What is Breast Lifting? 

Breast lifting is a surgical procedure which is designed to improve the aesthetics of the breasts. In other words, it is a cosmetic procedure to make the breast look more attractive.

There are actually many different ways to perform a breast lift, and the best plastic surgeons design a treatment plan which is individualized, to achieve the best cosmetic result, with the least amount of risk and scarring. The most common reason that women seek a breast lift is to improve the appearance of the breasts after having children, especially after breast feeding. The hormonal changes that accompany pregnancy and breast feeding cause the breast tissue, and the overlying skin, to grow and expand. When the hormonal stimulus for breast growth (necessary for pregnancy and breast feeding) is withdrawn, the breast tissue then shrinks down. The ability of the skin to shrink or contract down, does not always match the ability of the breast tissue, and so frequently, there is excess skin, which causes the breast to droop. Visibly this is noticeable as a nipple which is pointing downward, and which is lower on the breast mound than is cosmetically appealing. So, the breast lift procedure is designed to get rid of excess skin, and to place the nipple in a more attractive position on the breast. So that the nipple is not pointing downward, and so that the nipple and surrounding areola, are in a more central position on the breast. Sometimes, by placing a breast implant underneath the skin, the nipple will be raised sufficiently, and that is the only treatment necessary, to: "lift the nipple" to it's more attractive than the former position.

However, frequently women either do not want breast implants, or other variables make a breast implant alone an inadequate solution to the problem of skin excess and the nipple being too low. In these cases a breast lift can be performed alone, or in combination with a breast implant, to create the most pleasing looking breast possible. The types of breast lifts most commonly performed are:

1) A circumareolar breast lift, in which the skin around the nipple and areola is removed in an elliptical or circular fashion, to lift the nipple a minor or modest amount. In this case, the scar is limited to a circle around the entire areola. Sometimes, usually when combined with an implant, you can get an adequate result by just removing a crescent of skin above the areola, and the scar is limited to the upper half or so of the areola. This is called a crescent lift.

2) A verical lift, in which an additional amount of skin is removed, and there may be some breast remodeling. In this case the scar is around the areola, and then extends down vertially toward the bottom of the breast.

3) A Wise pattern breast lift, which involves removing even more skin, and the scar resembles an anchor, by going all around the areola, vertically down to the bottom of the breast, and then across the bottom of the breast in both directions. These are the most common breast lift procedures performed, but there are other procedures as well. The procedure that is right for any woman cannot be determined until you have been examined and counciled by a board certified plastic surgeon familiar with all of these procedures.