While many women desire large breasts, there are many more women who prefer to have theirs’ reduced. Large, heavy breasts are extremely incapacitating. They may cause back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, shoulder grooves and poor posture. They may be embarassing to young woman and can limit physical activity.
During your consultation, we will thoroughly examine your breasts. We will measure your breasts noting the breast proportions, the position of your nipples and any breast asymmetry. We will show you before and after photographs to help you understand the procedure and the typical results.
The techniques for breast reduction vary. We perform the two most common techniques which leave either an anchor-shaped scar or a short vertical scar.
Anchor-shaped scar: This is the most widely used technique by cosmetic surgeons. It leaves a scar around the aeroa, a vertical scar from the aerola to the fold under the breast and a horizontal scar below the breast, hidden within the breast fold. This operation works well for most women.
The Short-Scar: This technique for breast reduction was initially introduced in the 1960s and has recently regained popularity. It requires experienced surgeons or those who have been specially trained in this technique. Both Dr. Thompson and Dr. Germain perform this type of breast reduction. With this procedure the scar is located around the areola and extends vertically to the breast fold. There is no horizontal scar below the breast. Ideal women for this operation have moderately large breasts with good skin quality. A small percentage of women will require a minor revison to the lower part of the scar, 6 to 12 months after the procedure, to remove any excess skin.
The risks of breast reduction include scars, infection, bleeding (hematoma), poor or delayed healing, reduced nipple sensation, partial or total loss of the nipple and an altered capacity to breast feed. We will discuss them with you during your consultation.
Please visit the following website for examples of this operation: http://www.surgery.org/public/photos/breast_reduction