10 Months Post Doughnut Lift: Symmetrical with Large Areola

A donut or periareolar lift essentially takes a large circle's circumference and sutures this skin length to a smaller circle's circumference. The more the discrepancy between these two dimensions, the more "gathering" or scalloping of the scar. Skin elasticity will only allow any surgeon to do so much. Smaller areolae may indeed be possible with a more aggressive donut lift, but the irregularity and scalloping will correspondingly increase.

This is why you may require a modified (lollipop) vertical lift, or even a full Wise (anchor) lift to achieve satisfactory breast shaping with the areola diameter you desire.

It sounds as if you may also be a candidate for breast implants; even modest enlargement will yield substantial improvement in your appearance. Best wishes!

Hi,

I doubt very much that your areolas stretched over time. Judging from your picture, your breasts are not heavy enough to do that. However, the reason he probably chose that size for your areolas is so that you wouldn't have 'pleating'.  Pleating is not pretty. It happens when we are too aggressive, and we take too much skin at one time. Your surgeon probably compensated by making your areolas larger to accommodate a one time lift.  Personally, I prefer staging donut lifts that require significant excess skin removal. What I mean is that in your case, I would have done it twice or as many times necessary to achieve the lift desired. So, you can have him do it again, just with the understanding of a smaller sized areola. Hope this helps.

Symmetry is the curse of plastic surgery and even though the same operation is done on both sides they frequently heal like they are on two different people. You appear to have some nice improvement as you progress and it is possible that this will continue. You are at the 10  month period and it may be time for a reassessment and possible revision to center the nipple over the implant  and revise the mastopexy.  Possibly converting to a vertical type. 

Thank you for the question and picture.

Unfortunately, what you have experienced is not uncommon. The areola can spread after this procedure depending on factors such as skin elasticity and the amount of “excess” areola skin removed. You will find that additional areola reduction can be done in a straightforward fashion ( usually under local anesthesia).  I would suggest that you communicate with your plastic surgeon in a calm fashion and discuss your concerns.

Best wishes.

The most common complicationn following a donut mastopexy is stretching of the scar

This can usually  be corrected using the Sub-areolar technique ,which uses multiple sutures under the areola.This technique reduces the risk of areolar stretching in both inital procedures and revisions