Making the choice to undergo breast reduction surgery is one that is often made after years of pain and struggle with breasts that are too large for the person’s frame. While there are other reasons, such as being unhappy with the natural shape or droop, it’s most commonly found that women opt for breast reduction surgery when they have been suffering from issues such as;
- Back pain
- Neck or should pain
- Irritation to the skin
- Rashes or infections on the skin beneath the breasts
- Indented grooves on the shoulders from bra straps
- Low self-esteem or depression caused by the breasts
- Inability to exercise or take part in activities
What is breast reduction surgery?
Breast reduction surgery, or mammoplasty as it is known in the medical world, is a procedure that is performed to remove excess fat, skin and tissue from the breasts to reduce their size. Whilst it isn’t spoken about as commonly in the public domain as breast enlargement, the results it gives are equally as lifechanging.
Ideally, a womans breasts should be directly proportionate to the frame of her body and should make them feel comfortable within their own skin. However, larger breasts than the frame is built for can cause pain in the back, neck and shoulders which contributes to bad posture and struggles within daily life. It’s not uncommon to hear of women who just “cope” with their breasts and deal with the self esteem issues and pain.
This form of surgery tends to go hand in hand with liposuction surgery to make sure that the chest and area surrounding the breasts are sculpted to naturally match the new shape, keeping your natural appearance whilst improving your life at the same time.
How is a breast reduction surgery performed?
During breast reduction surgery, the ultimate goal (aside from the new appearance to the breasts) is to re-establish a completely functional breast with the right amount of sensitivity whilst also saving the nipple and areola to keep the ability to breastfeed.
There are a number of techniques that can be used during a breast reduction surgery, but they all have similarities that persist across every method. These are;
- As standard, breast reduction surgery is performed under general anaesthesia
- The surgery itself is performed to reduce the skin envelope whilst reducing the volume of breast tissue at the same time
- The nipple will likely need to be repositioned to match the new breasts
- The patients breasts are not reduced to a standard sizing scale but instead are reduced to one that is suitable for the body of the patient, meaning that rather than requesting to go from a G cup size to a C cup size, your body may be more suitably matched for an E cup size
- Breast tissue is carefully preserved and protected so that the individual tissue specimens can be evaluated to detect malignancy within the breasts
- The incision will be closed in layers which heal with minimal scarring
So, how long does it take to recover from breast reduction surgery?
The recovery process, while it varies on a patient to patient basis, is very similar across most people who undergo breast reduction surgery. It’s likely that patients are discharged after 24-48 hours with swelling and bruising that will remain present for one to two weeks after surgery. It’s advised that during this period, especially for the first few days, that somebody is able to assist with general daily tasks such as dressing and bathing to avoid aggravating the site of the surgery.
Depending on the nature of the job, it’s possible that patients are able to return back to work more quickly, but generally you will be able to look at returning to normal routine again after around two to three weeks.