Can I breastfeed after correcting a severe breast asymmetry?

It is recommended you wait at least 3-4 months after you are done breast feeding. Consult with a board certified plastic surgeon. 

This is a great question that has lot of answers.  The question is difficult to answer because it depends on what procedure would be chosen to treat your asymmetry.  For example, you may reduce the larger breast or add an implant to the smaller breast.  You may add implants to both breasts and do a lift.  There are just lots of options depending on your desires the state of your breasts.If you are definitely planning to have more children, you should not consider a "final" breast surgery such as a lift or a reduction.  Those procedures would likely be  altered by future pregnancy and breast feeding.  An implant on one side to just correct the size difference may be an option for you to get you through the next pregnancy.Talk to a board certified plastic surgeon with your desire to have more children stated.  Discuss the options and decide if any of them work for you. 

Hello! Thank you for your question! Breast procedures such as the breast augmentation and breast lift/reduction certainly result in a more shapely, perky, and fuller appearance of your breasts and give improved shaped, perkiness, and fullness. With the breast lift/reduction , since there is an incision made around the areola along with some rearrangement of tissue of the breast, there is a risk, albeit very small, of change in sensation to the area. However, in terms of breastfeeding, studies have shown that there is no increased risk of changing your ability to do so after breast procedures. Not every woman can breastfeed...thus if you can now, your ability to do so will likely not change after such procedures, as long as the ducts to your nipple have not all been cut.  Your plastic surgeon will educate you on the risks and benefits of breast implants themselves. Best wishes!

The reality is that it would depend on the technique your plastic surgeon is required to do after treating your asymmetry and that will depend on how much difference there is between the two breast after you have stopped lactating.  Most techniques do preserve the ability to continue breast feeding but you may experience difficulty nonetheless.  You should consult with a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon after you have finished lactating and discuss it with him or her.

Breast asymmetry is very common, in fact it is virtually universal to some degree. In some women the differences are enough to cause then to seek surgical correction so that their clothes and swimwear fits better. The most straightforward way to correct breast asymmetry is to reduce/reshape the larger side so that it matches the smaller side. This reduction on the larger side may or may not be accompanied by adding implants both sides to increase total volume if that is something that the woman wishes. I'm not a fan of using different size implants on each side to correct significant volume differences. In my opinion, the long term results with different size implants leads to different shaped breasts since the aging process with different volumes of natural breast tissue will be different. thus the long term results will be different again and will require additional surgery.Using modern breast reduction/breast lift techniques, the ability to breast feed in the future should in most cases be preserved. It is, however, important to be aware that future pregnancies will cause changes in the breasts and may affect symmetry even if a correction has been performed.For the best results seek the consultation of a plastic
surgeon certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. They have a website
listing all the certified plastic surgeons. Members of the American Society of
Aesthetic Plastic Surgery will all be board certified in plastic surgery and
have demonstrated an interest and special skill in cosmetic plastic surgery as
well.

First of all you should delay any decisions until about 3-4 months after you are done nursing.  Assuming the asymmetry persists it is likely that you will need some sort of reduction on the larger side.  Breast reductio/Breast Lift surgery involves keeping the nipple attached to a pedicle of tissue beneath.  This pedicle, if desinged correctly, should leave adequate blood and nerve supply to the nipple- it should also retain the attachemnts of your nipple to the ductal system.  Wtih all that said there is a risk that nursing ability will be different, reduced or even absent after breast reduction.  Surgical skill is important with this and, if nursing is a strong desire, then you might suggest that the surgeon leave the pedicle a bit wider then what may be desired.  That may not leave you with exactly the result you want, but things will certainly be improved...and the reduced risks to nursing may be the best set of choices for you.  I hope this helps.  Good Luck!

Patients can generally continue to breast feed after this surgery, however the ability to breast feed varies from person to person and even pregnancy to pregnancy. While there is nothing about the proposed surgery that should impair you ability to breast feed, the ability to do so cannot be guaranteed. If you are planning on having more children in the next couple of years, you may want to consider waiting until you are done as the breast may change after the next pregnancy and require additional surgery. Good Luck