Breast Lift That Also Lifts Skin on Upper Abdomen?

Hi there-

The boundary between the breasts and the abdomen is a very important one, and should not be violated lightly.

You would greatly regret attempting this.....

On the other hand, there ARE excellent ways to achieve tightness in the abdomen-

Visit a reputable surgeon certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery for a consultation.

Here are some tips on how to find one you like and can trust:

No, the breast lift will not lift the skin of  your abdomen.  The lift of the breast is in a medial and lateral vector which pushes up the breast tissue.  What you would likely need is an abdominoplasty to pull the abdominal skin down.  However without pictures or seeing you in person, it is impossible to give you specific advice.

Not infrequently I see patients in whom there is as much skin laxity in the upper abdomen as there is in the lower abdomen. In fact, some patients after pregnancy will have fairly 'toned' lower abdominal skin, but very lax and redundant upper abdominal skin. In these situations, the removal of skin in a vertically downward direction ( a conventional tummy tuck) is not adequate to correct the upper abdominal skin laxity. Such patients are often very good candidates for what I refer to as a 'reverse upper' abdominoplasty.

This surgical technique involves removing excess abdominal skin vertically upwards using incisions hidden in the inframammary folds underneath the breasts. In general, this operation is best reserved for patients with fairly full or at least slightly droopy breasts, which serve to nicely conceal the inframammary folds. An important part of this procedure is the placement of permanent lifting sutures that elevate the lower skin edge, following removal of excess skin, to the upper skin edge in the inframammary fold. These permanent sutures ensure that the resulting surgical scar remains hidden within the inframammary fold.

A great advantage of this procedure is that the patient's original belly button is preserved, and thus there are absolutely no surgical scars that are visible when wearing a two-piece swimsuit or typical underwear (bra and panties). Additionally, because this procedure generally requires less skin undermining and thus less interruption of the normal blood supply of abdominal skin, more thorough liposuction of the waist and back can be performed at the same time.

Many patients having this surgery, therefore, undergo a reverse upper abdominoplasty combined with a lower 'mini' abdominoplasty, tightening of the entire length of the rectus abdominis muscles, and liposuction of the circumferential trunk - and keep the belly button with which they were born. I usually refer to this operation as 'reverse upper / modified lower abdominoplasty'.

Unfortunately, breast lift surgery will not be effective in treating the skin above the navel. What you may be thinking about is the “reverse abdominoplasty”;  even this procedure has limited effects at the level of the umbilicus.

You may be better off with direct abdominal wall contouring operations as opposed to trying to approach the area from above.

Best wishes.

I think that you are thinking of a reverse abdominoplasty in which an incision is made under the bresat folds to lift the soft tissue fromt he upper abdomen. 

Please teach us where you heard of this "new" technique??? Otherwise good try but no reward. The abdominal skin does not lift up with a mastopexy.

From MIAMI DR. B

The surgery for the breast will not lift the upper abdominal tissue. Some doctors try to combine the breast lift and upper abdominal lift,but they are not successful and the long term result is pulling the breast fold down.

A breast lift usually does not lift the upper abdominal skin but a custom-designed operation could, However, it is difficult to predict the relationship of the breast to the scar and the upper abdomen when there are so many changes happening anatomically. Ideally you would want to do a reverse abdominoplasty that sets the inframammary fold at an appropriate level and then lifts the breast in relationship to that.

I applaud your imagination. But - a Breast Lift will NEVER lift much less flatten loose upper tummy skin.

Most breast lifts (especially the skin tightening, Anchor / inverse T / Wise pattern types) remove excessive breast skin and lift the breasts. Such lifts are uniformly short lived because that thin skin always gives and gravity ALWAYS ends up pulling the breasts back down. (This is NOT the case with Short Scar Breast Lifting and Breast Reduction methods).

Because of the dense adherence of the lower chest skin, under the breast, to the chest wall, a down pull on the upper tummy skin will hardly budge the nipple. Also, an upward pull on the upper breast / nipple will not budge the belly button.

The ONLY way the tummy can be flattened is from below with a formal Tummy Tuck (muscle tightening, removal of all loose skin from below and belly button relocation. A REVERSE Tummy tuck is rarely done and involves a highly visible scar across the chest, under the breasts through which the same operation is done. The problem is that gravity widens and thickens the scar and the loser the scar comes to the breasts, the more it is apt to pull them down.

Good question.

Dr. P. Aldea

To lift the abdomen and tighten the upper abdomen you need a tummy tuck, regular not reverse style.  The reverse tummy tucks can make a bad, unfixable scar all the way across your chest below the breasts.  Breast lifts don't affect the abdomen at all.