For a woman sagging breasts are one of the real bummers of aging. Where your breasts formerly were high and firm on your chest, now they’re hanging and saggy. Pregnancy, breastfeeding, gravity, and the slackening of the muscles supporting your breasts all are culprits in this depressing state of affairs.
To turn back the clock, Dr. Ip performs breast lift surgery, often with augmentation to return the breasts to a higher position and add a little boost in size.
Why a breast lift?
A breast lift is necessary for a woman who has a fair amount of sagging in her breasts because augmentation with implants won’t correct the sagging. Simply adding implants actually can make hanging breasts sag more over time. Dr. Ip believes that a breast lift will improve the general shape of the breast and will give the augmented breasts the necessary support to keep them from becoming droopy after the implants settle.
Many women, especially if they’ve breastfed their children, have noticed a serious loss of volume in their breasts, along with the requisite sagging skin and tissue. Augmentation can replace this lost volume so that a lift doesn’t seem as if it has actually made the breasts smaller.
How does Dr. Ip perform the procedure?
During your consultation with Dr. Ip, the two of you will discuss your options for the procedure. If you’re having implants placed during the procedure, it may dictate which method is necessary.
In a concentric lift, the incision is made around your areola on each breast. Obviously, this limited incision limits the amount of tissue and skin that can be removed, so is only appropriate for women with minimal breast sagging. Unless opting for saline implants atop the pectoral muscle, this incision method may not work with augmentation.
A standard breast lift uses an incision that starts by circling the areolae and running down to the breast crease at the bottom of the breasts, and then moves out in each direction along the breast creases. This is informally called an anchor incision. The size of the incision provides ample access for removal of a significant amount of breast tissue and skin. This is the method used if the patient’s nipples are pointing downward.
A third incision type, called a lollipop, circles the areola and moves down to the breast crease but ends there. This method is best for patients with moderate sagging.
In most breast lift procedures, the nipple-areola complex is moved to a higher position on the chest, matching the patient’s higher breasts.
If you’re depressed by your sagging breasts and want to boost things back up, call Dr. Ip at either his Newport Beach, Beverly Hills, or New York City offices and set up a consultation for a breast lift.
