Breasts Lift

A breast lift is the procedure done to improve the appearance of sagging, uneven breasts. Conditions like aging, weight loss, and childbirth can cause a woman's breast to lose its tone and firmness, an aesthetic problem which can be easily remedied by a breast lift. A breast lift may be done along with the insertion of breast implants to increase the size of the breast in a procedure known as breast augmentation. It can also be done in conjunction with a procedure to reduce the size of the breast called a reduction mammoplasty.

A woman may be a candidate for a breast lift if she has:

• Breasts that are pendulous but are of a satisfactory size; women with smaller breasts often experience better results with the procedure than women with very large breasts
• Women with drooping breasts and breasts with reduced substance or firmness
• Women with nipples or areolas that point downward and are usually located below the breast crease
• Women who have realistic expectations about the procedure; a breast lift is not a procedure which can create the perfect breast but rather a procedure performed to improve the appearance of one's breast

There are two types of breast lifts: full and modified.

Full Breast Lift

The full breast lift, also called the Inverted T mastopexy, involves creating an incision along the crease under the breast, under the areola and a vertical incision between the areola and the base of the breast. Skin is removed in a horizontal and vertical direction allowing it to move up toward the center. A full breast lift is perfect for shaping the breast in cases when the distance between the nipple and the base is great or if the amount of excess skin is severe. The scar brought about by the vertical incision usually fades over time. The procedure usually lasts from 3 to 5 hours.

Modified Breast Lift

A modified breast lift uses few incisions than a full breast lift and is often done in women with lesser degrees of drooping or breast ptosis. A popular form of a modified breast lift is called the Benelli breast lift or the donut breast lift. In this procedure incisions are created surrounding the areolae. In a variation of the donut, more tissue is taken from above the areola than from below it in order to raise the nipple and areola on the chest wall. An advantage of the modified breast lift is that it results to less scarring and usually takes two to two and a half hours to do.