Am I a candidate for a donut / benelli lift? How much of a lift can be achieved with this technique? (photos)

You do need a breast lift along with augmentation. The donut lift should really be called the 'Do Not' lift - it provides little lift, usually results in enlarged areolas and often produces ugly scars. The donut lift should be done as rarely as possible. I nearly always do a vertical, or lollipop breast lift. The anchor lift should only be done in very droopy breasts; in my very busy breast practice I do only a couple of anchor lifts a year. I recommend smooth, round, cohesive silicone gel implants under the muscle. It is important to keep in mind that the larger the implant, the faster your lift will come down. You need to be sensible in choosing your implant size. The combined lift and augmentation is a challenging operation. I advise you to see a very experienced plastic surgeon with expertise in aesthetic breast procedures. All the best.

The technique I recommend is The Bellesoma Method. This will reshape your breast tissue creating upper pole fullness without implants, elevate them higher on the chest wall and more medial to increase your cleavage. Vertical scars are avoided, nipple sensation (in 95%) and the ability to breast feed are maintained. Later, fat transfers can be performed if additional volume is desired.

Best Wishes,

Gary Horndeski, M.D.

In your case vertical brow lift with a lollipop scar is better solution. You will not get desired shape and projection with donut lift. Good luck.

A donut lift can only achieve a subtle improvement. Your nipples are located below your breast fold therefore the improvement would not be sufficient. You would most likely be more suitable for a full breast lift (vertical lift).

The amount of lift achieved is directly proportional to the amount of scarring. That is, the procedures that have less scarring provide less lift and vice versa. For the degree of sagging shown in your photos, a more standard breast lift would be recommended.

Thank you for your pictures and questions. In general a periareolar scar should not be relied upon as doing much "lifting" but more should be used for reduction of the areola. If you push the envelope and try to achieve a lot of lifting with this technique, you end up with severe stretching and widening of the scar as well as flattening of the anterior projection of the breast. In your case, I think you might be best served with an implant to provide volume and then discussing how best to shape the nipple/areola. Discuss with a plastic surgeon in your area.
Good luck!
Dallas Buchanan, MD
VIVIFY plastic surgery
Tampa, FL

Great Question. I get asked this often in my practice.
When breasts "droop" the lower pole skin stretches and the breast widens. This creates a flattened look to the breast. The objective of a breast lift is to both raise the areola and improve the overall breast shape. In order to do this the lower pole skin must be tightened and this can only be done through a vertical scar.
While both donut and vertical breast lifts could be performed on you with an improvement in overall aesthetic, I would personally recommend a vertical lift because, in my opinion, you should never compromise the final shape by the fear of extra scars.

Hello @Caring294737, thank you for your question. Everything depends on your expectations. The shape of your breast makes it ideal for performing a breast pexy (lift) and reconfiguring the tissue, lifting and reshaping it with the BRALAN Technique (Breast Reconstruction Anatomical Lift Augmentation). As a result, it would produce a very favorable esthetic outcome since the upper and middle parts of the breast would be filled with a little volume with your own tissue. The scar is minimal in L shape. Best wishes! Alan Gonzalez MD, FACS. American Society of Plastic Surgery Member (ASPS), International Federation for Adipose Therapeutics and Science” Member (IFATS), Colombian Society of Plastic Surgery member (SCCP)

They'll be plenty of docs dying to perform a donut/Benellli/Circumareolar mastopexy on you. They'll tell you how you're a great candidate and that their technique is fabulous. You'll find someone in a second. Don't do it. You are making an error in judgement. Listing your age indicates that you believe a vertical scar is unattractive or unsexy, that it will make your breasts a pariah, and you will remain single for the rest of your life. In reality, aside from the fact that the vertical scar is the most likely scar (compared to the circumareolar or inframammary scars) to become virtually invisible in a short time, what you need to know is that breast shape is king (or queen). That's right, it's the shape of your breast that will drive you back for a revision surgery, and not the typical or average scar. Finally, you need to know that a donut lift taken beyond its appropriate capacity (which is very small), leaves the patient with a host of problems: recurrent large and irregular areolar diameter, thickened scars around the areola, pleating of breast skin around the areola, flattening of the breast mound, residual sagging of the bottom of the breast, and insufficient nipple areolar lift.

In my opinion, donut breast lifts should be reserved for fine tuning other procedures or when the primary goal is areola reduction. The power of the donut lift is limited to minor breast ptosis (drooping of the nipple relative to the breast mound). Another consideration is the diameter of the areola. Frequently (but not always), if the reason the areola is large relative to the overall size of the breast, it suggests the areola itself has delicate, stretchy structure. That means it may stretch significantly after a donut lift. Additional incisions (vertical and breast crease) can increase the durability of a breast lift if the areola is delicate because these techniques recruit skin with relatively high strength and integrity to add support beyond that which a single incision around the areola can provide.
Finally, donut mastopexies tend to flatten the contour of the breast in the lateral view, offsetting the perkiness you are trying to achieve in the first place.
An in person exam is necessary to assess skin and areola characteristics to see which type of lift is best suited to achieve your goals.