Mastopexy

Plastic surgery

Mastopexy is the plastic surgery procedure aimed at reshaping the ptotic breast (sagging) for raising sagging breasts or breasts that have lost volume. The causes that provoke progressive skin and glandular drooping are rapid weight loss with loss of the adipose component in the nipples or, in most of the cases, post-pregnancy and post-nursing mammary hypotrophy, the force of gravity and the normal tissue-ageing process.

The result is the source of great uneasiness for the woman who often has numerous negative psychological consequences. With mastopexy, the plastic surgeon manages to reshape the breast restoring its harmonious effect, eliminating the excess skin and repositioning the nipple-areola complex to a more natural and aesthetically more suitable position.

Weight loss or the end of breast-feeding, but sometimes also simply the normal loss of skin elasticity often makes the breast lax thus modifying its form. Sometimes the natural volume of the breast is satisfying and therefore only a breast-lifting operation will be enough to achieve the desired shape and to reach the correct form. Other times, the breast is not full enough and as a consequence a simultaneous mammary implant will be necessary to return volume to the breast. The usual mastopexy patient is a woman with one or more of the following characteristics: a ptotic (sagging) breast; a breast that is not very firm; nipples that point downwards; the inframammary fold mostly covered by glandular and/or skin tissue.

This kind of operation is not suitable for all women. An expert surgeon examines the breast in its shape, volume, skin quality and he or she also studies the position of the nipple and areola. He or she then, together with the patient, discusses the expectations (regarding desired shape and volume) and decides on the type of operation and the inevitable scars that will result in order to obtain the desired effect.

If the breast, besides being saggy, has also lost volume, the possibility of having a breast augmentation at the same time must be taken into consideration. If, on the contrary, it has only lost volume, it is possible to carry out only a surgical filling without lifting. Moreover, the patient will receive all the information about the operation and the necessary post-operative care.
Anaesthetics in this type of operation may be either local with sedation or general.

The choice of anaesthetics will be made by the surgeon together with the patient by evaluating the type of mastopexy to be carried out, the possibility of implants and their position under the gland or the pectoral muscle or Dual plane, as well as the emotional susceptibility of the patient and her ability to cooperate.

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