A lot of women go for breast lift for one reason or another, and a lot of them do this to boost their self-esteem, and how they see their bodies. A breast lift is becoming common, as a lot of women are now open to sculpting the body they want. Sometimes, a breast lift is called a mastopexy, and it is a procedure done by a trained and licensed cosmetic surgeon in a bid to enhance the shape of the breasts.

While a breast lift is ongoing, the additional skin around the breasts is removed, while the tissues of the breasts are reshaped in a bid to lift the breasts.

If you notice that your nipples are pointing downwards, you can consider a breast lift. It won’t be a bad idea to have a breast lift if you notice that your breasts are sagging. This may go a long way to improve both your self-confidence and how you view yourself.

One thing you should know is that undergoing a breast lift won’t necessarily alter how large your breasts are. If you combine breast lift and breast reduction or breast augmentation, then the shape of the breasts will be altered. If you want bigger breasts, you should consider going for breast augmentation, and if you want them to reduce, then try breast reduction.

Why is it done?

Sometimes, a lot of persons ask why some women undergo breast lifts, we will discuss them below.

As a lady gets older, her breasts tend to lose their firmness and elasticity. These changes are usually caused by a lot of reasons like:

Pregnancy

When a woman is pregnant, the breasts ligaments that have the job of supporting the breasts tend to stretch to allow the breasts to become heavier and fuller. Since the breasts have to produce more breast milk for the incoming child, the breasts size increase. This stretching can go a long way to affect how the breasts sag once pregnancy is done. It doesn’t matter whether the mother decides to breastfeed or not.

Weight fluctuations

If a person changes her weight a lot, it could affect the elasticity of the breasts. Let’s say a person gains and loses weight a lot, the skin surrounding the breast tends to stretch, then lose its elasticity.

Gravity

Gravity is also a reason breast loses its elasticity and sags. Gravity makes everything to move towards the ground, hence it forces the ligaments of the breast to not only stretch but sag.

Once you carry out a breast lift, the sagging reduces, and the nipples become raised, while the dark areas that can be seen around the nipples- areolae- are raised too.

You can decide that you don’t fancy the size of your areolae, and have them changed while undergoing the procedure. When they are changed, they are done to match the shape of the new set of breasts.

If you notice the following, it won’t be bad to get a breast lift.

If you notice that your breasts are sagging, you should consider opting for one. Let’s say that you notice that they have lost their volume and shape, or maybe they are now longer and flatter, you should consider opting for a breast lift.

Look at your nipples, how do they look? If you notice that your breast is not supported and that your nipples are far below the breast creases, you should consider opting for one.

Let’s say you see that your areolae and nipples are pointing to the ground, then you definitely need a breast lift.

Let’s say you notice that your areolae are stretched out, and not in proportion with the rest of the breasts, then you should consider a breast lift.

If you see that one breast of yours is far lower than the other, a breast lift is in order.

It is important to know that a breast lift won’t be great for everyone. If you are thinking of getting pregnant in the nearest future, you should consider delaying the breast lift until after the pregnancy.

Why is this so?

When a lady becomes pregnant, the breasts are known to stretch, and this means that the effects of the breast lift will be cancelled out. If you do a breast lift before you get pregnant, after pregnancy, the breast lift’s signs may no longer be there. You may see your breasts sagging once more.

Another thing to consider is breastfeeding. Through it is possible to breastfeed after you carry out a breast lift, you may get into some troubles. The breast lift usually doesn’t cause major problems because the nipples are not removed from the underlying breast tissue. The only problem that may raise its head is that you may be unable to produce milk. Some women have been known to be unable to secrete milk after the breast lift.

A breast lift can work on any breast, but the effect may change from one breast size to the other. Women that have smaller sagging breasts are known to get better results than those that have bigger breasts. Why is this so?

Bigger breasts are known to be quite heavy, which means that the likelihood for them to sag again is higher than smaller boobs because of gravity or other reasons.

Risks That May Come With Breast Lift

Sometimes, the breast lift may go well, but in other situations, there may be some aftermaths. Below are the various risks that come with a breast lift.

Scarring

Scars are known to be permanent, but in a lot of cases, they fade with time. In less than two years, the scar should have softened and faded well. A lot of women are known to hide these scars with their bathing suits and bras, and they are rarely ever visible. If there is poor healing, the scars may start to widen and thicken.

Changes in nipple or breast sensation

Usually, after the breast lift is done, the sensation to the breast or nipple tends to return in a few weeks. In a few cases, the person may notice that the loss of sensation is permanent. This can be a problem, but it should be noted that usually, the loss of erotic sensation is not common.

There may be irregularities in the breasts’ size and shape.

This is not usually common, but when it occurs, it is because of how the healing process occurred. One thing that you should bear in mind is that undergoing the surgery may not necessarily correct any prior asymmetry of the breasts.

Total or partial loss of areolae or even nipples.

In rare cases, the blood supply that goes to the areola or nipple may be cut off while the breast lift is ongoing.

This can lead to damage in the tissue that is surrounding that area that had its blood supply cut. This could then worsen to a total or partial loss of the areola or nipple.

Problems in breastfeeding.

A lot of women that have undergone breast lift are known to be able to breastfeed well, but this can’t be said for the small percent of women that can’t. Some women may not be able to produce milk in large quantity for the baby.

In a lot of surgeries, the patient may have the tendency of suffering from an infection, bleeding, or a great reaction to anesthesia, the same can be said for a breast lift.

It may worsen with the patient having an allergic reaction to the tools used in the surgery, or after it.

How do you prepare

Before you undergo a breast lift, you have to first discuss with a plastic surgeon about what to expect. When you go to meet a plastic surgeon, this is what usually happens:

The plastic surgeon reviews your medical history.

You will be expected to field off question concerning both your past and current medical conditions. This is done to ensure that you don’t face complications during the surgery or after it. If you have noticed that your family members have suffered from breast cancer, you should consider telling the doctor.

Give the doctor the results of any breast biopsies or mammograms that you may have done. Tell the doctor about any medications that you have taken recently, or you are still taking. If you have done any surgery, tell the doctor.

The doctor then carries out a physical exam. To see what your treatment options may be, the doctor has to examine how your breasts are. He or she will have to look at the position of your areolae and nipples.

The doctor then looks at the quality of the tone of your skin. If your breast skin has a better tone, there is a greater chance of the breast lift succeeding. Sometimes, the doctor may need to take some snapshots of your breasts to put in your medical record.

Tell the doctor about your expectations.

It’s your body. Don’t be shy of telling the doctor what you expect from the breast lift. Tell him or her why you have decided to undergo the procedure and what you expect to see after it. Try and find out what the risks are, as well as the benefits are before you undergo the process. There could be the possibility of loss in breast or nipple sensation and even scarring.

Before you undergo a breast lift procedure, you may need to do the following:

Schedule a mammogram

Some doctors ask that their clients undergo a baseline mammogram before the breast lift is done, and another one after the breast lift is done. This tells your medical team what the

changes to your breast tissue were, and it can be helpful in interpreting any further mammograms that are done.

Avoid smoking.

Smoking goes a long way to reduce how much blood flows to the skin. If you know that you want to undergo a breast lift, you should stop smoking because it is known to reduce the healing process. Your doctor will most likely tell you to quit smoking before you undergo the process.

Avoid some medications.

Before you undergo the process, you will be advised to avoid taking herbal supplements, anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as aspirin as they are known to increase the chances of bleeding.

Get help during recovery.

Get someone that would take you home once the surgery is done, and be with you while you recover. You may also need the person to help you do your daily routine like help you maintain general hygiene while you recover.

Try and get to a healthy weight

It won’t be a bad idea to try and make some changes to your diet. You could also get involved in an exercise program to help you cut down on your weight if you have amassed much weight recently.

Usually, a breast lift is done in either an outpatient surgical facility or in a hospital. The breast lift is usually done under sedation, where part of your body is numbed.

A lot of plastic surgeons will make you unconscious by making use of general anaesthesia.

After the surgery and you notice any changes, it is important that you speak to your plastic surgeon. Talk to your surgeon about how to improve the healing process. What should you take and what should be avoided? Ask the plastic surgeon what should be expected after the surgery and what shouldn’t be?