Breast Reduction - General Cosmetic Surgery Matters

The procedure of breast reduction, also known as reduction mammaplasty, involves a surgical operation to reduce the size of a woman’s breasts. Now some may ask why a woman would want to reduce the size of her breasts. The answer is quite simple; large breasts can cause a lot of medical problems for women. These problems include back, neck, and shoulder pain, as well as chronic headaches and posture complications.

Those women who decide to have breast reduction surgery do so not because they are looking for an easy way to solve a problem, but because many times it is the only effective method. The drugs that women take to fight the pain they experience can also create additional complications for their health. Some try to lose weight through diet and exercise but this rarely reduces the breast size sufficiently. Also, the large breasts themselves interfere with comfortable and consistent exercise.

Breast reduction involves a plastic surgeon gaining access to breast tissue and removing a sufficient amount to reduce the breast size considerably. This of course will produce excess skin as well, and so this will be removed too. The combination of these two approaches can produce breast sizes that are reduced enough to ease pain, stop headaches, and correct posture problems. Many women have undergone the breast reduction procedure with great success.

During breast reduction, just like in a breast lift the nipples will be moved to a higher position on the breast. Consequently there is going to be some noticeable scarring produced from this procedure, but unfortunately it is not avoidable. In order to remove the loose skin, and move the nipple higher some scarring will have to take place. This is a trade-off and must be considered carefully. Of course scarring does fade over time, but you must still weigh the benefits.

The breast reduction procedure does require general anesthesia and is about a four hour operation at the hospital. This is not an outpatient operation and you will be required to stay overnight. You can also expect some bruising, and swelling as a result of the operation, but it will disappear in about three weeks time. The doctor will also have you on medications and antibiotics so no infection can set in. Recovery time is two to four weeks for breast reduction surgery, but most women are back to work in two weeks.