Not every woman is born with the size and shape breasts that she desires or that suits her anatomy. Furthermore, life can take its toll on your breast skin and tissues in the form of weight gains/loss, age, hormones and pregnancy. The end result may be a long-simmering dissatisfaction with your body that may adversely affect how comfortable you feel in your skin. Breast revision surgery includes any number of procedure options such as a breast augmentation, reduction, breast lift or fat grafting to the breast that can improve and/or restore the shape of your breasts so that they are in proper proportion to the rest of your torso. One of the many reasons that I love being a breast surgery expert is that these procedures allow me to rejuvenate both your body and soul. Here is brief overview of the breast revision options available at my Boston and Chestnut Hill offices as well as answers to some of your more frequently asked questions.
What is Breast Revision Surgery in Boston?
Breast revision surgery is an overarching term for any procedure that changes the size and shape of your breasts. This may include:
- Breast Augmentation with Breast Implants
- Fat Grafting to the Breast
- Breast Lift
- Breast Lift with Implants
- Breast Reduction
- Tuberous Breast procedure
- Revisional Breast Surgery
The most well known of these procedures is a breast augmentation. Placing a properly selected breast implant can, in the hands of an experienced surgeon such as myself, be an easy way to improve your body contour. But breast volume is only one component to breast shape. This is something that some patients may not necessarily understand.
Breast Surgery is about Creating Ideal Shape
The goal of any effective breast procedure is to create your ideal shape. This involves a number of components including:
- Volume
- Nipple position
- Skin tone & texture
- Degree of ptosis or sagging
While much of the focus on breast volume in the media is on how to get more with a breast augmentation, some women are born with breasts that are too large. A breast reduction can be an absolute game-changer for these patients, and is one of the procedures with the highest patient satisfaction rating for exactly this reason. Then there are women, particularly mothers of multiple children, whose breasts sag to the point where their nipples are no longer centered on the chest wall. A breast lift, either on its own or combined with a breast implant for those that need more “oomph”, can produce the kind of profoundly positive result that may not only improve the appearance of the entire body but also allow these Moms to feel like themselves again.
Explicit content – Discretion advised.
Explicit content – Discretion advised.
Benefits of Fat Grafting to the Breast
Another very important tool in my arsenal for improving shape is fat grafting to the breast. I typically use this procedure as an addendum to another breast surgery procedure. For example, thin and/or fit women have historically had issues with breast implant visibility and palpability. Fat grafting allows me to camouflage the edges of an implant so that the breasts look and feel more natural. I will also often use fat grafting to create more volume in the upper third of the breast which is a very desirable look for many patients. I may even use it in a breast reduction, as counterintuitive as that sounds, in order to add volume in exactly the right spot.
Last, in patients who are dead set against a breast implant and who only need a slight increase in volume, fat grafting to the breast can be a stand-alone procedure. However, it is important to remember that not all of the fat will “take” in a single procedure so using fat alone for augmentation may take more than one treatment. Also, patients need to have some fat available for harvesting somewhere on their body, preferably from their abdomen or flanks. All of these options will be discussed with you in detail during your initial consultation which is why it is a critical component to achieving an excellent result.
In-Person Breast Surgery Consultation is Critical
I like that we are living in a time when an exorbitant amount of information and education is at our fingertips. However, the internet is not a replacement for an in-person consultation. Any aesthetic procedure is only effective if it’s right for you. And by this, I don’t just mean that you want it. The procedure must be one that can actually deliver your desired outcome with your individual anatomy. During our meeting, I will listen closely to what is making you unhappy with your appearance. We will go over your medical history, family history, any prior procedures you have had as well as how your body recovered. Every person is unique and this includes how your body heals so establishing your baseline of healing is an important part of creating the right treatment plan.
Next, I will perform a thorough physical exam to assess:
- Degree and location of breast volume
- Skin tone & texture
- Nipple position in relation to inframammary fold
- Amount of sagging, if any
Revising Previous Breast Surgery Procedures
Many patients who come in to see me in one of my Boston area offices to discuss revision breast surgery have already had a prior breast procedure. You may have gotten breast implants in your 20’s. Now, you are in your 40’s and what suited your body then may not be what you want now. Generally, revision breast augmentation patients are either swapping out an old implant for the same size or going smaller. If you fall into the latter category, you may need a breast lift with an implant as the skin and tissues of your breast have probably stretched with time, and you will want to lift your nipple back to its proper position in order to look and feel more vital. This is also true for those patients who want to remove their breast implants altogether. Again, we will go over all of these options in your initial consultation. I am a firm believer in being very honest about what a procedure can and can not achieve as well as what you can realistically expect in terms of cost and recovery time.
Breast Revision Frequently Asked Questions
The number one question that I hear from any breast surgery patients is:
To find out more about breast revision surgery, or any other surgical or non-surgical procedure with Dr. Sean Doherty at his Boston or Chestnut Hill office, contact us today or call (617) 450-0070 to schedule a consultation.