This 37 year old woman reached her plateau weight after losing 91 pounds following bariatric surgery.  She had a breast lift or mastopexy using a technique which leaves behind scars in the shape of an “anchor.”

A breast lift or mastopexy is an operation which rearranges breast tissue so that the new breast shape is typically shorter and rounder.  Unfortunately, patients who have lost a large amount of weight often do not have enough breast tissue remaining to rearrange into a naturally appearing breast.  This woman was fortunate to have enough breast tissue after a 90 pound weight loss to achieve the breast shape that is visible in her post surgery photographs.

While an implant can provide the volume that is lacking after massive weight loss, the weight of the implant can also be very taxing on compromised skin, such as that which is typical after massive weight loss.  Commercially available skin substitutes can provide the strength needed for successful use of implants in such cases. 

This 30 year old woman underwent breast augmentation using 180 cc silicone filled breast implants placed partially beneath the pectoralis muscle through an incision along the lower fold of the breast that measured 3 centimeters in length. 

Implants can also be inserted through an incision on the edge of the areola, which is the dark colored skin surrounding the nipple.  However, when an individual has very small areolas, such as this patient has, this is not possible. 

On the other hand, if the areolas are too large or irregularly shaped, they can be resized and reshaped at the same time as a breast augmentation and/or a breast lift is performed.  This will, however, result in a scar around the periphery of the new areola.  Often, these scars can heal quite well and are less objectionable in their appearance than overly large or irreguarly shaped areolas.

This 39 year old woman had a breast lift or mastopexy using a short scar technique which leaves behind scars in the shape of a “lollipop.”  This technique, which I prefer to use, avoids any scars in the cleavage or on the side of the body beneath the arm.  This makes swimsuit selection much easier if avoiding visible scars while wearing the swimsuit is a goal.

Candidates for a breast lift or mastopexy must have enough breast tissue to rearrange into a new breast shape that is typically shorter and rounder.  If there is not enough breast tissue to rearrange and only excess skin, a situation that can occur when breasts involute following pregnancy, then an implant will be necessary to achieve a natural breast shape following surgery.

These photographs depict a 41 year old woman whose goals after surgery were to have more shapely but not overly large breasts, as her frame was small. She underwent breast augmentation with 158 cc smooth, round, silicone implants.

The implants were placed beneath her pectoralis muscles through an incision in the lower fold of the breast. The post-operative photographs depict her at just under 2 months after surgery. She wears a small B cup bra after surgery.