What is a breast lift? What results can I expect?

Why it’s done

A breast lift (known also as mastopexy) is a cosmetic surgical procedure that aims to remove excess skin from the chest to lift sagging breasts. The breast lift is intended for women who have sagging breasts or whose areola is considered too low. This sagging of the breasts can be related to pregnancy, ageing or weight loss.

The breast lift is a breast operation that aims to lift sagging breasts without changing their volume. It gives them a more youthful and attractive shape. This operation can be performed at the end of the puberty period (completion of breast growth).

How you prepare

By following these guidelines, you will ensure that your body is in the best possible condition for your breast lift surgery, which will minimise risks and complications, and aid a speedy recovery:

• Carry out the prescribed pre-operative tests (blood tests, ultrasound…).
• See the anaesthetist in consultation at the clinic.
• Stop smoking or reduce your smoking as much as possible before your surgery. Smoking slows down the healing process, and this will result in an increase in the size of the scars: the longer it takes to heal, the more visible the scar will be.
• Do not take any new medication without having informed your plastic surgeon or anaesthetist.
• The day before and the morning of the surgery, take a shower with an antiseptic soap that will be prescribed to you.
• Do not eat or drink anything after midnight the night before the operation.
• Make sure that you have a responsible adult available to pick you up after the operation and who can stay with you for 24 hours if possible. In cases where you have no one, arrange for a taxi but not to return by transport alone.
• Be sure to bring clothes that close at the front (buttons, zips) so that you do not have to lift your arms.

What you can expect

During the procedure

There are three main breast lift techniques. the choice of which depends on the surgeon and the saginess of the breast:

• the areolar incision, around the nipple
• the areolar and vertical incision which starts from the nipple and goes down to the breast fold.
• the inverted T incision, with a scar around the nipple down to the breast fold.

Some women take advantage of the operation to add breast implants, but generally the breasts fall back if the implants are too heavy after six months. When you need a breast lift, it’s often because the skin is not strong enough to support the heaviness of the breasts so it seems a bit silly to add implants, unless the breasts are not too large. Nowadays, to increase the breast volume after a mastopexy, patients can opt for a lipofilling which is a less invasive technique and which allows to obtain nice results.

A breast lift should be distinguished from breast reduction, which is performed when the breasts are too large.

The procedure takes about 1.5 hours, under general anaesthetic. Absorbable sutures are placed. A suitable dressing is applied for a few days. The pain, which is acceptable, is controlled by painkillers.

After the procedure

Immediately after the breast lift surgery the patient will first be transferred to the recovery room, to a hospital room, where the patient will stay for a few hours (outpatient surgery) or, more conventionally, one night. The pressure bandage will be removed in the presence of your surgeon. He will make sure that there is no haematoma or suffering of the areola, which are both rare complications.

If a drainage system was used during the operation, it will usually be removed at this time.

After a breast lift or mastopexy, the patient will need to see the surgeon again for a follow-up consultation. These consultations usually take place 7, 15 and 30 days after the surgery. The purpose of these consultations is to monitor and detect rare complications such as scarring problems or infections.

Scar care will be carried out every day at home by the patient or a nurse. Taking a shower will be possible from the day after the operation. The patient will be asked to stop sports activities for 2 months after the surgery.

After a mastopexy (breast lift) for breast ptosis, some of the usual signs should not worry you. They may be asymmetrical and will gradually disappear:

• Bruising, which may persist for 15 to 20 days
• Edema of the chest leading to a slight swelling and sometimes a feeling of tension.
• The pain is slight after a breast lift or breast reduction. They are easily relieved by a simple analgesic treatment.
• Possible discomfort of the patient when lifting the arms, for 15-21 days.

Results

The final result of a breast lift is obtained 3 to 6 months after the operation, when the postoperative swelling has disappeared. The breasts will gradually return to their natural shape during this period.

This result is stable over time except in case of significant weight change or pregnancy. Nevertheless, your new breasts will evolve like any other woman who has not undergone surgery and will be subject to the effects of gravity and aging.

Three anchor scars are necessary to reshape the breasts: a peri-areolar scar (around the areola), a vertical scar extending from the areola to the sub-breast fold and a horizontal scar in the sub-breast fold.

The scars will initially be inflammatory (red and raised) for the first few months and then will gradually fade without disappearing.

The final appearance of your scars is not predictable and will only be known at the end of scar maturation (between 1 and 2 years after the operation).