If you’re unhappy with your breasts, you are not alone. Many factors could have contributed to breast sagging and drooping. Here are some of the reasons breasts lose their youthful shape and firmness.
- Gravity: Gravity’s force constantly pulls your breasts downward, straining and stretching your breasts’ ligaments.
- Age: Unfortunately, age eventually catches up to everyone, and sagging is a normal part of the aging process.
- Weight loss or gain: Losing or gaining a significant amount of weight, especially over a short period, can not only change your breasts’ shape, but also stretch or shrink the skin surrounding them.
- Genetics: Heredity and your family genes play a part in your breasts’ size and shape, especially as you age.
- Pregnancies: The more children you have, the more stretched-out your breast tissue can become.
If you would like your breasts to sit in a more youthful position on the chest wall or be larger or fuller, you may want to consider a procedure that addresses all these goals simultaneously. Dr. Zochowski in Columbus, OH, has a professional approach to breast surgery where a breast lift combined with breast implants is an option you can consider.
Many women choose to add implants to their breast lift to enhance breast size and regain their pert, youthful contour. Combining the two procedures can reduce both surgeries’ overall costs and result in less recovery time and a quicker return to your normal activities.
It’s essential to remember that implants provide the breasts with a relatively small degree of lift. Like the rest of your body, breasts continue to be subject to gravity and aging, which continue to occur over time. As a result, women who have undergone breast augmentation surgery may eventually seek a breast lift to restore a firmer and more youthful appearance to breasts that have begun to sag.
Understanding Breast Lift and Breast Augmentation With Implants
Breast lift surgery, commonly known as mastopexy, addresses breast sagging, aka breast ptosis. The procedure lifts and firms the breasts by eliminating excess skin while tightening the surrounding tissue to remodel and create a new youthful breast contour. A breast lift is an excellent choice for women who want to elevate their droopy breasts and rejuvenate their figure into a more youthful shape.
A breast lift alone may not give you the look you ultimately desire, which is why you might consider getting a breast augmentation — or enhancement — at the same time. When your goal is to enhance and enlarge your breasts’ shape and size, you’ll need to choose between saline or silicone implants.
Combining a breast lift with an augmentation can often give you your ideal body contour. As your board-certified surgeon, Dr. Zochowski will evaluate what options are appropriate for you and discuss the advantages and disadvantages.
Who Makes a Good Candidate for a Breast Lift With Implants in Columbus, OH?
During your consultation with Dr. Zochowski, you’ll go over the following factors:
- You should be in good health and a non-smoker. However, if you do smoke, you will need to stop smoking for at least eight weeks before and after your procedure.
- You have poor skin quality, excess sagging skin, low-resting nipples, stretch marks, or disengagement between glands, the skin, and the chest wall.
- You are over 40, had multiple pregnancies, and have breastfed.
- You have struggled with obesity.
If any of these apply to you, it will probably be best to include a lift to achieve your desired cosmetic results.
While most women who fall into the above categories tend to be older, young women sometimes benefit just as much from a combination breast lift with implants. Aging, heredity, and your overall health might also be factors affecting your candidacy for these procedures.
Combination surgery is often a good option if you are:
- Physically healthy and maintain a stable weight.
- Do not smoke.
- Have realistic expectations for the outcomes.
- Having the surgery for yourself, not someone else.
And, if one or more of the following conditions apply to you:
- Your breasts sag, have lost volume and shape.
- Your breasts have become flatter, more pendulous, or have an elongated shape.
- Your nipples have fallen below the breast crease.
- Your nipples and the areolas point downward.
- You have enlarged areolas and stretched skin.
- Your breasts are asymmetrical, with one breast positioned lower than the other.
Understanding the Unique Benefits of Combination Surgery
There are several reconstructive and cosmetic reasons to consider combining these two breast surgeries:
- The implant improves the breasts’ overall appearance by helping restore lost breast volume, and may result in less lifting being necessary.
- A combination procedure of breast augmentation and breast lift is just as safe as a single surgery.
- Combining surgeries may cost less and can reduce overall recovery time, expense, and inconvenience.
Most patients prefer to have only one surgical procedure wherever possible, especially since the risk levels are similar whether you choose to combine surgeries or have Dr. Zochowski perform them separately.
The Importance of a Skilled, Experienced Surgeon
A combined lift and augmentation surgery has many benefits for the patient, but it does require a skilled cosmetic surgeon with extensive knowledge and experience.
During your initial consultation with Dr. Zochowski in Columbus, OH, all aspects of your breast lift and augmentation will be explained to you, and all your questions answered. You will then decide whether this is the best treatment for your needs and achieve your aesthetic goals.
Schedule a Breast Lift Consultation in Columbus
Breast lift and breast augmentation surgery can restore your self-confidence and improve your range of clothing choices. Contact Dr. Zochowski to schedule a breast consultation in Columbus, OH, or call (614) 490-7500 to learn more about this rejuvenating procedure.
Frequently Asked Questions About Breast Lift and Breast Augmentation in Columbus, OH
What is the better implant material – saline, or silicone?
The advantage silicone implants have over saline is that they are the softest breast implants on the market and produce the most natural-feeling and natural-looking results.
The two main advantages of saline implants are that they cost less than silicone implants and have a saltwater solution filling. In the event of a breakage, there is absolutely no risk to a woman’s health.
Where will my breast lift/augmentation incisions be?
Three commonly performed approaches are available for your incisions.
- Trans-axillary approach: The advantage of performing breast surgery via incisions made in the armpits is that there is no scar on the breast. However, the scars will be visible anytime you wear sleeveless clothing.
- Through the nipple: The advantage of this approach is that it hides the resulting scar in the “collar” of the nipple. The disadvantage is that the incision cuts directly along the nerves that supply the nipple, potentially resulting in reduced sensation and decreased ability to breastfeed.
- Inframammary: Creating incisions beneath the breasts makes the scars visible only when you are completely naked and viewed from below. As the best hidden of all the incisions, this option provides the best visualization for the surgeon and avoids any interference with the milk ducts, which means that it will not affect breastfeeding.
What scars might result from my breast surgery?
A breast lift can produce scars that are:
- Around the nipple.
- Around the nipple and down the front of the breast.
- Around the nipple, under, and down the front of the breast.
- Just above the top of the nipple.
The breast’s desired final height determines how high to lift them.
Is combined surgery safe?
As with any surgical procedure, there is a degree of risk. However, breast augmentation and breast lift surgery are generally safe and have been in use for many years, with numerous studies documenting both procedures’ safety.
