The Two Most Frequent Concerns: Scars and Downtime
At the time of consultation, some women who need a breast lift realize this before meeting with me. For others, it is a complete surprise. For both, there are two main concerns, and this holds true whether they are undergoing a simulatneous breast augmentation with implants or fat or neither. The first concern is the scars, the second concern is the pain and downtime.
I will address the latter concern first. While there is far more incision length when performing a lift with a breast augmentation than when performing an augmentation alone, I really do not see much of a difference in post operative discomfort after surgery. I take the same amount of care in handling the delicate breast tissues as gently and atraumatically as possible, minimizing blood loss when performing a breast lift as I do when performing a breast augmentation. While the two procedures are very different with regard to what portions of the breast are surgically accessed and managed, I find that my patients do not have that much discomfort and downtime after a breast lift. When it comes to discomfort based upon which lift procedure is performed, perhaps a little more discomfort from the more extensive anchor (Wise pattern) procedure than a simple, around the areola (periareolar) type lift. However, with all three variations of breast lift, the discomfort is easily managed without narcotics. As of this writing, it has been quite a few years since I prescribed narcotics to a patient who underwent a breast lift, or even a breast lift with implants or fat for that matter.
The fact is, my patients experience a One Day Recovery (that's 24 hours!) when I perform a breast augmenatation or a breast augmentation with a lift. The patient in the below video describes her experience on her first follow up visit two days after a breast augmentation with implants, a lift and GalaFlex mesh for soft tissue support:
The other concern is scarring. When performing only a breast augmentation, the scar is 4 cm (1.5 inches) and lies within the lower breast crease. This usually fades to a thin white line in caucasion patients, a thin darker line in patients with darker skin. I encourage my patients to follow up for at least one year, and most, but not all patients do so. What I observe is that the scar tends to be red early on, and then fades ultimately to a thin line as previously described. However, the time that it takes to do so is highly variable. Generally, younger patients have redness longer than older patients. In a young patient, it may take 1-3 years for the scar to fade. In an older patient, it can occur sometimes in less than one year. For patients with just a small scar in the lower breast crease (inframammary fold) after a breast augmentation, I recommend scar management consisting of scar massage and application of SkinMedica Scar gel. For patients with a visible scar on the breast, that is one around the areola and/or a vertical scar from the areola to the lower breast crease, I recommend the same massage and scar gel as for those with just a smaller breast crease scar, but also recommend the use of lasers (Profractional and BBL-Broadband Light) to begin at eight weeks with additional treatments every 3-4 weeks until the scar fades adequately. The BBL helps to pull the redness out of the scar and the Profractional laser softens the scar. Some patients elect to do this, some do not. For those who tend to make thicker, wider, or raised scars, this is highly recommended.
Additional information regarding recovery with a combined breast augmentation and breast lift can be found here.
Additional information regarding the "One Day Recovery Breast Augmentation" recovery process which also applies to breast augmentation with a breast lift as well as breast lifts alone can be found here.
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SECTIONS - Breast Lift/Mastopexy with Implants
Chapters - Breast Augmentation Guide
- Motiva Breast Implants
- Intro to Breast Augmentation
- Five key decisions you need to make
- One-Day Recovery Breast Augmentation
- Anesthesia – General, Sedation or Local?
- Breast Lift (Mastopexy) with/without Implants or Fat
- What else should I know about breast augmentation?
- Important Things to Consider When You Decide to Move Forward With Breast Augmentation
- Revision of breast augmentation
- ALCL and Breast Implant Illness
