Breast Lift
Conveniently located to serve the areas of Beverly Hills and Los Angeles, CA
A breast lift, or mastopexy, is a surgical procedure that lifts and reshapes breasts that have become saggy or droopy. Incisions are made around the areolae and underneath the areolae to help remove loose skin and shift the areolae upwards. The breast lift produces rounder, shapelier and more youthful breasts. Lifting the breasts can be extremely complicated and should only be performed by a true breast lift expert, Dr. Kenneth Hughes. Dr. Hughes has been performing the breast lift procedure in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills for years, and he will obtain your best breast lift result.
Contents
Before and After Photos
Types
Crescent Breast Lift
The simplest type of lift is the crescent lift and removes only a small crescent of skin above the areola. The crescent lift elongates the areolae and makes them appear very ovoid. Thus, Dr. Hughes very rarely, if ever, performs crescent lifts, and patients should be careful if that type of breast lift is offered as a treatment.
Donut Breast Lift
The donut breast lift involves making an incision around the areola and lifting the nipple-areola complex (NAC). This is also referred to as circumareolar, periareolar, concentric, or Benelli. This lift is only useful for a small amount of breast droop (breast ptosis). The donut breast lift can also improve the symmetry of the areolae or to reduce the size of the areolae.
The donut pattern tends to flatten the breast to some degree. It should not be used in cases with more breast or areolar droop. One of the main disadvantages of donut breast lift surgery is that it causes the areolae to become larger. A permanent purse-string suture is frequently placed to help with this issue, but this maneuver is only useful for a smaller percentage of cases.
The concentric pattern around the areola pulls the skin like the strings of a drawstring trash bag. Everyone knows that as the strings are pulled, the wrinkling increases. This same type of wrinkling occurs with this surgery as well.
Vertical Breast Lift or Lollipop Lift
The vertical lift can be used for a wide variety of areolar and breast ptosis or droop. The vertical incision pattern can be used for more severe droopiness. This lift involves a vertical and a periareolar incision and is referred to as vertical or lollipop lift. Dr. Hughes always tries to minimize the scars and will only use the full breast lift pattern if it is absolutely mandatory for the best shape and lift.
* Dr. Hughes does not use the cookbook type of pattern and uniquely tailors the pattern for each breast lift to produce tight and round breasts for each patient’s unique anatomy.
Full Breast Lift or Anchor Breast lift
The full breast lift is referred to as the anchor pattern, the inverted T pattern, or the Wise pattern.
The full breast lift takes the vertical pattern and adds a horizontal incision under the breast in the inframammary fold. This excision pattern is used to remove the most amount of skin and to tighten the skin and tissue envelope maximally. It is frequently necessary in vertically long breasts to remove enough skin to create the appearance of round and tight breasts that do not appear to be hanging.
Cost
Breast lift cost ranges from $12,500 to $16,000 (depending upon the type of lift required and amount of skin resection anticipated).
Please note that the price of surgery varies based on the individual needs of the patient.
Overview
Breast lifts and scar pattern decisions are complicated, but Dr. Kenneth Hughes will help select the breast lift pattern that is right for you. The patient will have the ability to decide about the type of pattern used based upon the recommendations of Dr. Hughes.
Dr. Kenneth Hughes has performed hundreds of breast lifts in Los Angeles. Patient anatomy varies greatly from perfectly round breasts that are close together to constricted breasts that are far apart. Some breasts have a little droop or ptosis, and some breasts have a lot of droop. Dr. Hughes knows how to accomplish results that look natural yet enhanced.
In some cases, a breast lift with implants may be the best enhancement option. Also called a breast augmentation with lift or an augmentation mastopexy, this innovative combination procedure addresses breast sag while increasing volume and projection. If you are trying to decide between a breast lift without implants and an augmentation mastopexy, Dr. Hughes will be happy to help you choose the right option for you.
Viewing Dr. Kenneth Hughes’s breast lift before and after photos will give you an idea of what type of transformation you can expect for your breast lift procedure at Hughes Plastic Surgery in Los Angeles.
Revision Surgery
In addition, Dr. Kenneth Hughes is frequently tasked with performing breast lift revisions in cases where the shape of the breasts is suboptimal, the level of lift was inadequate, the scars are poor or widened, or the symmetry needs to be improved.
Sometimes the blood supply is compromised from previous surgeries, and these surgeries are complicated by breast implant issues including capsular contracture. Dr. Kenneth B. Hughes is a well-recognized author on breast revision surgery and has published articles on breast augmentation revision in the Annals of Plastic Surgery.
Recovery
Dr. Hughes typically performs a full breast lift surgery in about 2 hours, and the patient leaves the surgery center in another 1 to 2 hours following recovery. The breast lift surgery in most cases is not particularly painful, but the patient must follow Dr. Hughes’s postoperative instructions to experience optimal healing and the best breast lift results possible.
Incision separation and scar widening are two complications that can occur if patients are too active, place tension on the incisions, or do not follow the instructions of during recovery. Please do not shower or get any of the incisions wet until Dr. Hughes tells you to so, and do not clean the incisions or place any ointment on them. Leave the incisions alone and keep the incisions dry.
It will take at least 6 weeks before a patient may resume exercise, as the incisions can open if this is started too early, and this incision opening can ruin a result (which may require a surgical revision).
Videos
Dressings
- You will have an abdominal binder over your abdominal dressings. Change dressings as needed. YOU SHOULD WEAR THE BINDER 24-7 FOR 6 WEEKS, ONLY REMOVE FOR SHOWERING.
- It is normal to have numbness in the surgical sites for several weeks or months.
- Do not use a heating pad or ice around the surgical sites. It could cause a burn.
- You may place new dressings if they become saturated and put on the same garment as instructed, making sure to secure it.
Contact Us
Patients who are interested in a breast lift procedure in Los Angeles or Beverly Hills should contact the office of Dr. Kenneth Hughes for a consultation. Dr. Hughes will be available to answer any questions you may have.
FAQ
Should I get a breast implant by itself or a breast implant with a breast lift?
If you like the size of your breasts, then a lift can be performed by itself. If you would like the breasts larger, you can have breast augmentation at the same time. Another reason to add an implant would be to improve the fullness of the breasts, particularly at the top of the breasts.
Will I be smaller in size after breast lift surgery?
Although only skin is typically removed in a breast lift procedure that is a few grams, the breasts will appear smaller. This is due to the fact that the same mass is wrapped in a smaller soft tissue envelope and increases the density. The less-dense the breast and the more the surface area of skin that is removed, the larger the apparent reduction in size.
What is the difference between a breast lift and a breast reduction?
Both procedures will lift your breasts with similar scar patterns. The breast lift will not remove any breast tissue in general and is purely cosmetic. The breast reduction will remove breast tissue and may be necessary in women with larger breasts (macromastia) to improve back, neck, and shoulder girdle pain.
I do not like the size or shape of my areola. What can be done?
Breast lift incisions can be used to alter the size or shape of the areola at the same time a lift surgery is performed.
