Breast Lift: Q&A

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Is It Normal to Appear Flat After a Breast Lift?

I am 3 weeks post lift and feel like I had a reduction. I have gone from a solid C-D to a small B and no cleavage. My PS says I am swollen in the sides and will fill out through the middle. Is this normal? My PS is already saying we can add implants so this leads me to believe I have an issue. Should she provide the impants at no or reduced cost?

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13 Doctor Answers | Asked by Lainie56

Doctor Answers (13)
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Flat Appearing Breasts After Breast Lift Surgery

First of all, it is not uncommon to have a flat or square appearing breast after a wise-pattern or anchor-pattern breast lift. I will inform my patients of this possibility pre-operatively. Secondly, A breast lift alone should not reduce your size by 2 cups. You may see a very slight (maybe a half cup at the most) reduction due to skin tightening and compacting of breast tissue. I often suggest a small implant with a breast lift to give patients that "fuller/perkier" look. I would... more

If your size is smaller, then you had a breast reduction, NOT a breast lift.

Breast lift (mastopexy) surgery typically involves only skin removal and putting your existing breast volume in a higher, tighter skin brassiere. Even for very large droopy breasts where the patient wants to maintain her size and simply get her own breast volume to a more youthful and uplifted position on her chest wall, I will generally remove no more than an ounce of skin per breast (I always weigh and record the amount removed on the patient's chart). Perhaps your surgeon did this as... more

Breast Lift VS Breast Reduction - What's e difference?

Breasts can sag due to either - excess breast skin only - excess breast skin AND excess breast volume When the breasts sag owing to a larger breast skin envelope, removal of the excess skin restores balance between the volume and envelope and repositions the nipple complex back on the breast mound. Ths us a Breast Lift (Mastopexy). It is not covered by medical insurance and does not significantly decrease the size of the breast. When the surgeon has to remove both... more

Perception of Smaller Breasts After Breast Lifts

While no breast tissue is removed in a breast lift (only skin), the breasts can appear smaller to many patients. This is because the skin tightening and lift create overall smaller breast dimensions higher up on the chest. This is why many breast lifts benefit by at least a small implant, if only to create sustained upper pole fullness. An implant should not be used in a breast lift only if one can accept the potential for smaller appearing breasts.

Loss of bra size after breast lift

Many patients perceive a loss of volume with a breast lift if no implants are used, this is why I recommend to most patients that they have a small implant placed at the time of a breast lift. There may be circumstances why your plastic surgeon did not want to place an implant at the same time that she was doing a lift and you should discuss this with her. It is unusual to drop 2 cup sizes, however depending on how stretched out her breasts were before, it could certainly be possible to see... more

Is It Normal to Appear Flat After a Breast Lift?

Breast size or volume should not change after a breast lift, since only the excess skin is removed, unless the surgeon specifically performed a breast reduction and removed breast tissue. A breast lift reshapes the breast, lifting the nipple position, reducing breast overhang, and tightening the skin. It can take some time for the breast to "relax" and settle, so if there was some "overtightening" to account for later skin stretching, the breast might seem a little... more

Breast lift

Breast lift surgery ineveitably has to remove some tissue to properly mold the breast. I am not sure why you dropped two cup sizes. This should be discussed with your doctor.

Steven Wallach, MD

12 reviews

Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Breast lift should not reduce cup size

A breast lift will recruit tissue into the breast and many will feel slightly fuller after a lift. Hard to say why you went from a D to a B cup. Where did it go? Best of luck, peterejohnsonmd.com

Results from Mastopexy

Without seeing before and after photos, it is impossible to give you specific advice. In many cases, patients need both an implant and a lift to achieve the best results. Many surgeons do the lift as a first stage and then implants as a second stage surgery or visa-versa. However, it is also possible to do both procedures at the same time. Good Luck.

Changes in size and shape after Breast Lift

A breast lift is an operation designed to reposition the nipples and brest tissue on the chest in patients with varying degrees of breast sagging. ( Was a small breast reduction done with removal of some breast volume?, as a breast reduction may involve similar incisions but involves removal of stretched out skin and breast tissue as well.). Although a breast lift may provide additional upper breast fullness early on, this will probably lesson as things stretch... more

Your breast should look bigger or same but not smaller

The breast lift involves only limited skin removal and not volume reduction. You may need implant if you want to be bigger.The result of the breast lift depends on the technique and the shape of your breast before surgery.

Kamran Khoobehi, MD

28 reviews

New Orleans Plastic Surgeon

Flat after breast lift?

It is not normal in my experience to look flat after a breast lift. If anything the breasts should have more forward conical projection than before the surgery. This doesn't mean upper pole fullness or cleavage though. Cup sizes are unpredictable. Best to stick close to your doctor, maintain a good relationship and see where you are in 4-6 months.

Breast Lift Results?

Thank you for the question. It is not unusual for patients who undergo breast lift surgery to feel that they have smaller breasts once the breasts are uplifted. At your stage in recovery, I would suggest continued patience in that you are not seeing the final results of surgery. Also, continue to follow-up with your plastic surgeon. If you do end up choosing to have breast implants, it amy be that your plastic surgeon will work with you financially ( although I don't... more

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Rocky Mountains 30 Sep 2012

I've been online researching this topic for months! I hear over and over that a lift doesn't reduce actual size/volume but my experience is that I went from DD to B cup after full anchor lift AND 475 cc HP gels under the muscle. I'm now a little over 4 months' postop and my breasts are flat, squarish and have no projection. I was absolutely not prepared for my postop result and am SO disappointed. If you search online on this site there's a post by a woman who looks EXACTLY like I do, 5 Weeks Postp and Ugly As Ever, I think. Clearly, volume is gone after my lift. My PS did remove old ruptured silicone 225 cc implants over the muscle, but I expect I'd have some tissue of my own and even at worst would be back to square one (A cup) after explantation, so I'm still trying to figure out how I am a B cup with 475 cc implants. Now I'm worried that implant exchange to 800 cc OVER the muscle isn't going to result in a dramatic improvement. But yes, in my experience and others' experiences, too, the size and shape DID change after mastopexy.

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