many women are undergoing surgery to increase their breasts' volume, there are also plenty of women requesting the opposite procedure- breast reduction surgery.
Overly large breasts can cause real emotional and physical issues such as back, neck, and shoulders pain, muscular pain, improper body posture, dermatological issues at the inframammary fold level, difficulties in finding clothes, to mention just a few. More than this, breasts with a significant volume tend to develop breast ptosis much sooner compared to smaller breasts. So, it's not uncommon to see young girls with big but saggy breasts.
Many women with overly large breasts choose to undergo breast reduction surgery to get rid of the pain and emotional discomfort.
Breast reduction surgery to reduce the volume of the breasts
Breast Reduction Model
Breast reduction surgery is also known as reduction mammoplasty. It is the procedure performed to reduce the volume of the breasts to create a harmonious body figure. The procedure is frequently performed nowadays as it delivers permanent results. The patient can live a more active life, get rid of the pain and discomfort, and engage in certain activities that were almost impossible to perform before the surgery.
The size of the breasts can be reduced using a variety of surgical techniques. Depending on the patient's features and the desired results, the plastic surgeon will choose the position of the incisions and how much breast tissue needs to be removed.
The surgery aims to improve the proportions of the body and the aspect of the breasts and their position on the chest wall. The patient's quality of life is much improved after undergoing breast reduction surgery as some of the side effects of overly large breasts disappear immediately after the procedure is performed, and the mobility is significantly increase.
Who is a good candidate for breast reduction surgery?
The procedure might be recommended for you if:
You have neck, back, and shoulder pain;
You have skin irritation and rashes at the level of the inframammary fold;
It is difficult to breathe when you are laying on the back or doing physical exercises because of the volume of the breasts;
The bra straps are leaving dents on the skin on your shoulders;
You struggle to keep a normal, correct body posture because the breasts weight too much;
It's difficult to find clothes that fit the upper part of the body and look good;
You feel that the breasts' size is a real impediment in doing the things you want to do in life (pursue a career in sports, for example).
When is a good time to undergo breast reduction surgery?
Even if we are talking about elective surgery, breast reduction surgery is one of the plastic surgery procedures recommended to improve the patient's health condition, not only the aspect of the body. And this is also the reason why, in some cases, the costs of the procedure can be covered by health insurance.
To get the best possible results after undergoing breast reduction surgery, you should consider if the timing is right for the intervention. We have already mentioned that the surgery results are permanent – the glandular tissue that is removed won't grow back after the intervention. However, the aesthetic results can be altered in certain cases.
The best time to undergo the breast reduction surgery is when:
You are in good health and emotional condition;
Your breasts are fully developed;
You are not planning to get pregnant again in the future;
-You are not planning to breastfeed in the future;
Your weight is normal and stable.
A part of the glandular tissue is removed when the breast reduction surgery is performed. Depending on the procedure's complexity and how much of the breast's volume was excised, breastfeeding might not be possible after the surgery. If you plan on getting pregnant or breastfeeding in the future, the plastic surgeon might advise you to postpone the intervention until you are done having children.
Like it is the case with many other plastic surgery interventions, ulterior weight gain or loss can affect the aesthetic results achieved with the intervention. In other words, if you get pregnant after the intervention was performed or you gain weight, the volume of the breasts might increase again. The breasts will never get as big as they were before the reduction mammoplasty; however, with weight gain, pregnancy, or breastfeeding, they might become saggy, deflated, and volume might fluctuate too.
Final words
The breast reduction surgery is performed to improve the patient's quality of life, get rid of back, neck, and shoulder pain, and balance the body's proportions.
The best time to undergo the procedure is when the breasts are fully developed, the patient has a normal and stable weight, and there is no plan for future pregnancy and breastfeeding. However, if the patient is struggling with severe conditions due to the excessive size of the breasts early in life, the plastic surgeon might recommend undergoing the procedure before having children to prevent spinal deformities and other conditions that might be difficult or impossible to treat later on in life.
You can schedule an appointment with our board-certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Essie Yates, at the Yates Institute for Plastic Surgery in Fort Lauderdale, to discuss all the details of the breast reduction surgery.