Mastopexy (Breast Lift)

What is breast lift or mastopexy?

Over time, functional and structural changes occur in women that cause the breasts to lose their shape and elasticity, causing them to sag. This affects female self-esteem since the female´s bust has always been considered a sign of beauty and youth.

Bogota´s plastic surgeon Dr. Guevara specializes in Mastopexy (breast lift), which involves removing excess skin from the breasts, to make them more attractive.

Mastopexy or  breast lift  is a surgical procedure to improve the shape and raise a sagging breast, the size of the areola may also be reduced or increased with breast implants if it is necessary to increase its volume. This procedure manages to firm and improve the shape of the chest giving them their youthful and sensual appearance back.

For whom is a mastopexy or breast lift  recommended?

Mastopexy can improve your appearance and self-confidence, but it won’t necessarily change your appearance to match your ideal, nor will it make others treat you differently. The best candidates for mastopexy are healthy, emotionally stable people, women who are realistic about the surgery that can be performed. The best results are commonly achieved in women with small breast drops. Breasts of any size can be lifted, but the results don´t last that long in very heavy breasts (by their gland or prosthesis), in this type of breast a reduction of breast content must be also performed. Many women seek mastopexy because pregnancy has left skin stretched and less volume in their breasts. However, if you plan to have more children, it may be a clever idea to defer the lift of your breasts. While there are no special risks that affect future pregnancies (e.g. mastopexy commonly does not prevent breastfeeding), pregnancy and lack of skin elasticity is likely to cause your breasts to stretch again and counteract the results of the procedure.

Benefits of breast lifting

Breast pexia or mastopexy are performed in a single intervention (between 1,5 and 3 hours). It uses local anesthesia and sedation that allows a quick recovery of the patient.

• Natural results.
• In principle it does not affect breastfeeding but it will be the medical surgeon who will finally guide the patient.
• Quick recovery.

Types of mastopexy

Breast lift can be performed with or without silicone breast prostheses, depending on the characteristics of the breast and the desire of the woman to have a more or less bulky breast. The use of prostheses can reduce the size of the resulting scar. Fat grafts or lipofilling may also be used.

Mastopexy with silicone prosthetics

Silicone prostheses are added when in addition to raising the breast it is needed to give it more volume or in order to have a smaller scar. We are specialists in the realization of the mastopexy surgery with anatomical silicone implants and a minimal scar. Sometimes it is possible to perform mastopexy with a single periareolar scar (around the areola) or even a small one in the sub mammary groove.

Breast lift with its own fat

Breast lift surgery with your own fat is done using fat previously extracted from another body area. It is an excellent choice when you do not want a significant increase in volume. Fat can also be used in conjunction with implants.

Protein-free and fat-free mastopexy

When there is enough glandular tissue and the patient does not want implants or to increase the size of the chest (or wants to decrease the size; reduction mastopexy), the operation is performed without using breast prostheses or fat grafts. The existing tissue (skin, gland and fatty tissue) is remodeled.

Techniques used in mastopexy

There are several breast lifting techniques, and they depend heavily on your needs as a patient and the surgeon’s preference or training. These include:

Half-moon: This technique involves removing a half-moon-shaped piece of tissue above the areola and re-stitching the higher tissue. This creates a minor lift for patients who have mild breast ptosis.

Periareolar mastopexy: This technique is considered less invasive and was designed so that the scars remain around the areolas. A piece of doughnut-shaped tissue is extracted around the edge of the areola and the tissue surrounding to the areola is sutured. The incisions are usually closed with traditional sutures. Sometimes a little more tissue is extracted above the areola (as with the crescent lift) to compensate for the lifting effect when suture. The result is a taller, rounder breast after the operation.

Lollipop (vertical scar, Lejour): This lift is the same as the previous one but with straight incisions from under the areolas to the breast folds (fold). This is for those who have an average ptosis.

Complete mastopexy (anchor): The most commonly used mastopexy technique consists of an anchor-shaped incision that begins at the base of the areola, vertically to the place where the breast meets the rib cage. The incision then cuts a crescent-shaped piece of skin just above where the breast attaches to the rib cage. Nipple repositioning is necessary with this technique as the nipple must be removed. This is considered one of the most important healing techniques but is sometimes necessary in the case of very fallen breasts. With standard mastopexy, incisions are made as an anchor in the breast’s natural fold to the areola (darker skin area) and nipple area.