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Atlanta cosmetic breast surgery

All About Breast Lifts

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When most people hear about cosmetic breast surgery, they assume it’s intended to make the breasts larger. While breast augmentation has long been among the top plastic surgeries in the country, another type of breast surgery has been gaining popularity, especially in the past year—the breast lift. As a double board-certified plastic surgeon, to help you get acquainted with the procedure, I’ve compiled some helpful facts about breast lifts.

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Learning about your aesthetic options can be a great way to help yourself achieve the most successful outcome. However, keep in mind that a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon is the only way to know what procedures are truly an option for your unique anatomy and cosmetic goals. If you’re ready to get started, schedule a consultation with me, Dr. Franklyn Elliott. Or, for more helpful tips and plastic surgery news, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

Ask Dr. Elliott: What’s the Best Time to Have Breast Reduction Surgery?

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Couple HuggingSome patients seek plastic surgery as a response to changes that have occurred in their appearance over time, while others have struggled with an aesthetic concern for most of their lives. Breast reduction patients, uniquely, could fit either description, because heredity plays a large role in breast size, but so can pregnancy, breastfeeding, weight fluctuations, and other factors. If you’re considering breast reduction surgery, one of the elements in your planning is choosing the right time to have the procedure. This can be more complex than some patients realize, so below are a few tips to help you know when the time is right for breast reduction.

Consider the impact your breasts are having on your health.

While excessively large breasts can make women feel self-conscious, they can also have a significant effect on you wellbeing, often causing back problems, neck pain, numbness or tingling in the fingers or hands, and even migraine headaches and difficulty doing aerobic exercise. Many women experience these symptoms and don’t realize that they’re caused by their breast size, but if you’re noticing these struggles, you may find relief from a decrease in breast size.

Decide if and when you would like to have future children.

Practically speaking, breast surgery will last longer if it’s performed after a woman has stopped having children, because pregnancy and breastfeeding can change the size and shape of the breasts, even after surgery. However, this doesn’t mean that a 20-year-old woman needs to suffer with large breasts for another twenty years until her family is complete. The risk for breastfeeding complications is rather low, so as long as you accept that you may need revision surgery in later years, younger women who want future children can still be wonderful candidates for breast reduction. Just be upfront about any future plans and recent pregnancies in your plastic surgery consultation.

Allow your breasts to reach their natural maturity before surgery (in most cases).

Other than the changes I discussed above (pregnancy, breastfeeding, weight fluctuation), a woman’s breasts usually reach their full size around age 18. If you have surgery before the breasts are fully mature, they may continue to grow, and you may need another surgery to return them to a more comfortable size. However, in extreme cases, breast reduction might be recommended for girls under the age of 18. 

Reach a stable weight before surgery.

Weight fluctuations can affect the size and shape of your breasts, which means that if you gain or lose a significant amount of weight after surgery, you may not be as happy with your long-term results. If you want to lose weight, it’s ideal to reach your goal weight before breast reduction. Not only will having plastic surgery after weight loss help your results last longer, but it may also allow you to be in better overall health at the time of your procedure, which minimizes surgical risks.

Plan your day-to-day schedule around your surgery.

As with any surgery, breast reduction requires some recovery time, and planning ahead can help you fit this downtime more easily into your life. For instance, many patients find that planning surgery around a holiday they’ll have off work, like the Fourth of July or Labor Day, allows them to take less time off to recover.

Planning for breast reduction (or any plastic surgery, for that matter) is a process, and the decisions you make will affect your safety, your results, and your overall experience. Take your time, learn about the procedure and what to expect, and feel free to consult with several plastic surgeons before you find the one that makes you feel comfortable. To start discussing how I can help you, schedule a consultation with me, Dr. Franklyn Elliott. Or, to stay up-to-date on the latest plastic surgery news, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

Why Some Women Choose Breast Revision

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For women who are insecure about the size and shape of their breasts, cosmetic surgery can be a life-changing experience by giving them a confidence they’ve never had before. But, while nearly every patient plans for her results to last forever, some do find themselves back in the operating room years later for a breast revision procedure. When most people hear that a woman had a breast revision, they assume it’s because something went wrong or she wasn’t happy with her results, but in reality, that’s often not the case. To help patients develop a better understanding of what breast revision is and why over 70,000 women received the procedure last year, I’ve examined a few of the many reasons why a woman may opt for this surgery.

  • breast-reduction-atlanta-georgiaHer breasts have changed since her last surgery.

Nearly every part of our bodies change with age, but this is especially true for breasts. For instance, a woman may have breast augmentation in her early 20s and be thrilled with her results, but after twenty years of aging, weight fluctuations, and possibly even pregnancies and breastfeeding, her chest can look completely different by her early 40s. In this case, breast revision can be a way to restore her breasts to a shape and size that makes her feel confident once again.

  • She wants to take advantage of changes in breast implants.

Today, breast implants come in a variety of shapes and materials so that women can have greater control over the feel and appearance of their enhanced breasts. Unfortunately, not all of these same options were available decades ago (or, in some cases, just a few years ago), so breast revision can be used to exchange one type of implant for another.

  • She has complications which need to be corrected.

While complications with breast surgery are very rare, some do occur and may require a surgical procedure. In some cases, the scar tissue your body natural forms around the implant becomes hardened and gives the breast a less natural feel. Or, the breast implant may rupture or change position. In these cases, breast revision may resolve these issues and restore the feel and appearance the patient once enjoyed.

  • She wants to improve upon her initial results.

There are times when a patient’s breast enhancement results aren’t exactly what she expected. In the case of breast surgery, the two breasts may be asymmetrical or the size or shape may not be what the patient had hoped for. Fortunately, breast revision is an option which can allow many patients to achieve the appearance they were hoping for.

  • Her vision for the breasts she wants has changed.

As years go by, a patient may change her opinion about the size or shape she wants her breasts to be. For these women, changing the size or shape of her breast implants may allow her to once again feel like confident in her appearance.

Breast revision can serve many purposes, and the procedure can be very different from one patient to another. However, the overall intention is always the same: to help the patient to be happier with the appearance of her breasts. To discuss whether breast revision or another plastic surgery procedure is the right choice for you, schedule a consultation with me, Dr. Franklyn Elliott. Or, for more helpful information and the latest cosmetic surgery news, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

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