Bilateral Breast Lift

As we age, changes occur in our bodies that we want to reverse. Much of our self-identity is based on our physical appearance and once our bodies change in ways that we did not expect, we are often left startled and feeling powerless to these changes. One condition that all women (and some men) face is concerned with relates to changes in their breasts. As natural occurrences like pregnancy, gravity, breastfeeding, and weight loss enter our lives, our bodies adjust. Skin elasticity is reduced and a condition known as mammary ptosis naturally develops. Sagging in a person's breasts marks mammary ptosis and there are different levels of ptosis.

Although ptosis is a condition that is caused by gravity and time, so is pretty much unavoidable, there are still steps to reverse its effects. A plastic surgery procedure known medically as mastopexy (but popularly as breast lift surgery) reverses the effects of ptosis for a period of time. Breast lift surgery reverses the effects of ptosis by removing excess skin from the patient's body and reposition the remaining breast tissue and nipples. A short plastic surgery procedure that usually takes 1 to 3 hours to be completed, breast lift surgery is one of the fastest growing plastic surgery specialties in the world.

One of the most popular reasons for undergoing a breast lift treatment is to correct imbalances in volume, shape, or size between a patient's breasts. In this scenario, breast lift surgery will only apply to one of the patient's breasts. More common is a bilateral breast lift surgery, in which both breasts are treated to reverse ptosis.

In a bilateral breast lift, there are a number of procedural options that a plastic surgeon can choose from. Factoring in the patient's medical history, the level of ptosis, and the patient's skin condition, the plastic surgeon will determine which of the three main bilateral breast lift surgical techniques that they will use. The different bilateral breast lift surgical techniques are appropriate in certain scenarios and they differentiate from each other based on the incisions that are used. The cocentric bilateral breast lift is a surgical technique uses a drawing of concentric circles around the patient's areola and removes excess skin around this areola border. The vertical bilateral breast lift is a surgical technique that involves a vertical incision that descends from the areola down to the bottom fold of the patient's breasts. The anchor-shaped bilateral breast lift is a surgical technique in which excess skin is removed by following a pattern of a keyhole shape above the nipple and areola and an anchor shape that is drawn at the bottom of the keyhole that horizontally covers the right to left side of the patient's breast.

Regardless of the bilateral breast lift surgical technique that is employed by the plastic surgeon, the basic goal of the bilateral breast lift remains. All of these surgical techniques incorporate skin excision with tucking. A short procedure that is completed between one and three hours, bilateral breast lift surgery is often accompanied by breast reduction surgery or breast augmentation surgery.