What are small breast reduction options?

Thank you for the question.

It is possible to reduce the breasts size very significantly.   Sometimes  when patients want “almost nothing left”  the reduction should be done in 2 stages.  The concern with the amount of tissue removed is related to blood flow to the remaining tissue;  if too much tissue is removed in one operation the blood flow to the remaining tissue (including nipple/areola)  may be compromised.   Part of the tissue that is left in place is called the “pedicle"; this segment of tissue is responsible for delivering the blood supply to the nipple/areola tissue. If the pedicle is made too small (in the effort to reduce the breasts as much as possible)  then patient will likely have problems with tissue survival.  Doing the procedure in more than one stage allows the tissues to  acclimate to the surgically decreased blood flow before  further tissue removal (and potentially further decreased blood flow)  occurs ( with the 2nd stage operation).

The other concern with overly aggressive breast reduction surgery is patient dissatisfaction  afterwards.  It is not unusual for patients who have lived with very large breasts to want to have as much as possible removed. Care must be taken to be judicious in this removal to avoid an outcome where the breasts  are too small in relation (proportionately) to the patient's other body parts.  Again, it is not uncommon, for patients'  breasts to become smaller ( after the breast reduction procedure) with time and/or weight loss-  breast augmentation may become necessary to achieve the patient size goals.
 
 
I  hope this helps.

I will assume that you are shown in the left-hand photo.

You would benefit from a vertical breast reduction which will leave you with a 'lollipop'-style scar on each breast. This procedure would leave you with reasonably-shaped, smaller breasts. As you have noted, loss of sensation is a risk of the surgery. In practice I have not found that patients are much concerned by this after surgery. You may also be unable to breastfeed after reduction. If this is potentially important to you, then you should delay having surgery until you have had your children.

Your breasts are somewhat 'bottomed-out' and I do not think you would be happy with their appearance after liposuction alone.

I recommend you see an experienced cosmetic breast surgeon. He or she will discuss your wishes with you, explain the procedure in depth, and help you decide whether it's right for you.

Good luck!

Thank you for the photo (I asssume the one on the left is you). A small breast reduction can be done via a short vertical scar technique. If you are concerned about scarring and or breast feeding, you might consider liposuction breast reduction only. There's a good chance that this will not raise your nipple areolar complexes to the desired level. In the US, insurance does not cover this procedure since there's a weight requirement. In your case that would be a mastectomy. Loss of sensation is rare and the ability to breast feed is unpredictable with this surgery.