Typically, How Long Does a Breast Lift Take? I Am Considering the Ultimate Breast Lift Which Takes 4 Hours Under Anesthesia.

Hi Young2fly,

    I would absolutely not recommend the "ultimate breast lift."  As you can tell from most of the plastic surgeon's responses, this is not a new operation and it is more of a marketing term.  I find using the term not only unprofessional and even unethical, but the surgery itself sub-ultimate.

    The "ultimate breast lift" describes an operation where the breast tissue is  contoured internally, and incisions are limited to around the areola as well as a long horizontal.  No vertical incision is used.  Internal contouring is done with many types of lifts, not unique to the "ultimate" lift.  It is the lack of a vertical incision that apparently has motivated the author to use the term "ultimate."

    Lets analyze this.  Traditionally. three incisions are used to perform a standard breast lift.  The periareola, the vertical, and the horizontal.   In an attempt to decrease both the number of incisions along with improving the quality of the incisions different breast lift procedures have been developed.  It is an accepted fact by the consensus of plastic surgeons that the incision that is most problematic is the horizontal incision.  In fact, it is also recognized that the vertical incision usually heals the best. That incision, often, is inconspicuous and extremely difficult to see once the healing process is complete.  Even if the horizontal incision turns out to heal well the ends of it will always be exposed in a low cut dress and a revealing bathing suit top. Also, the vertical incision helps give projection to the breast.  Breast lifts without the vertical incision tend to be a bit flat in the region of the nipple areola despite the internal shaping. This can be seen  on the side views in  the before and after photos for the "ultimate" breast lift.

    To use the term "Ultimate,."  implies that there is no better lift.  That is not only arrogant, but false.  

Good luck,

Ary Krau MD FACS

 

It is normal for the breast to lose its firmness and perkiness over time, which is accentuated with age, pregnancy/breast feeding, weight gain/loss, and gravity.  This ultimately results in ptosis, or sagging, of the breast with a “deflated” appearance.  Women often seek the mastopexy, or breast lift, procedure to regain the previous youthful appearance of her breasts and desire that uplifted and perky appearance of her breasts.  Women report increased confidence, self-esteem, and femininity once she achieves this desired shape and fullness.  Breast lifts may or may not be performed with implants – the implant would add increased size but also greater fullness in the upper pole of the breasts which creates more cleavage.So, the changes of your breasts are normal and will continue to occur.  The decision for a breast lift will be up to you...depending on how much you are bothered about the shape as well as your concerns.  Consult with a board certified plastic surgeon well-versed in breast surgery and s/he will assist you in deciding if a mastopexy will be the right decision for you.  The procedure typically takes 2-3 hours with minimal downtime.  Thank you for your question!  Hope that this helps.  Best wishes for a great result!

Just to clarify.

The Ultimate Breast Lift is not a Rubin mastopexy and it is certainly not like any other technique currently being performed. The Ultimate Breast Lift will give you excellent shape, minimal scarring and provides long term stability not achievable by other techniques. The UBL is a proprietary technique and therefore  exclusively available by Gary Horndeski M.D.

Two of the many advantages of this technique are eliminating the vertical scar and transferring the weight of the breast to the underlying muscles. This eliminates the mechanical load on the skin incisions which leads to minimal scarring and prevents the 'bottoming out' effect. Vertical scar techniques are architecturally inferior.  Vertical scars widen and hypertrophy because the weight of the breast stretches and weakens the incision.

The UBL requires individual mathematical calculations to achieve optimal outcomes for each breast. A blue print is used during surgery to assemble the breast to meet desired specifications. This operation is technically more demanding than the frequently performed 'cookie cutter' techniques currently used.

Hope this helps.

Dr. H

The ultimate breast lift is the one that gives you the best shape with the least scarring.

The least amount of scarring is with the Crescent lift for a small lift or with a Beneli scar for a more significant lift.

I do the Benelli scar nowadays for most cases, I find out it is enough for all but the patients who have had massive weight loss.

       If you are looking for high, tight, round, full breasts, this is really technique and surgeon dependent as well are the complications.  The full breast lift takes about 2 hrs to perform.   Find a plastic surgeon with ELITE credentials who performs hundreds of breast lifts each year.  Then look at the plastic surgeon's website before and after photo galleries to get a sense of who can deliver the results.  Kenneth Hughes, MD Los Angeles, CA

Depending on the size of your breasts and the degree of lifting necessary, 2 1/2 to 3 hours would be needed for a "full" or Wise-pattern (anchor) lift. Other designs are utilized because fewer scars are required, but the degree of shaping and lifting is correspondingly limited. This is one of those areas of biophysics that cannot be violated:

The more of a lift needed, the more incisions will be needed to properly shape and achieve the desired result. More incisions = more suturing = more time and cost = more final scars.

But, properly-trained ABPS-certified experienced plastic surgeons who do lots of breast surgery will tend to choose what works the best with the least possible scarring for each individual patient.

The so-called "ultimate lift" is a (nothing new) no-vertical scar breast lift. This will not "work" for all anatomic breast types, and 4 hours is within normal times for this operation, again depending on your breast size, droop, and degree of tissues removal needed. But still seems on the "long" side of "average."

However, factor in the additional cost and incisions necessary to revise an undesirable outcome, and "avoiding" that short (usually nearly invisible) vertical scar may end up being a fool's bargain! Make sure your surgeon is ABPS-certified, and can show you lots of before and after photos of patients with your exact operation. Otherwise, consider other consultations. Best wishes! Dr. Tholen

Hello there

Cute ,catchy names always make me a little suspicious . A breast lift takes about 2 to 2 and a half hours , without rushing it . Some surgeons are faster than others .

So yes I would have thought 4 hours was a rather long time .

Cheers

Terrence Scamp

There are several variables that can effect procedure times for a breast lift. Initial size of breast and your choice of whether or not to augment your lift can significantly impact expected surgery times. Three hours is a conservative estimate, but it could be considerably less depending on you particular case. 

Not sure what the ultimate breast lift is so be careful you are not falling prey to fancy advertising or even false advertising. A small lift may only take 1-2 hours and with implants 2-3 hours so 4 hours seems a bit strange to me. Good Luck!

I've not heard of it... and suspect its simply marketing for what I believe would be a Rubin mastopexy.  If that is the case, it can take 4 hours.  As you have seen, there is a wide range of surgical times but most surgeons take 2.5-3 hours, unless they are in a rush or need to make a tee time.  In my experience, speed leads to complications as the fastest surgeon I knew also had the most complications.