Large breasts that are heavy and disproportionate to a woman's body can cause near continuous back, neck and shoulder pain. Nothing short of breast reduction surgery can produce a long-term solution to this problem. Breast reduction surgery is very successful but one must be willing to accept the scars as a trade-off for the pain relief and a smaller, more uplifted breast appearance.
Large breasts, medically known as macromastia, is associated with a range of musculoskeletal symptoms involving back, shoulder, and neck pain. The weight of the breasts eventually causes grooving of the skin across the shoulder from the straps of a bra which is weighted down. While insurance companies often insist on conservative treatment measures such as weight loss and physical therapy before approving surgery, only actual breast reduction surgery can truly alleviate the associated medical symptoms.
Breast reduction is a highly successful procedure that in every patient provides an immediate and long-term relief of painful back, shoulder, and neck issues. Having performed many breast reductions, I am convinced that the relief comes as much from the breasts being repositioned back up higher on the chest wall as it does from the amount of breast tissue and weight removed. Patients often ask if they are going to get a breast lift as well as a breast reduction. The answer to that is.....absolutely! The design of a breast reduction (it is a very geometric operation) is such that a lift and reduction is performed at the same time. Like making a cone out of a flat piece of a paper, a wedge of skin and breast tissue is removed from below and the breast is brought together with the nipple being moved higher. (a simplistic illustration) This makes the remaining breast tissue temporarily sit higher up on the chest wall that it will eventually be. While initially after surgery the breasts will look too full up on top (and the bottom of the breasts will look cut off or too flat), within weeks the breasts will round themselves out better. If a breast is made to be perfectly round at the end of the surgery, it will not remain so later. If so, the breasts will bottom out later and no fullness on top will remain. You must factor in to the design of a breast reduction how the breasts will change after surgery to end up with a good-looking result.
All of this comes at a price....so to speak....and the price is the presence of visible scarring on the breast. When I say, extensive breast scarring, I do not mean that the scars will look bad. I do mean that the amount (length) of the breast scars will be extensive. Fortunately, half of the breast scar lies along the lower breast fold where they are not seen. The visible remainder runs around the nipple and then vertically down to meet the lower breast fold. While I have performed very few breast scar revisions, patients need to have a good appreciation of the scarring to be certain that this is an acceptable trade-off.
Breast reduction works well and is highly accepted by most patients. The breasts can be reduced to almost any size that a patient prefers and one that is a better match to their body frame.
The Future of Injectable Fillers and the Use of Fat
Cosmetic injectable filler treatments today use synthetic compounds that are well tolerated but have a short lifespan. The use of yoru own fat has always been appealing but it is very unpredictable in how much actually survives after injection. New techniques of fat grafting, using stem cell isolation, offers hope of a new kind of injectable filler for the future.Understanding The Advertising Hype in Plastic Surgery
Marketing and advertising in elective cosmetic plastic surgery is common and is a necessary part of this retail medical business. Much of this marketing is based on achieving good results without much downtime or recovery.How much of this is hype and how much is really true?Beard Skin, Ears and the Male Facelift
A facelift in a man poses hair-related issues that are not present in a woman. Beard skin can get displaced onto and into the ear as well as benhind it, posing some new shaving issues. As a result, the issues of a more visible scar in front of the ear and the need to undergo laser hair removal behind the ear after surgery are important issues that men considering having a facelift need to know.