Who are ideal candidates for mastopexy?
Patients who come to the office for a mastopexy are usually women who have had one or more pregnancies, who have lost a lot of weight or who simply see their breasts sagging and empty due to the passage of time.
What does the surgery consist of and how will the scars look like?
There are many techniques to perform a mastopexy, however all of them want to achieve three fundamental objectives. First, to restore shape and volume to a beautiful breast, second, to lift the nipple areola complex and third, to minimize scars. Scars that depending on the degree of ptosis, which would be the fall of the breast, may be different. For example in a case of mild ptosis we can perform a mastopexy only using a periareolar scar, while in a moderate ptosis we may also need a vertical scar from the areola to the submammary fold, and in a more severe ptosis we may also need a scar in the submammary fold. This is because there is a fundamental difference, a discrepancy, between the content which is the volume of the breast and the skin which is the continent, and we need to remove that excess skin. In addition, if the patient desires a breast augmentation, or simply because the circumstances require it, we can restore the volume of the breasts by using a prosthesis.
What types of prostheses are there and which is the most appropriate?
In terms of shape, there are two types of breast prostheses, the round prosthesis and the anatomical prosthesis. The anatomical type prosthesis in a case of mild ptosis can lift the nipple-areola complex and restore the volume of the breast. However, not in all patients we can achieve a mastopexy only with the use of an anatomical prosthesis. That is why a thorough physical examination is essential to assess the quality of the skin, the sagging of the tissues and the loss of breast volume, all before making a decision with the patient about the scars needed to perform mastopexy and the most appropriate techniques to obtain the most beautiful result possible.