Breast Reduction

What is Breast Reduction?

Breast reduction is a procedure to remove excess fat, skin, and glandular tissue from the breast area. The surgery reduces overall breast size and creates more proportionate looking breasts.

Women with large breasts can experience severe back and neck pain. Bra straps may leave shoulder groove markings.

Large breasts can make exercising  and weight loss more difficult.

Dr. Papafragkou and Dr. Rhee also performss a breast lift to eliminate sagging during breast reduction surgery. 

 

BEFORE AND AFTERS BREAST REDUCTIONS WITH DR. PAPAFRAGKOU AND DR. RHEE.

Click here to see before and after pics

 

Do I need a Breast Reduction? 

 

You might need or want breast reduction if:

• You’re unhappy with how large your breasts are

• Your heavy breasts cause back, shoulder, or neck pain

• Your breasts inhibit normal physical activities

• You frequently have shoulder grooves from bra straps

• You have frequent skin irritation under your breasts

Many women who opt for breast reduction surgery feel both emotionally and physically uncomfortable with their breasts. 

 

What are the benefits of Breast Reduction?

Oversized breasts can be a source of constant back and neck pain. Reducing the size of the woman's breasts who has been burderned for many decades can be life changing. Suddenly it's much easier to exercise and lose weight if that is the goal. Also, the back and neck pain are gone. 

Reducing the size of the breasts is not the only benefit. Sagging skin is removed and both breasts are lifted re-creating the proper ergonomics by positioning the breasts and nipples higher up in the chest.

 

 

How does breast reduction surgery work?

You receive general anesthesia for breast reduction surgery. The Plastic Surgery Associates of Long Island surgeons use advanced techniques based upon your breast size and the desired results. 

The short scar technique is a good option for women who need a mild-to-moderate decrease in breast size. In this approach, surgeons create smaller incisions around the areola and vertically down to the breast crease. The short scar technique eliminates long horizontal incisions and thus reduces scarring. 

If you need a dramatic reduction in breast size — several cup sizes or more — you may need additional incisions underneath the breast crease. Even if you need longer incisions, the team always takes care to minimize postsurgical scarring as much as possible. 

After removing extra skin, fat, and glandular tissue, nipple and areola repositioning and other skin lifting provides a breast lift. 

If you have extra breast fat and little-to-no sagging, liposuction may be a good option for breast reduction. But, liposuction only removes fat; it can’t provide a lift. So, it’s not generally the most effective option for breast reduction. 

 

How long is recovery after breast reduction?

Most women resume work within a week of their breast reduction, though some may need up to two weeks. You must avoid strenuous physical activity involving the upper body for a month. Just as the team customizes your breast reduction surgery, they tailor your recovery plans for your needs and situation. 

When you’re ready for a breast reduction, call upon the providers who’ve successfully performed thousands of procedures. Click the online scheduler or call the Plastic Surgery Associates of Long Island office to book a consultation now.

 

 

How do  I prepare for Breast Reduction Surgery?

Just like any other surgery:  stop taking any blood thinining medications, stop taking anti-inflammatory medications, stop smoking at least 6 weeks before the procedure.

Depending on what kind of work you do you may need at least a week off work. Most patient do extremely well after the surgery. Fill your pain medication prescription beforehand. 

 

You can Chose your Cup size.

Every patient is unique. The goal of the surgery is to make you happy with your new breasts.

We perform our surgery based on what your goals are. We will help  and guide you through the decision process with different options that fit your specific needs. 

 

How do I prepare for Breast Reduction Surgery?

 

Just like any other Surgery 

 

Breast reduction techniques:

1. Lollipop Breast Reduction.

This technique is also known as Vertical breast reduction. 

The incision in this technique is like a lollipop, around the areola, and running down to the breast crease. In general we use this technique for women with moderate large breast with minimal to no sagging. This method produces a smaller visible scar. 

2. Short Scar Anchor incision.

This method is like the lollipo method but it adds another incision under the breast crease in the form of an anchor incision. This technique is more suitable for large, pendulous breasts and can remove a bigger amount of tissue than the lollipop incision. Dr. Rhee and Dr. Papafragkou specialize in minimizing the scar from this technique removing the most amount of tissue with the smallest amount or scars. This technique completely eliminates breast sagginess and lifts off the chest wall.

 

Is Breast Reduction Surgery painful?

This procedure is done under general anestesia in an outpatient setting. You have your surgery done and go home the same day. During surgeyr and before you wake up from anestesia we inject you with some long lasting local anestetics so you will not have any pain when you wake up. This local anestetic lasys for a few days.  When you wake up from surgery the nurses will take you to recovery room. You will have dressings on and be given pain medication ahead of time. You may experience some tihjtness from the dressings or some sore throia from the anesthesia. You will also be given a prescitption for pain medications to take a week or two. Most patient experience only minimal discomfort from this surgery.

 

Do I get a breast lift during a Breast Reduction?

Breast Reduction Surgery is designed to removed excess breast tissue as well as sagging skin and bring you breasts back up to an ideal position. The Nipple and the areola are also lifted. The removal of the excess breast tissue and correct ergonomic placement of the breasts is what helps people get rid of their back pain.

 

Is Breast Reduction covered by insurance?

Most women with large breasts suffer from pain that interferes wiht their daily activities. In situations like this most, if not all of the cost of the procedure is covered by insurance. Our insurance team will guide you through the process if you qualify, explain every step and help you along the way to obtain insurance approval.

 

Breast Reduction Risks.

As with any surgery there are some basic risks associated with this procedure:

1. Loss of sensation to nipple/areola.
2. Difficulty/inability to breast feed.
3. Scarring.
4. infection, bleeding, differences in size or shape of the surgically corrected breasts.

 

FAQs for Breast Reduction Surgery:

 

1) Is it covered by insurance? In most cases yes.

2) Do I need to take off work? Depending on what kind of work you but usually about a week.

3) Can the breast tissue removed come back? The tissue that was removed can not come back. If you gain significant weight your breast may become larger.

4) Is there a specific age I need to be to have a breast reduction? We perform breast reductions in adults over the age of 18 with developed breasts

5) Does breast reduction surgery make me not able to lactate in the future? If you were able to breastfeed before the surgery more than likely you will be able to breast feed after. The surgery it self does not significanlty change that. If you are pregnant of actively breast feeding we ask that you wait and do the surgery at later date.

6) How long does the breast lift I get with breast reduction surgery last? We use a technique that provides long lasting results. Other factors like normal aging and pregnancy may effect the longetivity of the results.

 

 

Visit our Breast Reduction Blog here.