Many women experience changes in the appearance of the breasts after massive weight loss, pregnancy, or breast-feeding.  Oftentimes, these women will come in for consultation, looking for either a breast lift or placement of breast implants.  It is important to realize that breast implants are primarily aimed at increasing lost volume in the breasts, particularly in the upper portion of the breasts, and have very little effect on sagging breast skin and on downward-pointing nipples and areolas.

For patients that do suffer from severe droopiness of the breasts, as well as sagging breast tissue, breast lift (mastopexy) tends to be the best option.  Oftentimes women are resistant to hearing this, as they do not want the scars that are associated with the operation.

There are a large variety of incisions that can be utilized for performing a breast lift.  In the most limited incision form of breast lift, known as a circumareolar lift or Benelli mastopexy, an incision is made just around the areola (the pigmented skin surrounding the nipple).  This operation is useful only for very mild forms of breast droopiness, and is best performed in combination with placement of a breast implant.  The reason for this is that be Benelli mastopexy does very little to restore lost volume in the upper portion of the breasts, which is usually seen in association with mild droopiness.  For mild forms of droopiness (ptosis), however, the performance of a Benelli mastopexy in combination with breast implants can lead to a very pleasing shape.

The next form of mastopexy is known as a circumvertical, or lollipop mastopexy.  In this form of breast lift, an incision is made around the areola, and a vertical incision is made from the areola along the middle portion of the breast to the crease at the bottom of the breast.  This is far and away the most common type of incision utilized for mastopexy.  This access allows the surgeon to reshape breast tissue, and place a large portion of breast tissue from the bottom portion of the breast into the upper pole of the breast, where breast volume is lacking.  It can be utilized for mild to severe forms of breast droopiness.  It can be performed in combination with either saline breast implant or silicone breast implant placement, but can also be performed without breast implant placement.

The last form of mastopexy is known as a Wise pattern mastopexy or anchor pattern mastopexy.  This involves an incision around the areola, a vertical incision from the areola to the crease at the base of the breast, and an incision along the very base of the breast.  This is the traditional type of incision utilized for mastopexy, and is most often reserved for patients that have lost massive amounts of weight, and have a severe amount of extra skin.  Like the lollipop mastopexy, it can be performed with or without the placement of breast implants.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Jejurikar’s office at 214-827-2814.