I'm a Shy Girl Nervous About a Consultation Visit for Breast Reduction, What Happens Specifically?

Rest assured, you are not alone. Many young women have anxiety about taking off their bra during the exam. First, my practice is for my administrator, who is female, to speak with the patient and get a good history of symptoms and treatment, because we know that this will be required by the insurance company. She views the breasts to get an idea of the size and make an assessment as to insurance coverage, and then explains the operation and what I will do in consultation in great detail. The exam consists of measuring the nipple to infra-mammary crease distance and nipple heights and taking photographs, which contain the breasts only (no smiles!) I also perform breast examination to rule out masses or other pathology. Then I discuss the surgical approach, risks/benefits and followup procedures. I hope this helps to alleviate your concerns. Breast reduction is a wonderful procedure with an incredibly high patient satisfaction rate and, if you believe that you could benefit from the procedure, you should certainly see a board certified plastic surgeon in consultation. You may be more comfortable with a female surgeon under these circumstances and, these days, there are many women in our field.