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Am I Eligible for a Short Scar or Scarless Breast Reduction?

asked 1 year ago by mishmosh in NJ
Latest answer by Tom J. Pousti, MD
Question viewed 1,286 times
Tags: age 35-44, 130-149 lbs, 5 ft 4 in to 5 ft 7 in, breast feeding, back pain, candidate, headache, posture, scarless

I am currently a 36G, 5 feet 6 inches and 130 pounds and 36 years old. My breasts have always been a tremendous weight that causes back pain, headaches and overall posture problems. I have breastfed three children and I'm left with heavy tissue and sagging breasts. I am wondering if you think I would be eligible for a short scar or scarless breast reduction and not in need of the full anchor scar? I've attached my photo for your review. Thank you so much in advance.

22 answers to Am I Eligible for a Short Scar or Scarless Breast Reduction?

Not a chance

Short scar or no scar reductions are basically liposuction. You have Grade 3 ptosis and need a full standard mastopexy with an inverted T or lollypop scar. Anything else will not give you a good result.

William B. Rosenblatt, MD
New York Plastic Surgeon

Am I Eligible for a Short Scar or Scarless Breast Reduction?

I will echo the opinions expressed by my colleagues, Based on your photos, I do not believe that you are good candidate for a short scar breast reduction. Because of the ptosis exhibited in your photos, a significant reduction will require the use of an "anchor" type scar.

Mark Preston, MD
Columbus Plastic Surgeon

Vertical Breast Reduction vs Anchor Incision and Scars

All surgery prodeces scars. Plastic surgery is designed to have the scars defy detection as much as possible. We can get nice incioions and resultant scars which usually heal fine. In some patients thick scars can orrur. I do not know who told you there is a scarless breast reduction; there is no such thing. You may be able to have a vertical breats reduction? Then again you will also be told you may be best served with the anchos-Wise pattern. ... more

George Commons, MD
Palo Alto Plastic Surgeon

Breast lift

I give courses at national meetings on performing Vertical reductions. I like doing them on the right candidate. You may not be a good candidate because of the severe laxity of the tissues, but a full exam would be critical.

Steven Wallach, MD
Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Am I eligible for a short scar or "scarless" breast reduction?

Overall I am a great fan of vertical reductions and mastopexys in the lejuer fashion. You are unfortunately the very case where you require a traditional inverted T reduction. In order to place the nipple areola in the proper position, it will need to be raised 4.0cm – 5.0cm at the very least to get some where near the mid humeral line. That would leave too much skin to be excised centrally and would require an inframammary extension. You would get a better overall shape going into the... more

William F. DeLuca Jr, MD
Albany Plastic Surgeon

www.delucaplasticsurgery.com

Scars after breast reduction

Any type of surgery on the breasts will produce scars. Liposuction will result in the shortest scars but is not "scarless". Although it may be an option in some patients the amount of droopiness (ptosis) of your breasts does not make you a good candidate for this procedure. Short scar breast reduction surgery may be performed by a number of different techniques, usually involves only periareolar and vertical scars, and allows for repositioning the nipple superiorly, removing excess... more

Olivia Hutchinson, MD
New York Plastic Surgeon

Breast Reduction Scars

With the size of your breasts, you are not a candidate for any sort of short scar or scarless breast reduction. Your nipples need to be moved several centimeters superiorly and you also have a lot of excess skin and breast tissue. For these reasons I do not feel that you will be happy with anything other than an anchor-type scar.

John Whitt, MD
Louisville Plastic Surgeon

How scarless of a breast reduction

Breast reduction has two components, the reduction of volume, and the lift. To reduce volume modestly without a lift of the nipple scarless breast reduction is in essence liposuction which alone can reduce a fatty breast. In order to correct your loose skin and breast sag, at least a vertical or 'lollipop' reduction is needed to get the nipple up and onto the front of the breast. It is possible depending on the amount of skin laxity that the 'T' pattern will give you the best... more

Peter E. Johnson, MD
Chicago Plastic Surgeon

Type of Breast Reduction

Although we would all lilke to eliminate scars, when there is just too much skin that will not shrink, there is no way to do so. Your problem is that you, in spite of having large breasts, have enen more excess skin. When you reduce the breast tissue further, this difference becomes even more marked. As much as I haave tried to reduce the scar in ladies like you, I still get the best results with a standard “anchor incision.” Every one of my patients, despite the longer scar,... more

Robert T. Buchanan, MD
Highlands Plastic Surgeon

Short scar breast reduction

Liposuction (scarless) will not work in your case. Short scar or vertical scar will work with added liposuction. However, your short scar would be a longer than than usual short scar in order to lift the breast up and correct the sagging skin.

Fadi Nukta, MD
Reston Plastic Surgeon

Breast reduction

There are a variety of techniques available for breast reduction surgery. It is important for a surgeon to be comfortable performing all of the techniques to be able to select the technique that best fits a patient. That being said, the difference between a short scar and an anchor scar is the incision that is placed beneath the breast. This incision is rarely visible and permits enhanced shaping and lift at the time of the surgery, and is particularly useful in someone who... more

Beverly Friedlander, MD
Short Hills Plastic Surgeon

Scarless Breast Reduction

A scarless breast reduction is liposuction. If you imaging removing a small percentage (usually less than half) of the breast's filler, but not directly tightening the skin that covers the breast, that is normally the result. In your case there is too much skin to ignore. If something is worth doing, it is worth doing right. For a woman such as yourself, with G-cups, I would vote for a full mastopexy or no surgery. The full mastopexy will provide the most predictable results... more

Joseph Mele, MD
Walnut Creek Plastic Surgeon

Well Worth the Scars!

After performing hundreds of breast reducitons, both short scar and inverted "t", I can honestly tell you that these patients are always the most grateful. I often hear from them "I wish I did this when I was younger." The bottom line is as my colleagues have already stated, you are not a candidate for a short scar or no scar breast reduction but in the long run, scars fade and you will be much happier with your breasts. The trade off is well worth it. Consult... more

Leslie H. Stevens, MD
Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

Short-scar vs. anchor scar breast reductions

Your pictures demonstrate a very large amount of excess skin, and I think you would do better with an anchor scar breast reduction rather than a short scar or "no scar" (actually liposuction) technique. The liposuction technique would deflate your breasts and leave them hanging oy your chest with no shape. The short scar technique could leave you with excess skin in the lower breasts, permanent crimping around the areolas, or both. I recommend that you focus more... more

Bruce Genter, MD
Abington Plastic Surgeon

Lollipop scar breast reduction works.

Hi. 1) You are definitely not a candidate for scar less ( liposuction only) breast reduction. 2) Vertical breast reduction ( Hall-Findlay Technique) with a lollipop scar can be used for all breasts. But for someone, like you with a lot of sagging, the result is sometimes better if we add a scar in the fold. That would leave you with something like an anchor scar, and we make that decision during surgery. 3) Regardless of what is the final scar, the... more

George J. Beraka, MD
Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Am I Eligible for a Short Scar or Scarless Breast Reduction?

We appreciate you posting your photos. But do you really believe you are a candidate for a "short scar" reduction? Based upon the frontal photo your nipple to sternal notch distance is approaching 40 cm's. You are a candidate for a full inverted T reduction. Best to see in person a boarded PS in your area.

Darryl J. Blinski, MD
Miami Plastic Surgeon

Breast reduction

You have enough sagging that you are not a candidate for scarless/ liposuction only reduction. Nor are you a candidate for a vertical lift in my opinion. You simply have too much excess skin. Whether or not you wil need an achor scar reduction can only be determined with an exam and a careful consuktation explaining the pros and cons of shorter incision. I suspect you can eliminate some of the medial inframammary scar but it depends on what you want your final breasts to look like. Robin... more

Robin T.W. Yuan, MD
Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

You need a full scar breast reduction IMO

The reason for the scars is to take out the extra skin of which you have a very substantial amount. "Scarless breast reduction" is just a bogus procedure promoted by dermatologists who want to liposuction your breasts but this provides no lift and you would look even droopier. Also, you have too much loose skin to get a great result with a short scar technique either in my opinion. In the end, if you get a great result in size and shape, the scars will fade and... more

Richard P. Rand, MD, FACS
Seattle Plastic Surgeon

Breast Reduction Technique?

Thank you for the question. Congratulations on your decision to proceed with breast reduction surgery. It is one of the most patient pleasing operations we perform. I think you will benefit from a “inverted T” breast reduction; a lesser procedure will probably leave you disappointed. You should take comfort in knowing that most patients who have this procedure performed readily accept the scars in exchange for the significant improvements to experience... more

Tom J. Pousti, MD
San Diego Plastic Surgeon

Breast reduction technique

I believe after review of your photos that it is very unlikely that you would have a good result with a short scar tecnique. The degree of ptosis would not allow removal of the excess skin. That said, I would still recommend a vertical reduction technique with either a J or L removal of excess skin to limit the amount of scars. Donald R Nunn MD Plastic Surgery

Donald Nunn, MD, DDS
Atlanta Plastic Surgeon

Breast reduction and short inframmary scar

Given the size and ptosis or sagging of your breasts, I believe the final shape of your breasts will be better with the standard anchor scar than a short inframmary scar breast reduction. The scar should still be relatively well hidden in the fold under the breast.

Vincent D. Lepore, MD
San Jose Plastic Surgeon

Not great for a vertical reduction....

As many of my colleagues have expressed, you are not a good candidate for a vertical reduction mammplasty. Is there someone out there who could get a reasonable result? Possibly. But if I were your surgeon, and with my experience from trying vertical in everyone at one time, I know I could not provide you with a satisfactory outcome. You are likely at minimum, going to require a conversion from a true vertical lift to a hockey stick scar that extends laterally... more