2 months post vertical mastopexy, has it gone wrong? (photos)

If your nipples are somewhere near 21cm from the sternal notch, they are not "too high." Your residual breast tissue is simply "too low," which could be described as "bottoming out." Your skin brassiere needed shortening in horizontal AND vertical dimensions, whereas a vertical, lollipop, or circumvertical lift accomplishes skin tightening in only one direction. Often a vertical lift is"sold" to patients on the basis of "avoiding the inframammary scar," but this is a scar that usually is hidden in the crease and heals well in the majority of women. It was necessary to achieve proper skin tailoring for your breast anatomy.

Sure, some patients can develop hypertrophic (thick, overgrown, or wide) scarring, and some surgeons still have technical difficulty with the inverted-T junction of the breast flaps and their patients develop wound breakdown or ischemic healing problems. These are largely avoidable by proper patient selection, avoiding operations on smokers, and learning the proper surgical techniques--NOT by trying an entirely different operative approach (vertical lift) on every or most patients. 

This result occurred because your surgeon chose to perform a vertical lift when he should have performed a full Wise-pattern ("anchor") mastopexy. Surgeons choose their breast reduction techniques on the basis of training, experience, or habit, and unfortunately, not every patient is a candidate for a vertical mastopexy. Of course, it is easy after the fact to make this assertion, and I'm certain your surgeon felt he was making the best choice at the time. It didn't work out, and every surgeon should discuss with their patient BEFORE surgery what the re-do or touch-up policy is when things don't turn out as (both of you) expected.

If your surgeon is defensive and thinks this is as good as it gets, you will need to find another surgeon and undergo revisionary surgery, which can give you substantially better results. A patient of mine who had a similar situation can be found by clicking on the web reference link below. Best wishes! Dr. Tholen

Thank you for the question and pictures.

I agree with your assessment.  your results can be significantly improved with revisionary surgery. This will likely involve removal of additional skin as well as breast implants repositioning.

Best wishes.

A vertical mastopexy is performed in order to avoid the long scar underneath the breast typical of a standard mastopexy or breast reduction. In your case the distance of your nipples to the inframammary crease is abnormally long giving the breast a bottomed out appearance. Since it has only been two months, there may still be some swelling in the lower portion of the breast, which may go down with time and correct the problem. Otherwise you may need a revision of the breasts to include the inframammary scar, to shorten that distance and tighten the lower portion of the breasts which now appears too saggy.