Pair Breast Augmentation With a Lift
Some patients come to me wanting more volume, and implants alone will give them exactly what they're looking for. But there's another group where implants alone won't get the job done. If the skin has lost its elasticity and the breast tissue has dropped, adding volume to a breast that's already sagging just gives you a larger sagging breast. That's not a result anyone wants.
A breast lift, or mastopexy, reshapes and repositions the breast on the chest wall. When a patient receives breast augmentation and a breast lift, we're addressing both volume and position at the same time. These results tend to be among the most dramatic and satisfying I produce at my Reno office.
Common Scenarios
When a Breast Lift May Be Appropriate
Here are some common situations in which I often recommend a patient pair their breast augmentation with a lift:
Massive Weight Loss
Losing a large amount of weight is a real accomplishment, but the skin doesn't always conform to your new contours. Breast tissue is largely fat, so significant weight loss frequently results in deflated breasts with skin that has been stretched beyond its ability to contract back. Implants restore the volume that was lost, but the lift is what removes the excess skin and returns the breast to a natural-looking, youthful position on the chest. Without it, the implant simply fills a pocket that's pointing in the wrong direction.
Pregnancy or Breastfeeding
Pregnancy causes the breasts to expand significantly, and breastfeeding continues that cycle of stretching. By the time a patient is done nursing, the breasts have often lost volume, the skin has stretched, and the nipple has migrated downward. Many of the women I see in this situation describe their breasts as feeling empty or flat at the bottom. An implant replaces the lost volume, and the lift corrects the position of the nipple and the shape of the breast.
Age and Natural Changes
Gravity and time affect everyone. As the skin loses collagen and elasticity over the years, the ligaments that support breast tissue gradually stretch. The result is a breast that has descended on the chest wall with a nipple that points downward rather than forward. Many of these patients are happy with their cup size, but unhappy with their breast position and shape. Adding an implant restores upper pole fullness, and the lift repositions everything so the breast looks closer to how it did years earlier.
Prior Augmentation
I see patients fairly often who had implants placed years ago and are now unhappy with how their breasts look. Implants don't age the way surrounding tissue does. Over time, the skin and tissue can stretch and sag around a static implant, creating a bottomed-out appearance where the implant sits too low and the upper breast looks empty. In these cases, we may replace or resize the implant and perform a lift to reposition the breast around it.
Tuberous Breast Deformity
Some women have tuberous breasts, or breasts that don't grow as they should during puberty. Instead of developing rounder, fuller breasts, they develop narrow, elongated breasts. Standard breast augmentation can't fully address this deformity. The tissue needs to be released and redistributed, the crease needs to be lowered, and the areola often needs to be reduced. In cases such as these, augmentation can add volume and a modified lift can reshape the base and areola.
Real Results
The Results Speak for Themselves
I've performed this combined procedure on patients after significant weight loss, after having children, and after the aging process has taken a toll on the body. The transformations are consistently among the most meaningful work I do. Browse my before-and-after gallery to see real results from real Reno patients.
One Procedure, One Recovery
Safely Combining Procedures
Breast augmentation and a lift typically won't require two separate surgeries. I can safely combine them into one streamlined procedure.
Staging the procedures separately means two rounds of anesthesia, two recovery periods, and significantly more time before you see a final result. For most patients, that's unnecessary. When the procedures are performed together, the recovery is no longer than it would be for either procedure on its own, and I can design the result as a whole.
There are occasional cases where staging makes sense, typically when the degree of ptosis is severe and the skin quality is poor enough that adding an implant at the same time would put too much tension on the incisions. In those situations, I'll do the lift first, let everything heal and settle, and then place the implants in a second procedure. I'll let you know which approach I think is right for your specific anatomy during your consultation.
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Every patient is different. The best way to know whether a combined procedure is right for you is to come in and talk about it.
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