L Shaped Mastopexy?

It depends upon particular patient and presentation.

Generally, an L is determined during the surgery depending on how much tissue and skin needs to be removed from either lateral (outer) or medial (inner).

Typically, this is usually a small lift that needs a little more than a lollipop but not a full or short T.

An exam and consultation with a plastic surgeon is recommended to best discuss your options and expectations.

The orientation of the transverse incision in a mastopexy is dependent upon the shape of the pre-operative breast. For patients with medial and lateral excess at the base of the breast will benefit from a "T." An "L" is reserved for primarily lateral excess as it best addresses the need for skin excision in this area.

As always, discuss your concerns with a board certified plastic surgeon (ABPS).

For the majority of persons, the best results from a breast lift and/or mastopexy come from a inverted T scar pattern, not an L, J, or lollypop. US surgeons at the top of their game know this, and they also know how to make scars fine, essentially irrelevant.

There are 2 basic types of mastopexies being performed. One is the vertical scar technique using the lollipop and the other is the anchor. The anchor scar excises both vertically and horizontally. L shaped is a modification of the anchor where it excises vertically and laterally only using one limb instead of full inverted T shape. I do not like the vertical scar techniques and for that reason an alternative was developed called The Bellesoma Method. This technique reshapes the breast creating upper pole fullness without implants, elevates 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.

Best Wishes,

Gary Horndeski, M.D.

Thank you for your question. L-shaped mastopexy or breast lift is a very common technique that I use in my practice. This is common in smaller to medium size breasts when a vertical incision is too long to give the best shape to the breast, the excess skin is removed lateral to the midline in the inframammary fold. This way, there's no scar towards the medial breasts and cleavage area like in an anchor or Wise pattern lift/reduction. See a board certified plastic surgeon experienced in all aspects of breast surgery. Good luck.

Depending upon a patient’s breast anatomy, there are a number of options to performing a breast lift. These include very minor procedures, such as a crescent breast lift, and evolve up through a lollipop lift, a L Mastopexy and then a Wise pattern mastopexy. Minimizing the length of the incision lines is always a priority, and the L Mastopexy claims to do that by not having a medial incision line in the fold under the breast. There can be regional preferences in how to perform breast lifts as you have found. When attempting to give the very best result, I have never found my patients to be concerned about a small medial incision line in the fold underneath their breast if it delivers their best result. Best wishes.