Breast Aesthetics Overview

Breast Aesthetics Overview

What is breast aesthetics?

Not all female breasts are created alike, and a woman cannot choose the natural shape or size of her breasts.  Age, pregnancy, or heredity can cause droopy, saggy, or asymmetrical breasts.  Other times, illness such as cancer can require the removal of one or both breasts via a mastectomy, causing women to opt for breast augmentation and reconstruction. Breast aesthetic procedures can include breast augmentation or enlargement, breast reduction, breast lift, or breast reconstruction.

The most popular form of cosmetic surgery is breast augmentation. More than 300,000 breast augmentation procedures are performed every year. For some patients, it may be necessary to perform both a breast augmentation and lift to achieve the best results.

Breast Lift
Breast lift, or mastopexy, is a procedure for raising the breasts through the removal of excess skin and firming of the breast tissue to create a new breast shape.

Breast Augmentation
Otherwise referred to as augmentation mammaplasty, breast augmentation is a procedure to make fuller through the use of silicone-filled or saline-filled implants.  Breast augmentation can be performed for pure aesthetic purposes as well as to enhance breast volume after pregnancy or weight loss.

Breast Reduction
A breast reduction, or reduction mammaplasty,  is a procedure for reducing the size of the breasts so they  are proportionate to the size of a woman’s body. Breast reduction often provides relief from back pain and discomfort caused by oversized breasts. A breast reduction is performed by removing excess fat, glandular tissue, and skin.

Breast Reconstruction
Breast reconstruction is the process of restoring the normal appearance, size, and shape of the female breast through a number of methods in plastic surgery.  Breast reconstruction is typically performed after a mastectomy or another form of injury, or to correct a genetic deformity.

What to Expect from Breast Aesthetic Procedures
Breast surgery typically takes 1-3 hours and is usually performed as an outpatient surgery. After surgery, women will experience bruising, swelling, discomfort, and possibly numbness and dry breast skin. For some women, cosmetic breast surgery can result in noticeable scars, uneven nipples, or loss of feeling in the nipples or breasts.

All cosmetic breast procedures have the same goals –to provide women with a breast and nipple that they are satisfied with, both visually and psychologically. No matter which procedure you choose, it is critical to understand all the risks, both aesthetic and medical, including those associated with anesthesia or implants.

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