As the years go by, after breastfeeding, weight loss, and weight gain, most women’s breasts can undergo significant changes in their position, shape, and size.
In most cases, having sagging breasts, or the loss of their shape, the appearance of stretch marks, or the asymmetry between them and being an aesthetic problem has essential consequences on many women’s self-esteem.
In cosmetic and plastic surgery, breast lift surgery is one of the most requested surgical procedures in the office.
But this is a procedure that can vary depending on the clinical case of each patient. Some women have little tissue, and breast implants need to be placed on improving their anatomy.
We also have the case of patients who have good breast tissue but suffer from ptosis; they have saggy breasts.
However, fortunately, these changes can be corrected thanks to various techniques and surgeries. If you want to know more, stay!
Next, we will tell you about everything you need to know about breast lift.
What is a breast lift?
Breast lift, also known as mastopexy is about correcting, through medical surgery, the sagging of the breasts that in some cases can be caused by pregnancy, aging, weight loss, or by other factors that cause the elasticity of the skin or breast tissue to be lost.
The surgical process consists of relocating the breasts in a new position through incisions that remove the breast tissue and excess skin from the breast to strengthen and change it.
In this way, the adjacent tissues are hardened, and the breast is firmed, with the aim that the lower crease of the breast and the position of the areola and the patient’s nipple remain within their normal limits.
Before you perform this surgery, you need to attend an evaluation appointment, where the doctor will explain the entire procedure thoroughly and, besides, will determine the incision that will be used according to your case.
Reasons why women choose breast lift surgery?
Usually, the results after breast lift surgery are always favorable, which generates excellent satisfaction among women who undergo this type of surgery.
Some negative factors affect the firmness and shape of the breasts as a woman ages, some of them are:
-Aging:
With aging, the skin elasticity naturally decreases, which can cause the breasts to lose their firmness.
When you do not have a flexible and robust skin elasticity, gravity causes the breasts to become sober, which causes the skin to stretch, leaving the breasts with a saggy and saggy appearance.
-Pregnancy and lactation:
During pregnancy, most women gain weight as their bodies prepare to breastfeed.
Breastfeeding causes the breasts to suddenly swell and shrink, which can affect the breast tissue.
In this process, the breasts can lose their shape and fullness.
-Weight changes:
The fluctuation in weight can mean that the breasts shrink or become larger after gaining weight.
This causes the skin to be stretched and the breasts to lose their firmness or volume.
-Other reasons:
1. Correct a severe asymmetry of the chest.
2. Correct an excessively large development of the breasts that gives rise to physical and psychological problems.
3. Correct thoracic genetic deformities or extreme underdevelopment.
Breast lift surgery may be ideal for women who are comfortable with the size of their breasts but who feel that their breasts have lost their volume or shape.
In breast lift surgery, breast augmentation can also be performed to increase its volume and mold the breast’s shape.
For these reasons, women see breast lift surgery as a practical solution to reshape, firm, and correct their breasts’ sagging, obtaining a more youthful appearance.
How is the surgery prepared, and how does it work?
Preparation or preoperative:
Consultations should be carried out before the surgical intervention. It is necessary to explore the breast, measure specific parameters, and take photographs.
The exploration of the breast, along with the history and age, will serve to perform other complementary tests such as ultrasound and mammography before surgery.
The measurements will be used to decide which technique will be used, and the photographs will help evaluate the result.
Before undergoing the surgical intervention, you will have to follow some medical indications, specifically from the three days before the intervention, such as: eating in a balanced way and with foods that are little processed and resting 8 hours. These are some of the essential recommendations.
The more you inform the doctor about your lifestyle, the easier it will be to carry out the surgical plan to avoid any possible risks.
You will also have to perform some preoperative tests and attend the anesthesiologist’s evaluation since it is a surgical process with general anesthesia.
This surgery can be done daily,but sometimes you need to stay in the hospital for 24 hours.
This intervention, in most cases, is always performed with sedation or general anesthesia.
During the intervention:
The surgery consists of raising the sagging breast, reshaping the breast, and placing the nipple-areola complex in a higher position, for this it is necessary to remove the skin excess and adapt it to the breast volume that will remain, taking into account that:
1. When the chest is practically empty, it is necessary to associate the placement of a prosthesis that gives it more volume.
2. If there is a certain amount, the mastopexy is performed, removing only the excess skin and reshaping the breast.
3. When there is an excess of volume in the breast, it is associated with removing fatty-glandular breast tissue (reduction mammoplasty).
Some types of breast lift surgery can be performed through minimal incision techniques, making this a less invasive procedure.
Today there are a variety of techniques to perform a mastopexy.
The choice of technique will depend on your breast’s characteristics and the surgeon’s preference.
Breast lift surgery can last 2 to 3 hours and varies mainly by the anesthesia used, the technique used, and the breasts’ anatomical characteristics.
Life after breast lift surgery
Recovery or postoperative
The results of breast lift surgery are related to the observation of aftercare after having performed the intervention, that is why your doctor will make a series of observations that you will have to attend as a priority to avoid complications and risks, this way, you will also be helping the results to be consolidated.
If the medical advice is followed correctly, there will be no significant complications after performing the breast lift surgery. Still, if you have any problems after a period of the operation, you should go to the consultation as soon as possible to diagnose and treat those complications.
Main care and measures after surgery:
-Use the specific bra that the doctor has indicated at all times, even in bed, and only remove it to shower.
-Take the pain relievers indicated by the doctor at the specified times to combat the pain that remains after the remnants of anesthesia disappear.
-You will not be able to use bras that have an underwire until several months have passed after breast lift surgery and as directed by your doctor at each revision.
-During the recovery period after surgery, no heavy object may be lifted.
-You cannot make sudden and rapid movements; try to move your arms gently.
-After two or three weeks, you should go for a review with the doctor to have the stitches removed.
-You have to sleep on your back and with your head slightly elevated.
-You must suspend the exercises for a month.
-Always avoid direct blows to the chest.
-Walk to promote circulation in the body.
You must follow the instructions correctly for your recovery to be positive and for the results to be favorable and as expected.
You can continue with your daily life observing the previous warnings after a few days or after the first week.
By complying with each of the recommendations, your recovery and the surgery results will inevitably be favorable, whether with or without breast implants.
How much does a breast lift cost?
The cost of this type of medical surgeries depends on different factors such as: whether or not there is a need for income and type of fee of the clinics, more or less complicated surgical procedure, level of surgeon’s fees that may be more expensive or more affordable.
The approximate average prices in the United States in this type of cosmetic surgery vary between $ 5,000 and $ 9,000 for both breasts; this includes an anesthesia fee of $ 1,000 to $ 1,500, also a hospital fee of $ 500 to $ 1,500 and a surgeon fee, this fee is usually $ 3,500 to $ 6,000.
In any case, since each woman’s breasts are different and their expectations, tastes, and clinical possibilities, it is best to go to a cosmetic and restorative plastic surgery clinic before obsessing over change. Get good advice, evaluating real physical possibilities and personal conditions, economic cost, and payment facilities.
Knowing all this in mind, you will see if you really are convinced or if you think that breast lift surgery is worth the cost for the price.
Non-surgical breast lift options
1. Suitable threading:
This procedure is designed directly to physically move the surrounding breasts in an upward motion with small barbed threads from Aptos.
The surgeon has to introduce the barbed threads under the skin with a hypodermic needle in the process. The lines are brought together and pulled towards the clavicle.
This is a non-invasive process that does not leave scars and has results that last up to 2 years.
2. Breast treatment with Caci:
The Caci treatment for the bust helps lift, strengthen, and tone the muscles around the bust area, providing an improved appearance with more volume and firmer.
For the treatment, the doctor will focus on the electrical pulses emitted by the device on the muscles surrounding the bust.
The results of this treatment will depend on the time and consistency in which it is applied.
The usual thing is that several sessions are carried out weekly for a few months to obtain more visible results.
3. Laser treatments:
This therapy is carried out utilizing energy rays with high power to eliminate dead cells in our skin and increase collagen production.
Increasing collagen helps increase the breast area’s skin elasticity, but any “lift” results would only be temporary.
This type of treatment has different risks, such as:
-Scars.
-Pain.
-Possible changes in skin color.
Vampire breast lifts:
This treatment is an anti-aging procedure using platelet-rich plasma from the patient’s blood.
This procedure’s objective is to lift the breasts a little; it only tries to give a lifted appearance thanks to better blood circulation, it also provides less visible scars and wrinkles.
The results are seen gradually in a few months, and the general ones can last a few years.
This is a treatment that is not recommended for women with a history of breast cancer. Pregnant or breastfeeding.
5.Botox injections:
Botulinum toxin injections work to relax the skin’s muscles, creating a soothing effect on the skin’s surface.
Although some physicians may use botox injections in the chest area to prevent hunched shoulders, botox injections are not an approved treatment as a breast lift method.
The results of this can last up to 4 months.
Others:
-Dermal fillers:
These are based on hyaluronic acid and can last for several months when injected, stimulating the body to create collagen in the treated area. Several treatments are needed to get results.
-Thermage:
It is a procedure that stimulates collagen using radio waves to tighten the protein fibers within your skin.
Exercises to lift the breasts:
Breast lift exercises are a natural way to firm your breasts.
We bring you some exercises that will help you firm your bust and strengthen your pectorals:
1. Firming breast:
-The first thing you should do is sit on a chair, remember always to keep your spine supported on the back of the chair, as straight as you can be.
-The stomach turned in and put your feet on the floor.
-He grabs a weight in each hand and then raises them to shoulder height, in front of the chest.
-Your elbows should form a 90-degree angle to the sides of the body.
-Now you have to raise your arms, but without reaching to stretch them completely, and thus your elbows will not suffer.
-Hold that position for five seconds and then slowly lower back to the starting position.
You should do three sets of five reps and then increase the amount to three sets of ten reps in the first month.
2. Chest opening:
-Sitting in the same way as in the first exercise, with a weight in each of the hands, facing the palms.
-You must always keep your elbows bent.
-You have to open your arms towards your sides.
-When you open your arms, breathe in. When you close your arms, breathe out.
You should do three sets of five reps the first week, three sets of eight reps the second and third.
After the first month, you have to be doing three sets of ten repetitions.
3. Push-ups:
This is a reasonably effective exercise, which requires specific techniques and practice, but you can do it without problems.
With this exercise, you will not need the help of any additional object, so any time of the day is ideal for training.
-The first thing you should do is stand in front of the wall and separate your feet at the height of the hips.
-Next, you should place the palms of your hands on the wall at the height of your shoulders. The arms should be straight and parallel to each other.
-Bend your elbows slowly, doing push-ups, if you move your hands from the wall.
-Once you get as low as possible, count to three and then go up.
You should do about ten repetitions, rest for a minute and then start again.
4. Lifting chest weights
Lifting chest weights is a bit of a complicated exercise you may want to try when others are done.
-First, sit down with your back supported and hold a weight of 2 to 5 kilos in each hand, depending on your possibilities.
-Stretch your arms to the sides and then bend your elbows so that your hands are 90 degrees.
-Raise your arms to stretch them over your head and return to the starting position.
-Be careful not to go too low, as they should always be at shoulder height, and you can hit your head.
Risks and complications
It is crucial to remember that there are risks in any surgical procedure, no matter how simple or small, and breast lift surgery is no exception.
The following are some of the risks and complications that breast lift surgery can have:
-Bleeding.
-Infections.
-Hematomas.
-Asymmetry in the breasts.
-Changing the size of the nipples.
-Poor healing.
-Decreased sensitivity of the nipples.
To avoid these risks or complications, it is recommended to make the plastic surgeon’s right choice and follow the recommendations and instructions before, during, and after the surgery.
