Fast facts

Breast Reduction

What it is: Mammaplasty / breast reduction is intended to ease the discomfort associated with larger than average breasts.  The plastic surgery involves removing fat, skin and glandular tissue from the breasts to make them more proportionate with the patient's body.  

What it addresses:  Health problems and discomfort caused by large breasts:

- Pain
- Discomfort
- Body image issues
- Hindrance to an active life

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Question

Breast reduction - is it like liposuction?

I want to get a breast reduction and I am wondering how it all works.  Do they just do liposuction to remove the extra fat in your breasts?

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Asked by: Erinn from Castlerock, CO

Answers (5)

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1
June 25, 2008

Breast Reduction and Liposuction.

George J. Beraka, MD
George J. Beraka, MD
Board Certified
Plastic Surgeon
There are four basic breast reduction techniques and scarless liposuction breast reduction is one of them. With the other three techniques, excess breast tissue and skin are cut out and liposuction is not primarily used.
 
A). Liposuction. If you do not have too much sagging, and if you only want to reduce the size of your breasts by approximately one cup size, then liposuction breast reduction is an excellent choice because there are no scars. So liposuction is a great approach for carefully selected patients. If you want to be a lot smaller, or if you have a great deal of sagging, then liposuction breast reduction is not a good option for you, even though there are no scars.
 
B). Breast reduction with a circular scar around the nipple. This technique has the advantage of minimal scarring, but is also only useful when there is not too much sagging in the breasts. 
 
C). Breast reduction with the "lollipop" scar. This is by far the most common technique that I use in my own practice because it is a minimal scar technique. It provides great long term shape, and it is useful for almost all breasts. 
 
D). Breast reduction with an upside down T scar. This is a technique that involves the most scarring, and I do use it rarely for breasts that are huge or that have a truly extraordinary degree of sagging. 
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2
June 18, 2008

Liposuction not the best choice for breast tissue

Steven Wallach, MD
Steven Wallach, MD
Board Certified
Plastic Surgeon

Liposuction is one technique that can be used to reduce the overall volume of the breasts for some women.  This is best for women with fatty breasts, as opposed to those that are primarily glandualr tissue.

However, it does not "lift" the breast very much or treat the excess skin or parenchymal tissue.

For the majority of patients, that want a reduction and an improvment of the shape and aesthetic result, a reduction using a lollipop type incision, or a inverted-T incision is usually necessary

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3
March 27, 2008

Many techniques for breast reduction

Richard P. Rand, MD
Richard P. Rand, MD
Board Certified
Plastic Surgeon

Breast reduction surgery can be done with many techniques and can include liposuction as part of the procedure. However, because almost all patients who need a reduction also need a breast lift for optimal shaping, the surgery requires incisions to allow the surgeon to reduce the excess breast volume and also to lift and reshape the breast.

Make sure your surgeon shows you many photos of their patients so you are comfortable with the trade-off of decreased symptoms and improved breast size and shape for the scars needed to perform it properly. Most all patients will be happy with this surgery when performed by a surgeon with excellent breast sculpting skills.

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4
March 26, 2008

Breast reduction takes more than lipo

Kim Meathrel, MD
Kim Meathrel, MD

Hi Erinn - Most women's breasts are made up of both fat tissue and gland tissue. The gland tissue is usually too hard (in consistency) to remove with liposuction so breast reduction by liposuction is limited in the amount of volume that can be removed (since it can only remove the excess fat tissue, not gland).

Breast reduction surgery can be completed using several different methods and several different scar patterns. The common elements between each type of breast reduction surgery are reducing the size, elevating and reshaping the breast. Elevating and reshaping the breast cannot be done by liposuction alone.

Some women do require liposuction in conjunction with breast reduction to get the most aesthetically pleasing result - the rolls of fat at the sides of the breasts, under the armpits are treated with liposuction as these areas are not addressed by breast reduction techniques.

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5
March 26, 2008

Breast reduction also involves reshaping the breast

Shahram Salemy, MD
Shahram Salemy, MD
Board Certified
Plastic Surgeon

Erinn--

Breast reduction surgery involves three key things:

  • Reducing the volume or weight of the breast by removing breast tissue and fat
  • Lifting the nipple and areola into a more ideal position
  • Tightening the skin envelope around the breast

These three key steps will not just reduce the breast, but reshape it into a more aesthetically pleasing appearance.

While some folks can have a reduction just by liposuction, this I find is the minority of patients. Also, there is more than one way to perform the procedure, so it's important to talk to your doctor about how they perform the operation and to ask to look at some before and after pictures.

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