Is non-surgical breast reduction possible?

Emma

Safety and medicolegal issues will likely delay external, "nonsurgical" breast reduction procedures from reaching the States for a while, but you may have access to them in your country.  Check with a plastic surgeon in your area for details on the availability of these technologies.  Good luck!

Liposuction only breast reduction can make the breasts smaller in the right patient, and this is scarless surgery, but it is surgery none the less.

Women tend to be quite happy after breast reduction, and the recovery is fairly easy.  You just need to be motivated.

There are no nonsurgical procedures that can safely and effectively reduce and reshape the breast.  Some women will achieve breast reduction through diet and exercise, but short of this surgery of some type (liposuction, breast reduction) is required.

There are some non-invasive body contouring procedures that are "still in the pipeline."  There are devices that are being used in Europe for body contouring that are not yet approved in the US that have been used instead of liposuction to reduce overall girth. That be said if this product becomes available, it would most liekly reduce some of the fat content in the breast if possible.  However, just like liposuctioning of the breast, there will be no control to tighten the skin envelope or raise the nipple areola complex to a "perkier" more youthful appearance. In addition, it is unclear how this could affect the long term risk of developing breast cancer .

Unfortunately, there is no reliable non-surgical means of reducing the breast tissue outside of natural weight loss. In the future, there is promising technology which may apply; but, this technology is currently NOT available in the United States. Both companies have medical devices that use externally applied focused ultrasound to break down the breast fat.

The two technologies are LipoSonix and Ultrashape. It is my understanding that the FDA is requiring additional clinical studies to better discern the process of the liver metabolism of the breakdown products of the treated fat. I would expect FDA approval within the next two years.

Please keep in mind that moderate to severe breast volume reduction may potentially create problems with breast sagging (known medically as ptosis). And, this could require a breast lift procedure to correct!

I have used the Vaser® Liposelection to perform breast reduction, but this is a surgically invasive procedure. Of course, there are other surgical options available that your plastic surgeon will discuss with you.

Thank you for your question!

Most people will experience a loss of breast size with weight loss. There is a small percentage of patients that will not respond because their breasts are predominantly gland (the tissue that makes milk and gets bigger and smaller with your period).

Birth control pills make some women's breasts larger. If you are one of those people and want to have smaller breasts then stop the pills and resort to another type of birth control.

Finally, whether you have a liposuction or conventional breast reduction - they are both surgery and require anesthesia and some amount of cutting and injury.

Breast liposuction will reduce volume but will leave the breasts appearing saggy.

For breasts reduction surgery, my favorite are the vertical scar techniques (especially Lejour, not Hall-Findlay) and a circumareolar breast reduction called a Goes technique. Both give wondeful, natural, durable sexy results.

Unfortunately there is no good way to reduce breast volume without surgery.  Liposuction is a minimally invasive, scarless way of accomplishing the task of reducing breast volume, but liposuction alone will result in saggy breasts.

Surgery is typically very well tolerated and produces happy patients... in fact, breast reduction surgery has the highest rate of patient satisfaction of any procedure... any!

Hope this helps!

Dr. K

Emma,

For the most part, surgery is the only way to reduce the size of the breast and keep a natural appearance.

However, for smaller volume reductions, liposuction is an alternative. You have to keep in mind, however, that by deflating the breast with liposuction and not resecting the skin, you have a risk of breast ptosis (hanging skin) that may leave you worse off that you started. However, for small volume reductions, you can achieve very nice results with liposuction.

Also, breast reduction incisions tend to heal very well. Breast reduction patients are some of the happiest patients that we see. So, the tradeoff of an incision for enhanced lifestyle and relief of neck and back pain is generally a good decision.

I hope this is helpful.

David Shafer, MD
Shafer Plastic Surgery
New York City

You can possibly deflate the breast with liposuction if a significant percentage of the excess volume is fat rather than dense glandular tissue. But this technique doesn't allow much shaping. In order to shape the remaining volume, you have to do surgery on the gland itself or on the skin, both of which require varying degrees of scars.

There is no way I know that can reduce a breast 2 cup sizes without surgery.  Remember, liposuction IS surgery, not just a "procedure."  The disadvantage of liposuction exclusively for breast reduction is that the drooping of the breast is not addressed.  In a true breats reduction, the breast is not only made smaller, but it is also lifted to look more toned and youthful.  Unfortunately, this requires scars, but if properly done, breast reduction patients will almost always willingly trade the benefits of the reduction (less symptoms, more attractive breast shape and size, easier clothing fit, easier to exercise...) for the scars.