Mastopexy Gone Wrong?

I'm 2 mos. post-op from a vertical mastopexy. I feel that my breasts look very bizarre. My nipples point in an upward direction and are placed too high on the breast. Also, my right breast is assymetrically shaped in comparison to the left one. I voiced my concerns to the Dr. at my 3 wk post-op visit. He brushed them aside and said that the nipples had been correctly placed and that the right breast was just larger. Did something go wrong with the mastopexy and if so, can things be fixed?

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9 Doctor Answers | Asked by MandaB82 in Illinois

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Unhappy with mastopexy

I can certainly see why you would be unhappy. It may be that the nipples are correctly positioned by some standards, but they are way high on the current breast mound. Correction is possible by converting this to a full anchor pattern lift, and removing a lot of extra breast skin from the lower part of the breasts, and in doing so, lifting the remaining breast tissue. If your surgeon feels this is a good outcome, try elsewhere. All the best.

Breast Lifting Revision?

Thank you for the question and pictures. I agree with your assessment. your results can be significantly improved with revisionary surgery. This will likely involve removal of additional skin as well as breast implants repositioning. Best wishes.

Breast lift asymmetry

Hello, The good news is that your results can be improved/corrected with a relatively straighforward revision. When patients have significant pre operative asymmetry as well as a significant need for a lift I usually discuss the possibility that a revision may be needed to achieve perfect symmetry. All the best, Dr Remus Repta

Mastopexy gone wrong

You look like you need a breast lift. You had very significant sagging, and the vertical lift you had did not do enough to correct your overhang and the long distance from your nipple to the fold under your breast. I can't tell without measuring you whether your nipples are indeed too high (which can be difficult to correct) or whether the excessively long lower pole beneath them just make them look that way. The good news is that you can have a significant improvement quite easily by... more

Vertical mastopexy

A vertical mastopexy is performed in order to avoid the long scar underneath the breast typical of a standard mastopexy or breast reduction. In your case the distance of your nipples to the inframammary crease is abnormally long giving the breast a bottomed out appearance. Since it has only been two months, there may still be some swelling in the lower portion of the breast, which may go down with time and correct the problem. Otherwise you may need a revision of the breasts to include... more

Your vertical mastopexy can be "fixed"

I believe your situation can be improved by converting to a full anchor- shaped or Wise pattern mastopexy.This way the breast mound can be supported from below so that the nipple sits in a centered position. Also some breast tissue can be removed from the larger breast for symmetry. I hope you surgeon will help you with this.

Nipple too high after breast lift

It is possible to place the nipple too high with a vertical breast lift or reduction. The breast will appear full and bottomed out, what was called a 'virginal tilt' to the nipple which pointed upward after reduction many years ago before we knew better. Your result can be improved by reducing the skin envelop under the breast, converting the skin pattern to a 'T' which will help pull the nipple down, front and center on the breast. So good news, there is a solution and... more

When is a "vertical mastopexy" not enough?

In my opinion, the choice of a vertical mastopexy in your case was not what I would have advised because you had too much extra skin and laxity to go with less than a full T incision pattern. You can still salvage this by going back and doing a crease incision and taking out more lower pole skin and tissue and this will also pull the nipples down a bit. There are surgeons who believe you can do all reductions and lifts with just a vertical scar but I think your case... more

Nipple placement during breast lift and reduction surgery

Your nipples do appear to be high relative to the upper border of your breast. This can be a challenging problem to fix. You appear to have a long areolar to infra-mammary fold distance as well. These problems can be addressed by removing a transverse 'wedge' of breast tissue along the fold beneath your breasts, thus shortening the areolar to fold distance. This will also get rid of some of the sagging tissue you have along the lower pole of each breast. This solution is not perfect,... more