Breast tissue starts developing at puberty. The breast is a hormonally active organ so breasts can always respond to changes in your estrogen levels, whether that’s due to pregnancy, child birth, breast feeding or even hormonal medication later in your life. Typically, in your 50s and 60s breast tissue involutes and becomes more fatty in texture. Breasts really develop over your lifetime. As it relates to breast growth for a breast reduction candidate, growth is typically complete once your growth plates have closed. In a young patient, often times we obtain a wrist x-ray to make sure the growth plates have closed and the patient is ready for the reduction. Breasts can also grow with weight gain and can decrease with weight loss at any age.
Typically for most women breast development is occurs during puberty and stops by age 18, however some women do experience changes after this. Most often this is in response to changes in body weight and composition which can also change during the late teens and early 20s. However the breasts do undergo significant changes during pregnancy and following pregnancy as well as menopause which can alter their size and shape.
Breasts usually stop developing by 18-21 years of age, which is why most plastic surgeons will generally recommend waiting until after that age for any cosmetic breast surgery, but you can do certain breast surgeries in younger patients. Even though the breasts are fully developed, they continue to change with age, and especially with pregnancy and breast feeding. It's important to talk to your surgeon about all these things when considering breast surgery!
