Breast Reduction San Francisco & San Jose

Many women with heavy, disproportionately large breasts experience significant physical strain, which can lead to a host of potential medical problems and lower the quality of one’s life overall. These clinical symptoms, along with feeling physically uncomfortable or self-conscious because of larger sized breasts, are issues that can be addressed with breast reduction surgery.

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What is Breast Reduction?

Breast reduction surgery removes excess breast tissue and sculpts the breasts into a perkier, smaller size and shape. A Breast reduction also has the advantage of improving symmetry between the breasts.

Breast Reduction Candidates

We encourage you to view our breast reduction before-and-after photos of past patients to see what results look like. If one or more of the following statements apply to you, then you may be a great candidate for breast reduction:

Your breasts cause pain in your back, neck and shoulders.
Your breasts make you feel self-conscious and less confident.
The size of your breasts causes bra straps to dig into your shoulders.
You have difficulty finding adequate support in lingerie and sports bras.
Exercise and other physical activity is uncomfortable because of your breast size.
You have difficulty finding tops that fit you properly and that are flattering to your figure.
Rashes or irritation develops in the crease beneath your breasts.
Your breast size leads to poor posture.
Your breasts are larger than you'd like and one is larger than the other.
Your nipples or areolas are positioned near the breast crease
You do not plan on a major change in your body weight anytime soon
You do not plan on getting pregnant or breastfeeding anytime soon
You are in good physical and mental health
You understand that surgery will lead to improvement, not perfection
You are a non-smoker, or are willing to quit well in advance of surgery

You and our team may decide to incorporate liposuction into your breast reduction procedure. Liposuction is an effective way to further shape and sculpt the breasts by removing excess fat in the underarm and breast area. However, performing liposuction as the only method for breast reduction is only ideal for those with more moderate reduction needs who have maintained skin elasticity and who do not suffer from undue breast ptosis (sagging).

The Breast Reduction Procedure

A breast reduction works by removing excess tissue and fat in the breasts, then sculpting the remaining tissue into a more shapely, perkier breast. Depending on the specific things you and our team decide to accomplish in your procedure, incisions may be made in one of the following fashions:

Around the areola: This approach favors those who require light breast reduction and gave minimal breast ptosis. It is the least invasive technique, and leaves the least amount of scarring, as the incisions are naturally camouflaged within the areola’s darker pigmentation.

Which Breast Reduction Incision Is Right for You?

In an anchor-like shape extending around the crease of your breast and around the areola – This inverted T design affords the surgeon the greatest amount of access to the breast tissue, and is therefore best suited to those with severe ptosis, asymmetry or excess fatty tissue. While some scarring may be visible, most patients find these scars fade within a year or so, while bras and swimsuits conceal them inconspicuously.

A keyhole-like shape, extending vertically from the bottom of the breast and around the areola – Also called a lollipop or vertical incision, this incision is well suited for patients clients with mild to moderate reduction needs and an average amount of breast ptosis. The surgeon gains access to recontour the breast while simultaneously repositioning it for a more youthful, graceful aesthetic. Scarring is minimal, and can be hidden within a bra or bikini.

When recommending an incision, our team will consider the degree of breast sagging and what needs to be accomplished during your procedure to reach the desired final results.

Using the incisions, we will remove excess fat, skin and tissue, and then reposition the nipples on the newly shaped breasts. The nipples remain attached to the blood vessels and nerves even though they are repositioned, so sensation in your nipples should be unaffected. The results of breast reduction will be long-lasting, though aging and weight fluctuations may slightly change breast size and shape. The only way to know if you are a good candidate for this procedure is to discuss your goals and your options with one of our surgeons.

What is the Recovery after a Breast Reduction?

Breast reduction patients can expect to go home the same day as their surgery, after a short “wait and watch” period supervised at the surgery center. Patients are typically fitted with a compression wrap, which helps to reduce swelling and preserve the breasts’ new, improved shape.

As with most major surgeries, it is not uncommon to experience discomfort, bruising, and sensations of tightness or constriction. These tend to lift within the first week of recovery; however, our team will provide you with the appropriate pain medications as part of a comprehensive aftercare regimen. You can also use ice packs and cold compresses to help relieve pain by placing these atop your bandages during early recovery.

Most of our breast reduction patients find they can return to work and normal activity within 7-10 days. More strenuous exercise such as weight lifting or aerobics is discouraged for at least 4-6 weeks. Note that because each breast may heal at a different rate, asymmetry may be present during the first phase of recuperation. Final results will vary, but will generally be complete at 2-3 months post-op, at which point you can confidently begin to replace your wardrobe.

If you are searching for an experienced, board-certified plastic surgeon to provide a greater San Francisco breast reduction procedure, please call Bay Area Aesthetic Surgery at 650-249-3169 to schedule a consultation with one of our surgeons, who provide some of the most beautiful results of breast reduction San Jose has to offer.

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Contact us!

To schedule a consultation with our team of board-certified plastic surgeons and to discuss our San Francisco breast reduction services, please call Bay Area Aesthetic Surgery at 650-249-3169.