Christine Hamori Cosmetic Surgery and Skin Spa - Duxbury

A: Thank you for your question.
A tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) is a procedure designed to remove excess loose skin (and lower abdominal wall fat if present) of the abdomen. If the abdominal wall muscles are weakened or separated in the midline (rectus diastasis), muscle repair (plication) may also be recommended. This is determined at the time of the consultation with your surgeon. The goal of the abdominoplasty procedure is to create a flatter and firmer abdominal contour. It is important to know that with an abdominoplasty procedure, there will be a scar in the lower abdomen, and most often a scar around the belly button.

A: Thank you for your question. It is very normal and very common to have changes in breast shape and size after having children, breastfeeding and/ or with weight loss.
A breast lift (also called a mastopexy) is designed to remove excess loose skin of the breast and raise the breast tissue and nipple position higher on the chest wall. During the procedure some of the breast tissue can either be removed (if a smaller breast size is desired), or can be advanced from the lower aspect of the breast to the upper aspect of the breast to give more fullness in this area (also called an auto augmentation). During the consultation with your surgeon, it would be important for you to express your specific goals which would then determine the optimal approach.

A: Thank you for your question. It is common to have asymmetry following breast augmentation surgery. The chest wall and breast volume/shape are not perfectly symmetric, and patients may notice these asymmetries more following augmentation surgery. There could be several other contributing factors to breast asymmetry following breast augmentation. A soft tissue capsule normally forms around breast implants and in some cases this capsule can result in differences in shape of the implants over time. Sometimes the breast implant can displace laterally as there is less resistance of the soft tissues in this location and in certain instances this can be improved with surgery to adjust the breast implant pocket with sutures. It would be best to discuss with your surgeon as he/she can determine what the reason is and if it is possible to improve the symmetry.

A: Hello:

I see that you are concerned about scaring with a breast lift augmentation. Your photos reveal a good loss of upper pole volume and widening of the breasts that are lying low on the chest wall. Your idea of doing a Benelli lift with a scar only around the nipple followed by a breast augmentation will result in flattening of your areola, poor final shape and wide undesirable scars. It is not possible to contour the shape of the breast well with a peri areolar incision. 

My recommendation would be to do a vertical "lollipop" mastopexy augmentation to reduce the width of your breasts and support the implant and your breast tissue into a higher position on your chest. The tension will be spread along the longer scar and you will avoid the flattening effect of the peri areolar lift.  You have a good amount of breast tissue so you would have the choice of a saline or gel implant to give the best result. I think your overall shape will be better in the long run with this approach.

A: Hello. It looks like you are healing on target at this point. The redness and firmness is probably the normal healing response at 5-6 weeks post op. There is a small area on the left breast (second underneath photo) where the incisions come together that appears to be a bit delayed in the healing process. You may want to contact your PS to discuss treatment options for that area. The application of Aquaphor usually helps these areas to heal a bit faster.  Laser treatments of the scars may help decrease the redness.