Can Tuberous Breasts Be Fixed with Mastopexy Alone (Without Augmentation)? (photo)

Thank you for your question and photo. The short answer is yes, the shape can be improved, the nipple/areolar complex size reduced. You are not stuck with "weird boobs". Since your breasts are small, you will not have close cleavage. I also fat graft tuberous breasts, but this option for you is limited. You can always get a small silicone gel implant, 180-240cc ("a sac of fluid" is a saline implant) at the time of the lift or later. See a board certified plastic surgeon for an in person examination to determine your best option. Good luck.

Far more important than the technique is the skill and experience of your plastic surgeon. Choose your surgeon rather than the technique and let them explain why one technique may be better than another.  See the below link on some suggestions on finding the most qualified Plastic Surgeon for a Breast Augmentation.  Always insist on a board certified plastic surgeon.

A mastopexy can improve the overall appearance of the constricted breast. Even a small breast implant will help in establishing the proper diameter however.

Your posted photo shows tuberous breasts but the left breast is almost half the size of the right. Therefore even if you lower the folds and redistribute the breast tissue on each side the left will still be smaller. Given your height and weight it is unclear that you could make up the difference with fat grafts. If you want a symmetric result you will probably have to get breast implants.

I hope you realize that this format of posting questions and receiving answers lacks the face to face direct communication required for you to make an informed decision regarding your surgery.

My response to your question/post does not represent formal medical advice or constitute a doctor patient relationship. You need to consult with i.e. personally see a board certified plastic surgeon in order to receive a formal evaluation and develop a doctor patient relationship in order to know if this assessment is valid.

You have typical tuberous (constricted) breasts with a narrow base and wide areolas.  The goal for surgery should be a wide based breast which extends across your chest as well as smaller areolas which lie flush with the surrounding breast skin.

It is one of the more difficult breast operations for plastic surgeons.  The usual techniques of radial scoring of the breast undersurface can help -- but the problem can recur unless an implant (it can be a small one) is placed to prevent recurrence of the original problem.

A new technique of fat injection in the surrounding breast has been introduced in recent years.  In essence, it seeks to camouflage the problem by adding tissue around the nipples.  This technique has not yet been adopted by the general plastic surgical community and you will have to research carefully to find surgeons who are comfortable with this new technique.

 

Good luck!

 

Elliot Jacobs, MD, FACS

New York City

 

 

This mainly has to do with what your goals are. Tuberous breasts are typically breasts that have a high riding inframammary fold, tight lower pole to the breast and herniation of breast tissue into a large areola or puffy areola. Each problem can be addressed in a different manner. The areola can be made smaller and the breast can be lifted. You do not have to have implants if you do not want them. What implants will do for you is enlarge the breasts. If you do not desire a more rounded full appearance to the breast then certainly you do not have to have implants placed. The best thing you can do is to seek out a board certified plastic surgeon by the American Board of Plastic Surgery who has experience taking care of tuberous breasts and discuss your options with them.

Tuberous breast can be fixed without using implants when enough breast tissue is present  . But , my advice , after looking at your picture , is that because of your breast volume , a lift without at least a small implant wont give you a nice result .  A  small 200- 240 cc gel  implant could give you just the right volume to achieve a successful  correction of your tuberous breast. 

Best wishes 

Dear Eburna,

Thank you for your question and photo.  Yes, your shape, nipple/areola and symmetry can be improved greatly with breast lift alone and no implant, but your breasts will be very small afterwards.  Your best result will be with an implant , even just a moderate profile one, but make sure it is the proper base width to give you a breast that goes from the cleavage point to the edge of the chest, otherwise you will have a gap.  Breast fat grafting is another option.  You are very thin, but there will be some donor fat on your body for a very modest augmentation without an implant that gives you a more normal fullness of the breast.

Best Wishes,

Pablo Prichard, MD

Tuberous breasts, or tuberous breast 'deformity', is just a variant of normal breast anatomy.  Your photo shows a wide spacing between the nipple-areolar areas.  As long as you are OK with this, and don't want implants, there is no reason to change.  A  Periareolar Mastopexy ( also called a Benelli or Doughnut Mastopexy) can set the nipple/areola in a better position.  You may add fat-grafting or an implant if you want more volume.

Tuberous breasts can be a real challenge to correct depending on the number of characteristics that give them the appearance. A narrow breast, a tight crease under the breast and bulging of breast tissue through the areola all contribute to a tuberous shape. In general, an implant alone will accentuate the deformity. In addition to an implant to widen the breast, making incisions in the breast tissue on the inside to release the tight tissues, and a mastopexy to lift the breast can all be done either singly or in combination.