What is Breast Reduction Surgery?

Breast reduction surgery also referred to as reduction mammoplasty, is a procedure of removing excess fat, breast tissue, and skin from the breasts to achieve a proportionate breast size. This surgery is done to ease the discomfort due to excessively large breasts – a condition called macromastia.

Macromastia can cause physical and emotional distress to women. The patient might feel constant discomfort from the excessive size and heavyweight of the breasts. This pain and discomfort can make it challenging for the patients to perform physical activities like running, gym, jumping, etc. Along with physical ailments, some patients suffer from emotional distress leading to some serious mental health problems.

The most common reason patients opt for breast reduction surgery are medical issues but some also go for surgery if they are not happy with the size of their breasts. Some opt for it because of kosmetica reasons citing several factors – social stigmas, wardrobe issues, etc.

Who is a good candidate for breast reduction surgery?

Any woman with large breasts is a good candidate for breast reduction surgery. Women who have large breasts often complain about chronic back pain, neck pain, and shoulder pain. They get a little tilted body posture due to heavy breasts, which results in back pain.

Women who face other issues due to large breasts such as – skin rash and irritation, nerve pain, restricted outdoor or indoor activity should also opt for breast reduction surgery. If you are looking to enhance your poor self-image and fit into clothing then this surgery will help you to a great extent.

Doctors recommend the following people to not opt for breast reduction surgery –

-Women who smoke
-Women who have uncontrolled diabetes
-Women suffering from a serious disease that contraindicate general anesthesia.
-Breast reduction is not confined to any age group. Adult women of any age can opt for breast reduction surgery.       -Teenagers above 17 years of age can also undergo this surgery if their problem is too serious to interfere with their daily normal life. Well, we would recommend you consult a plastic surgeon before taking any decision.

Benefits of Breast Reduction surgery

Breast reduction surgery can be beneficial to a great extent, to list a few –

-The pain associated with heavy breasts is gone, right away!
-Fit into every piece of clothing without worrying about your breast/bra size
-Get rid of back pain, neck pain and shoulder pain caused due to heavy breasts
-Get a correct body posture with normal size breasts
-Move away with all the demoralizing combination of physical pain, emotional stress, and discomfort caused by large breasts.
-Increase in positivity feeling.
-Breast Reduction Surgery Procedures
-The breast reduction surgery is performed under general anaesthesia and the procedure can last from 3 to 4 hours or more depending upon the volume of breast reduction.

The steps that our surgeons at Kosmetica Hospital follow are –

-Mark the incision lines and area of breast reduction in standing position before surgery.
-Start the procedure with general anaesthesia
-Make the incisions as marked previously
-Proceed with the dissection to remove extra breast tissue along with fat and skin and shift the nipple-areola to the desired level.
-Start closure by closing the pillars of the breast for support.
-Proceed to close the entire incision line and lastly close the nipple-areola complex.
-Apply supportive dressing and the patient is reversed from anesthesia.
-The patient is observed in the recovery room for a couple of hours after surgery and then shifted to her room.
-The final closure of surgical incisions leaves a circular scar around the areola that becomes almost inconspicuous over a period of time and another vertical scar running from the center of the areola downward up to the crease below the breast (infra mammary crease), which also fades nicely within few months.

Breast Reduction Risks/complications

There can be possible risks associated with breast reduction surgery. All patients are informed about the possible complications associated with the surgery and their treatment during pre-operative counseling. Some of the possible complications are-

Bleeding – Bleeding is an uncommon complication. Most bleeding episodes if happen at all, happen in the early postoperative period. Pressure is the most effective method to deal with bleeding. When not amenable to pressure, bleeding needs to be stopped in operation theatre under anesthesia.

Loss of sensation – Some patients complain about the decrease or losing sensations over the nipple and areola of one or both breasts. However, in most of the patients, sensations return over a period of time.

Problems with breastfeeding – Patients who become pregnant after the surgery and plan to breastfeed their babies might face some difficulty with the flow of the milk from their nipples. They can sometimes develop milk cysts also. However, young girls suffering from massive virginal hypertrophy of their breasts prefer to undergo breast reduction surgery due to extremely satisfying results despite the possibility of not able to breastfeed.

Asymmetry of breasts – Natural asymmetry of breasts is very common and when breasts enlarge in size, this asymmetry becomes obvious and more evident. In fact, most of the patients presenting for breast reduction surgery already have mild to moderate degrees of breast asymmetry. Breast reduction surgery can decrease this asymmetry by differential reduction of tissues from both breasts and make them more symmetrical. However, in certain cases, mild asymmetry of breasts persists after the breast reduction surgery and patients are informed about this.

There can be other minor complications like the collection of clear fluid (seroma) within the breast, mild gaping of the suture line, difficulty in healing, bad scar formation, keloid development, infection and etc. People suffering from obesity and diabetes are on the higher side of developing complications. So, before surgery, it is advisable to consult your breast reduction surgeon at Kosmetica Hospital about your recovery, results, and possible complications.

Breast Reduction Recovery

Though breast reduction is major surgery with a very long operation time, recovery is very quick and uneventful in almost all patients. At Kosmetica Hospital, patients are allowed sips of water and liquids after the operation once they are comfortable and recovered fully from the effects of anesthesia. Injectable pain killer is usually not required and most patients leave the hospital on the same day evening. While leaving the hospital, patients are instructed regarding their medications, positions to be avoided, type of clothing to wear and schedule of their follow-up visit is fixed. They are given 24 X 7 contact numbers in case they feel some problem with their recovery process at home. Patients coming from remote places are provided with the facility to stay overnight and discharged the next day after a doctor’s visit. In special situations, Kosmetica Hospital has provision for a longer duration of stay for the patients and their monitored care. After healing of incisions and stating daily routine life, patients are advised to follow up at periodic intervals in which they are guided regarding the care of their operated area and measures to control and reduce scar formation.

Once discharged from the hospital, the patient can move around slowly in the home and is allowed to operate a computer, laptop, or mobile from the next day of surgery. She is allowed to resume gentle household work after 3 – 5 days. Depending upon the patient’s recovery process and her pain response, the limit to her work and activity is relaxed by the surgeon. She can join her office and start traveling by public transport after 7 – 10 days of surgery. However, strenuous physical activities like gym, swimming, and heavy weight lifting are to be strictly avoided for 6 weeks after the surgery. The patient is advised to wear a sports bra for at least 4 – 6 weeks after the