How is breast reduction surgery performed?

Doctor's Answers 2

Thank you for the direct to doctor question.

Breast reduction is more than just decreasing the size of the breast. The aim of the reduction, besides relieving patients of the weight of their heavy breasts, is to reshape the breast to make it look perkier and to position the nipple in an aesthetically pleasing location on the breast mound.

Don't be dismayed if you find the technical details of the surgery challenging to understand, even plastic surgery trainees can find it tough (fear not, they eventually figure it out - otherwise they won't pass their exams).

It will be easier for you to think of breast reduction in 3 types of resulting scars:

The choice of which depends on the amount of reduction of breast tissue, excess breast skin, nipple position and desired final breast appearance. The more removal and reshaping required, the longer the scars tends to be. Ancillary procedures such as fat grafting, liposuction may be suggested to improve the final shape. In short, you have to be there in person to be assessed. This type of surgery is fairly niche as you can imagine augmentations are far more common so I suggest doing some to look for plastic surgeons who have declared their interest in this.

As complicated as this surgery may sound, the recovery is surprisingly quick. Most patients do these surgeries as a day case - they do not need to stay overnight in hospital. and they are up and about pretty much the next day. Usually by 2 weeks no more dressings are required. Patients satisfaction tends to be quite high as a lot of patients are quite affected by the enormous weight they have been carrying and the relief from losing it is quite instant and very welcomed.

Hope this is helpful to you

Best wishes

Dr Woo have given clear explanations on the procedure methods.

Depending on the amount of breast tissue to be removed, there are various ways to design the placement of breast reduction scars. But, invariably there will be a circular scar around the areola of the nipple.

Breast reduction may affect breast feeding and impair nipple sensation. So do highlight if you have intentions of breast feeding in future. A small percentage of patients may experience scarring of the skin which can infrequently result in hypertrophic scars and keloids. However, these can be managed with some treatments during recovery.

After the procedure, there is no hospitalization required but patients may be required to go home with drainage tubes after breast reduction surgery. These tubes can be removed when the 24 hour drainage is less than 20ml, and removal of drainage usually occurs within a week.

During recovery, I usually advise my patients to keep their pressure garments on for as long as possible to reduce swelling, to shape the breast and provide support for the breast. Dressings and general care for wounds are relatively easy to manage. Recovery should get easier after stitch removal which happens 1 week after the procedure and you can choose to go back to your desk job if there is minimal or no discomfort after your post-op review.

I hope my reply helps.

Best regards,

Dr Por Yong Chen

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Answered By

Dr Rui Ming Ho

Aesthetic

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