Breast Lift Options? Don't Want an Anchor Scar or Implants. (photo)

Thanks for your question -

A lollipop lift - or a vertical mastopexy - can be very powerful in terms of correcting breast ptosis.  A Wise pattern lift (anchor scar) has the ability to typically provide better correction but you may be able to get the look your seeking with a vertical alone.

What can be a valuable step is to bring photos of what you'd like your post-op results to look like.  Review them with your surgeon to best determine the appropriate surgery.

Also keep in mind that the transverse part of the scar is usually well hidden within the breast fold.

 

I hope this helps!

In my experience of more than a 25 years trying various techniques #TheLollipopLiftIsBest. You can use fat transfer instead of an implant though more than one fat transfer session may be required for your desired size.For years, Plastic Surgeons and their patients have desired to transfer unwanted fat from their tummy or thighs to their breasts. We are now are able to do this safely.If you have been considering a Breast Lift or improving your appearance after breast augmentation or Breast Reconstruction but are not comfortable with introducing artificial material into your body, you may want to look into the benefits of breast augmentation with fat transfer. An alternative to breast implants is fat transfer also known as fat grafting or lipoinjection. This technique allows women the option of enhancing the appearance of their breasts without the potential problems of saline or silicone implants such as hardness, rippling or rupture.Who is a candidate?Any woman who is healthyWomen with sufficient body fat for the procedureWomen considering breast augmentation who wish to be one cup size larger or lessWomen who have had breast augmentation or reconstruction but who lack fullness or have contour concerns. Fat transfer can further enhance and reshape your breasts while smoothing out visible or palpable edges of breast implants. This will disguise implant rippling and wrinkling.Women with normal mammography

Hi,

Fortunately, there is a better option than the traditional anchor scar to rejuvinate sagging breasts. The Ultimate Breast Lift is a new technique developed using engineering principles that requires an extensive background in mathematics to successfully perform. It uses an improved variation to the 'internal sling' lift. It accomplishes a long term lift by transfering the weight of your breasts to your pectoralis major muscles instead of relying on just the skin envelope. Women are very pleased with their natural results and are greatful about not having the dreaded and very visible vertical scar. Please take your time in researching all your options. This platform is a great start!

Best wishes,

Dr. H

Although it is difficult or impossible to determine from a single frontal view, you appear to have tuberous features.  If so, a good peri-areolar lift with implants to fill the skin envelope and parenchymal (breast gland) remodeling will improve the shape of your breasts (less "sagging") and leave a scar concealed in the border of your areolae without a vertical lower breast component or a scar in the crease beneath your breast.  You admit there is not excess skin under the fold, only on top.  If so, skin removal should be on top to lift the breast, not on the bottom, leaving the area below the areolae unscarred.  See case 11 in the augmentation-lift portion of feelbeautiful.com gallery for an example.

Hello,

Even the guy who 'wrote the book' on vertical type mastopexy, Dennis Hammond, MD and his famous SPAIR technique, would end up giving you a J or L shaped vertical scar, essentially half an anchor.  The problem is the degree of vertical excess of skin that you have requires an excision that either forms an inframammary scar in the case of an anchor incision, or is taken up in a giant circle of skin around the areola in the case of a vertical incision.  I have seen too many people walk into my office with devastating deformaties from surgeons who've tried to do a vertical mastopexy on the wrong candidate.

I agree with Dr. Rand.  99.9% of my patients find the appearance of their breasts much more pleasing with the incisions after surgery, compared to how their breasts looked before surgery. If you cannot come to terms with scaring, you are much better off doing nothing at all. You should be skeptical of the 'internal sling' lift.  If it sounds too good to be true....

Best of luck!

From your photo, but without the benefit of a direct examination, I believe your best result would come from an anchor incision to best reposition the nipple/areolar to the proper place on the breast mound and to shape the breast into a conical shape.  There is no substitute for an excellent final result and a well closed incision should be be well hidden over time.  Good luck.

Thank you for the photos. You have somewhat constricted breasts with a wide cleavage and very large areolae. You would get an excellent result from a short scar, vertical breast lift. This will give you a rounder, more projecting breast with an improved cleavage and reduced areolar size. The vertical scar fades very nicely, especially in light skinned individuals. With this lift, no breast tissue needs to be removed, you will be the same cup size with younger and better looking breasts. Get another opinion with a surgeon who is well versed in breast surgery and knows how to individualize the treatment and not just offer one operation for all comers. Good luck.

I would recommend you get a 2nd opinion from another plastic surgeon. By the looks of your photo it seems as though the surgeon you consulted might be correct. See another surgeon to see what they recommend versus just getting one opinion. Best of luck to you.

You would be a good candidate for a vertical mastopexy with a breast implant for volume.  There are several different types of breast lifts including a peri-areolar crescent lift, a doughnut or Benelli lift, a Vertical Mastopexy and a Key hole or anchor type mastopexy.  All have specific parameters.  Based on your appearance and the degree of breast tissue below the inframammary crease you would get the best result with a vertical mastopexy with a breast augmentation.  If you were only interested in a breast lift then a vertical mastopexy with a dermal pedicle autoaugmentation may be a reasonable alternative.

As noted, we all have our biases for incisions for these types of surgery. We uses multiple types (t-scar, true vertical, J-shaped vertical, periareolar only,  and horizontal only) of incision based on your breast shape, volume, and skin quality

I think the best answer for your cases is that you "might" be able to shorten on minimize a horizontal component, but it could be hard. You have a very dilated areola diameter that is going to produce a lot of vertical tension with a straight up-down closure (ie. a lollipop incision). That may be manageable, but you may have to do some kind of  extended "J" shape horizontally to deal with the skin pucker and you're going to have to be very careful with the nipple inset as it would be easy to place it too high with a vertical reduction/mastopexy pattern.

While you can be done with an extended vertical pattern (j-shape), I think your areolar size might make it a little less predictable then a T-scar. While I don't do many of them anymore, you're actually also a real good candidate for a horizontal (no vertical scar) mastopexy if you want the shape to look most like an implant kind of result.