The Ultimate Guide to Breast Reduction Surgery

The Ultimate Guide to Breast Reduction Surgery

Breast reduction surgery or reduction mammoplasty is a surgical procedure used to reduce the size of a woman’s breasts. Several women opt for this procedure due to the discomfort and self-consciousness they feel about their breasts.

Additionally, they choose mammoplasty because it does more than reduce the breasts’ size. It also imparts a more aesthetic overall look to the breasts while ensuring they do not look deflated. Some surgeons only do liposuction for mammoplasty; this works similarly to a balloon in deflating the breasts.

Meanwhile, experts use breast gland and tissue reshaping and remodelling for enhanced, natural-looking results. They may also use liposuction but use it sparingly, and only to create a more beautiful result.

Why do women need breast reduction surgery?

While we live in a world where beauty standards tell us the bigger the breasts, the better, several women find this is far from true. Having abnormally large breasts makes them feel very self-conscious and prevents them from wearing well-fitting clothes or feeling attractive when looking in the mirror.

The question then arises: why do women have excessively large, saggy breasts?

Well, big breasts may be the result of many conditions. Your breast size may be genetic, or it may be due to a condition called virginal hypertrophy or breast hypertrophy.

Virginal hypertrophy refers to the excessive enlargement of breasts during puberty. This is a rare and benign condition, also called gigantomastia. Although it remains harmless, it can significantly impact the mental health of the girl going through it. The disproportionate increase in breast size can make her self-esteem drop, as she does not like the way she looks.

Breast hypertrophy may also occur during pregnancy and the lactation period. These three times in a woman’s life are when her hormones are most active. Thus, she is more likely to develop hypertrophy during these periods.

Another condition causing hypertrophy in women is obesity. Regardless of the reason, breast reduction surgery can greatly help. It significantly reduces the breasts to the desired size with minimal scarring and a speedy recovery. However, you also need to be wary while choosing your surgeon. Expert plastic surgeons understand that your growth phase needs to be stagnant for at least a year before you can get mammoplasty.

Waiting for this period ensures that you get the best results without adversely affecting your body’s natural shape or contours.

Breast Reduction Surgery in Delhi

How Breast Reduction Surgery Helps

While we have discussed aesthetics and self-esteem, breast reduction is a very practical procedure that helps improve a woman’s daily life. Many women find larger breasts inconvenient since they prevent them from indulging in all the activities they desire.

Some significant ways reduction mammoplasty helps include the following.

Breast Reduction Surgery Alleviates Pain

While large, saggy breasts may not be visually appealing, this is trivial compared to the pain they can afflict. The extra weight on a woman’s chest can cause bodily aches in numerous areas. These include:

  • Shoulder pain
  • Neck and cervical pain
  • Back pain
  • Bra strap pain

People do not realise how much heavy breasts pull down the bra. They also pull the bra strap down, making it cut into the shoulder, causing a lot of pain. Additionally, heavy breasts affect women’s postures, making them hunch over due to the extra weight. This hunching can cause additional insecurity due to the enhanced cleavage they may be self-conscious about.

Breast Reduction Surgery Improves Health

Many people assume that since mammoplasty sounds cosmetic, it must have no health benefits. This is a complete myth – breast reduction can significantly improve both your mental and physical health.

Many women cannot exercise properly due to their heavy breasts. Doing any chest exercises becomes impossible, and their heavy bust hurts when they do cardio or HIIT-style training. Additionally, finding affordable sports bras for larger chests is very difficult (and even then, they are often ineffective).

Breast reduction surgery helps them feel comfortable while exercising. Their chest no longer hurts, and they can do any workout they want after their breast reduction. Thus, this procedure keeps their health intact.

Another way breast reduction helps is through the breast lift process. Remember when we mentioned that reducing breast size surgically also reshapes and remodels the remaining tissue for aesthetic, natural-looking results? Well, this is what happens in a breast lift. By incorporating a breast lift, your surgeon ensures that your breasts do not sag against your other skin.

When breasts sag, you sweat in the under-breast (or under-boob) region. The moisture and heat is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria, causing fungal infections and rashes in the area. Through breast reduction and lifting, you avoid these health concerns while getting a very aesthetic result.

Breast Reduction Surgery’s Aesthetic Benefits

At its core, breast reduction is about the patient and making them feel more comfortable and confident in their body. It aims to remove any social and sexual embarrassment accompanying excessively large breasts, replacing this with a heightened self-perception.

Apart from incorporating the breast lift surgery, mammoplasty is also combined with other procedures to improve results. With such a holistic approach, an expert female plastic surgeon like Dr Priya Bansalensures that your breasts look gorgeous, feel natural and look symmetrical. One of the main goals of breast reduction is ensuring symmetry between your breasts for better results.

With mammoplasty, you then get the confidence to wear any clothes you want with no self-consciousness. Your new breasts look entirely natural, boosting your self-esteem and ensuring that you feel comfortable in your own skin. Thus, although we may call these aesthetic benefits, they go far below the skin’s surface.

Now that we understand the many benefits of reduction mammoplasty, we can examine and understand the procedure itself.

Breast Reduction Surgery – How it is Done

Mammoplasty is a daycare procedure, which means you can go home the same evening or the following day after your surgery. Your surgeon places you under general anaesthesia to minimise discomfort and optimise recovery time.

The procedure begins with marking the incision around the nipple and areola. A combination of the periareolar and inframammary incisions is used for this, creating a lollipop shape around the nipple-areola complex.

The periareolar incision is along the region where the darker, pigmented skin of the breast meets the lighter skin. The resulting scar is well-hidden in this shift in colour. The inframammary incision extends down to the underside of the breast. Although more visible due to breast skin elasticity, the scar becomes inconspicuous as the incision heals after your breast reduction surgery, and your results become permanent.

After the incision, your surgeon marks the pedicle, i.e., the breast area that needs to be preserved. There are two kinds of pedicles – superior and superomedial. Depending on your surgeon and the size of your breasts, the ideal reduction technique is chosen. Both have sported outstanding results when used correctly.

Once the markings are complete, your surgeon can make the incision and access the underlying tissue structures. They excise any excess tissue, reducing breast size to the desired extent. After excision, they reshape and remodel the remaining tissue into an aesthetic, conical shape. They also reposition the nipple and areola for enhanced results, so the final look is perkier.

If you desire rounder, fuller breasts instead of the conical shape, your surgeon preserves a small amount of tissue from the lower pole (the inferior pole). They then pull this tissue up and tack it onto the pectoralis fascia, located in the upper pole, creating a rounder appearance.

breast reduction surgery in delhi

Can you use liposuction in breast reduction surgery?

A common question many patients ask is about using liposuction for breast reduction. As we explained previously, this is ill-advised since fat usually is not the culprit behind breast hypertrophy. Hypertrophy comes from the enhanced tissue and gland.

That said, an expert surgeon understands the benefits of using liposuction to remove excess fat in the upper lateral flanks and axillary fat pads. The flanks refer to the areas directly above the waist, while the axillary fat pads are located under the armpit.

After your breast reduction surgery, you will need a smaller bra size. If you do not remove this excess fat, it could spill over your bra, allowing your bra to cut into your skin. Additionally, it can look very unnatural and asymmetrical. Removing fat from these areas through the latest MicroAire and VASER liposuction technology ensures far superior results from your reduction mammoplasty.

Recovery and Results After Breast Reduction Surgery

While we can give you an overview of the expected recovery timeline, remember that everybody is different. Therefore, your recovery may differ. However, you should experience minimal discomfort from your procedure, especially at the hand of an expert surgeon like Dr Priya Bansal at RG Aesthetics.

The average recovery timeline after reduction mammoplasty includes:

  • Returning to the regular routine the day after surgery
  • Some swelling, bruising and discomfort for up to 48 hours
  • Returning to work 3 days after surgery
  • Using antibiotics for 5 days to counter any lingering discomfort
  • Resuming driving a week after surgery
  • All bruising should subside within 2 weeks
  • Wearing a compression garment or sports bra for 6 weeks
  • Avoiding lifting your arms or weight lifting over your head for 6 weeks
  • Doing follow-ups with your surgeon 48 hours, 1 week, and 6 weeks after surgery
  • Swelling can take up to 6 months to completely go away

As long as you follow the advice of your surgeon, you should have excellent results from your breast reduction surgery.

Your results continue getting better and more refined over the months following the surgery with the customised compression garment. The scars fade very well and become almost invisible. With such measures, your reduction mammoplasty is sure to be a massive success.

However, for this to work, you also need an excellent surgeon.

Choosing the Right Surgeon for Your Breast Reduction Surgery

Mammoplasty is a permanent solution to your woes. The results you get from your first procedure determine your new outlook on life. Thus, you must view this as an investment rather than a one-time purchase.

The procedure may be expensive, but it is always better to pay more and get all the value you can than pay less for less-than-ideal results. Additionally, many women who opt for cheaper, low-quality options end up paying nearly double to get corrective surgery. It is always easier for a surgeon to work with your natural contours than fix someone else’s work.

With the advanced superior and superomedial pedicle techniques used today, most patients never want corrective surgery because they meet their expectations on the first try. Additionally, the high-quality technology available at well-equipped centres further enables superlative results from your surgery.

Therefore, choosing the right surgeon comes with the two pillars of modern cosmetic surgery.

Technology and Technique in Breast Reduction Surgery

Experts today are trained in the latest MicroAire and VASER liposuction technology that helps ensure entirely natural-looking results. Combine this with the scar-free techniques used by specialists, and you get the surgeon you deserve.

When you choose your surgeon, you should check what technologies and techniques they are proficient in. Additionally, you also need to see how honest they are. Your surgeon needs to tell you upfront if your expectations are unrealistic rather than giving you false hope.

A smooth recovery process and excellent results depend on having a surgeon you are comfortable with. Many women feel awkward talking about their breast size, and having a gold medallist female plastic surgeon like Dr Priya Bansal helps alleviate some anxiety.

Using the state-of-the-art technology at RG Aesthetics, Dr Bansal ensures precise, safe procedures that give her patients the results they truly desire. While adhering to international standards of patient care, she provides the most modern treatment, creating natural-looking aesthetic results that boost self-confidence and ensure healthier lifestyles for her patients!

Dr Priya Bansal - Best Plastic Surgeon in Delhi

Dr Priya Bansal

Board-certified plastic surgeon

Dr Priya Bansal is a gold medalist plastic and cosmetic surgeon  with a Plastic Surgery degree from Maulana Azad Medical College and 11+ years of experience in plastic surgery. She specialises in high-def liposuction, mommy makeover, tummy tuck, Brazilian butt lift and breast procedures for body contouring and sculpting. 

To book an appointment, call: +91- 7827848749 or email: contact@drpriyabansal.com.

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