What is Mammoplasty?
Simply put, mammoplasty (commonly called breast reduction) is tissue and/or skin reduction of the breast. A patient goes in for surgery, gets anesthetic, the doctor cuts about four holes in the breast to remove the tissue, reshapes the breast and nipples, stitches up the incisions and 3-5 hours later the patient has smaller breast.
Why does a person need Mammoplasty?
There are cosmetic and medical reasons that a mammoplasty is needed. The medical reasons are related to back and neck pain which can lead to headaches, lack of exercise due to the pain of some sports from women with large breast, and bad posture. Some cosmetic reasons are that the body is not proportionate to the breast, embarrassment, not being able to shop in regular stores, etc.
Risks during surgery:
1. You can experience excessive bleeding during surgery. Many times the patient is given a medical bra and tubes are inserted in the breast to help with leaking after the surgery.
2. There is a risk of a blood clot that can travel through your veins into your heart or lungs (otherwise known as pulmonary embolism)
*please note this is extremely rare.
Possible Side Effects:
1. You may lose the ability to breast feed for a short time after the surgery or this could be a permanent side effect. The contributing factor on this is in how much breast tissue the doctor removed.
2. You will experience some pain and mild discomfort during the recovery period.
3. There will also be some swelling and bruising during the recovery period.
4. You will most likely have scars where the incisions were made but if you have a good doctor the scars will be easily covered by clothing and some bikini tops. Over time the scar will fade but most likely never go away. Using products like vitamin E on the scars may help reduce the scarring.
5. If your nipple had to be removed and relocated you will probably never have feeling in them again. This is due to the fact that the nipple would have been severed from the nerve.
6. Some women lose feeling in their breast either partially or completely. In general a larger breasted woman has minimal feelings in their breast so this does not seem to be a big deterrent.
Mammoplasty or breast reduction is a fairly safe procedure for women. The side effects are minimal in comparison to the positives if you are doing the surgery for medical reasons. If you are only doing the surgery for cosmetic reasons you may want to seek out alternatives. If the reason behind the decision to get this surgery is not medical you may find that there isn’t anything wrong with your breast size and discover it may only be your perception which is usually colored by things that have happened in the past.
Please remember I am a writer not a doctor and the information in this article is a result of things learned in school and research I have done for my own interests. Also seek medical consultation in these areas.
The surgical facelift, despite attempts to exercise caution, has had disastrous results in mammoplasty with a number of surgeons being sued in the process.
