Breast Reduction Advice for a 15-year-old?

It sounds like you are dealing with juvenile breast hypertrophy along with the physical and psychosocial consequences of this diagnosis. In other words, the breasts are too large for the frame causing  both physical and psychological distress.

It sounds like you have done your homework and understand the potential risk and consultations associated with breast reduction surgery. You also understand that further surgery may be necessary in the future (for example if the breasts were to grow in size again).

On the other hand, breast reduction surgery is one of the most patient pleasing operations we perform and I think that for the right teenager (enough symptoms) it may be an excellent option (regardless of the age).

I would suggest an in-person consultation with a well-trained/experienced board-certified plastic surgeon. Best wishes.

Thank you for your question!  I hope that these answers help in making your decision.  You suffer from juvenile hypertrophy of the breasts, which is typically treated by breast reduction.  It is not uncommon to have the symptoms that you describe such as neck/back/shoulder pain as well as infections/rashes and shoulder grooving, especially in teenagers once her breasts begin to fully develop.  The decision will ultimately be yours.Once one begins to have the symptoms that you state above, consideration for a surgical procedure to ameliorate your symptoms, assist with self esteem, and allow you to get back to physical activities in your youth should be done.  Given your symptoms,  you would be an ideal candidate.  You must first discuss with your parents and pediatrician, and then consulting with a plastic surgeon for evaluation and examination to assist you in deciding if this would be the right thing for you.  Your surgeon will also go over what to expect as well as the risks and benefits of the procedure.  Overall, your symptoms should be ameliorated almost immediately and hopefully give you more self confidence and an increased activity level.  Your breasts may still continue to grow over the next several years, but it is certainly reasonable to consider this at this age with the issues that you are having.  I hope that this helps!  Good luck with your decision!

When patients have significant breast enlargement with associated symptoms, quality of life can be adversely impacted.  Under these circumstances I don’t feel that breast reduction surgery should be denied because of an arbitrary age cut off.  In your case you have large breasts with severe disabling symptoms.   Your problem has reached a point where it’s causing you psychosocial difficulties.  In your case, it would be reasonable to proceed with breast reduction to alleviate your symptoms.
Before proceeding with surgery there are several issues that require consideration.  One of these is continued breast growth.  I typically prefer breast growth to be stable for at least six months before proceeding with surgery.  I do make exceptions for patients with severe symptoms that cause disruption of life.  Another issue is age of consent.  Because of this, parents should be involved in every step of the decision making process.
Breast reduction has some of the highest satisfaction rates seen in plastic surgery.  Younger patients may experience benefits that may not occur in older patients.  These include less teasing about their breast size at a time when their self image is developing, and improved athletic performance at a time when participating in sports is important.  Early breast reduction also corrects many health problems before they become chronic.
Finally, early intervention allows patients to benefit from the procedure over a lifetime.  Older patients who undergo breast reduction often comment that they wished they had done it earlier.  Many of them feel that by waiting to undergo this procedure, they may have permanently damaged their health and suffered needlessly.