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The following information has been prepared to familiarize you
with facts about the surgical procedures known as reduction mammoplasty
(breast reduction) and mastopexy (breast uplift). You are requested
to read this information thoroughly and to discuss any questions
which might arise with your surgeon before proceeding with either
a breast reduction or an uplift procedure.
Many women feel that their breasts do not match their overall body
physique. Extremely large or droopy breasts may be the result of
abnormal development or the aging process. Such changes most frequently
occur during menarche, pregnancy or following menopause.
Although the goals of breast reduction and breast uplift procedures
are different, the procedures will be discussed together because
the preoperative preparation, surgical incision, and postoperative
course are quite similar. In both procedures,
incisions are designed to create a more youthful and natural shaped
breast. In both procedures this involves elevating the nipple/areolar
complex from a lower, more droopy position, to a more natural position
on the center of the breast mound.
In a breast reduction procedure, breast tissue is resected in addition
to the excess skin, thus reducing the final volume of the breast
while elevating the nipple/areolar complex In an uplift procedure,
skin alone is resected while the nipple/areolar complex is positioned
in a more elevated location. Occasionally, the patient may desire
a small breast implant at the time of an uplift procedure if the
patient perceives that the breasts are not only too droopy, but
too small as well.
There is no evidence that breast uplift or reduction surgery alters
the possibility of developing breast cancer. It will still be necessary
for you to examine yourself monthly for breast lumps and to undergo
mammography as suggested by your personal physician. It is suggested
that all patients 35 years of age or older obtain a mammogram prior
to elective breast surgery.
With the breast uplift procedure, no incisions are made within the
substance of the breast. While reducing a breast, incisions will
naturally course across breast ducts, but the ducts immediately
beneath the nipple are left intact and usually such a patient would
be able to breast feed if this becomes desirable in the future.
Although not all women are able to breast feed even before a breast
operation, these procedures by themselves should not rule out the
ability to breast feed at a later date.
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