For women with hypertrophic or large breasts, with problems due to this excess of weight, such as back and neck pain, irritations of the skin beneath the breast and even breathing difficulties, plastic surgery has a very complete and grateful operation, the Mammoplasty Reduction or Breast Reduction, which gives women smaller breasts and a more proportional figure to the rest of their bodies.
What does it involve?
It is a plastic surgery operation that is performed both to alleviate a physical problem as well as on a purely aesthetic purpose. The excessive volume of the breast interferes in many daily activities of the patients causing physical discomfort. Also, it can cause psychological problems that have their signs when one wears wide dresses to disguise it, walk with the shoulders forward so that the breasts are not noticed or hide the breasts with bags or folders. In most cases it is expected that the breast has developed completely, although it can be carried out before if the physical and psychological problems are very significant.
It is important to assess the size and shape of the breasts, the firmness of the skin and the general state of the patient’s health. That is why a complete preoperative and in some cases a mammography study is required. The surgery is performed under general anesthesia and it lasts between two and three hours, although in certain cases it may be extended. It is necessary admission to the clinic being discharged on the following day or in cases of very large breast hypertrophy it may be necessary for the patient to stay in the clinic for another day. There are several techniques but generally the incisions are anchor shaped or inverted -T, and are placed around the areola, in a vertical line down from the areola and in a horizontal line in the furrow that is below the breast. Through these incisions the excess of skin, fat and breast tissue are removed and the areola and the nipple are replaced in their new position. Sometimes the liposuction is used as a supplementary method to slim down the area below the armpit. In most cases the nipples are kept together to their vessels and nerves, although in breasts of greater size it may be safer to cut and graft them in their new position which causes a loss of sensation.
Are the scars visible?
In some cases, to carry out such operation, it is enough a circular incision around the areola, which will be concealed with the color change. It extends with a vertical incision that goes from the edge of the areola until the furrow of the breast. This type of incision has a very favorable healing, with a very quick maturing of the scars, which tends to be from six to nine months. On the other hand, in cases that due to the age or to the degree of the breast fall, you have to add to the previous incisions, a new horizontal incision that covers the sub-breast furrow. And although the latter incision tends to be more visible than the previous ones, it is concealed, generally, by the fall of the breast on that furrow. On occasions, when the patient heals badly (Keloid scar) and these scars make a bulge or widen, they are easily solved with an adjustment and excision of the scar under local anesthesia after 6 months.
Is this operation painful?
Most of the discomfort is well controlled with the prescribed medication, although you may feel a mild pain in the first two weeks. You can have a normal life in a few days, although you will have to wear a kind of sports bra during the first month. The sutures are removed after the second week. You must avoid lifting or pushing heavy things for three or four weeks. Although much of the swelling and bruising disappear in the first days, you may need a few weeks until the breasts adapt to their new shape. The mammoplasty reduction is one of the surgeries which gives a faster change in the body figure. The patient feels relieved of the discomfort that big breasts cause, the body has a more proportioned aspect and when it comes to wear clothes the patient feels better. It is a surgery with great advantages, as it is not only a solution for aesthetic problems, but also physical and psychological problems, that is why it is so appreciated and one of the most carried out.
