Breast Augmentation: Cost, Reviews, Photos

Saggy stays saggy

If you have saggy breasts and want a lift you usually need a mastopexy and may have to have implants inserted at the same time.

If you are only a “little” saggy and want large implants, sometimes you do not need a lift.

It all dependson weather your nipple is above or below the inframammary line – talk to your doctor and have them explain it to you. (William B. Rosenblatt, MD, New York Plastic Surgeon)

Getting a lift with implants

Just one point of advice to add to the other comments: often when there is a little bit of sagging, and the patient says they don’t want the scars from a breast lift, the decision is made to put the implants above the muscle and let then settle into the skin envelope.

The problem is, this progresses over time to the “rock in a sock” look. There are cases where the breast is just deflated after breast feeding, so they look saggy but only need volume added back with implants, but most of the time the lift plus implants is what is needed to get the perky look in that situation. (Richard Baxter, MD, Seattle Plastic Surgeon)

How plastic surgery helps breast sagginess

Patients with multiple pregnancies and weight loss are frequently in our offices wishing to improve breast appearance, and we have several ways to help. Implants can provide increased volume and projection, and improve upper pole fullness. Mastopexy (breast lift) can reduce sagginess, raise low nipples, shift gland higher on the chest wall, improve projection, and reduce loose skin. Combining lift and augmentation can give complimentary improvements. There are many reasons why post-op photos often show residual sagginess.

First, the procedures I mentioned do not eliminate a patient’s underlying problem (laxity). They reduce or hide the laxity. Second, while implants give benefits, they also add to the weight of the breast, and some patient’s tissues continue relaxing more with the added weight. Third, gravity continues. Moderate augmentation of smaller breasts is the least likely to show future sagging. Lift and / or augmentation of breasts with pre-existing looseness will not stay as high or firm, but would be greatly improved from the untreated condition. Enjoy the benefits. (Sutton Graham II, MD, Greenville Plastic Surgeon)

Saggy Breast After Augmentation

It is important to look at the position of the nipple and breast tissue in relation to your inframammary fold (the crease under the breasts) to determine whether a breast lift will give you the best result. A breast augmentation will give your breasts a very small ‘uplift’, but if your breasts are saggy to begin with, then a breast lift will probably be needed to give you a more perky appearance. Some women do not want the scars necessary to perform a breast lift and therefore the implants can be placed over the muscle to give a very natural appearing result. Everybody’s perception of saggy can be very different. Some women want a very ‘natural’ appearance with the breast sloping downward from the chest. Others prefer more fullness with a rounded shape. Depending on your viewpoint, and your own particular breast anatomy, both of these results can be achieved. (Louis DeLuca, MD, Palm Beach Plastic Surgeon)

The fact of the matter is that those women probably should have had a breast lift in addition to their breast augmentation. The conceept of placing a large volume implant to “lift” a breast, I feel, is a bad idea because in time that patient will have a saggy augmented breast. That is not to say that they can’t then have a lift but I would prefer, personally, to perform both procedures at the same time if it is indicated.

You will find though different opinions from different plastic surgeons though because that has been what has worked for them. I encourage you to visit a board-certified plastic surgeon to have them examine you and go over the options so you can chose what is best for you. (Michael C. Edwards, MD, FACS, Las Vegas Plastic Surgeon)

Women wear breast implants differently

Breast implants may come out of a box, but women wear breast implants differently depending upon their tissues. You can of course consider additional surgery (such as a breast lift) to put your implanted breasts in a more attractive position if the current state of affairs is not to your liking. See your surgeon and maybe look into this more. (John P. Di Saia, MD, Orange Plastic Surgeon)

Saggy breasts after augmentation

An augmentation adds volume to the breasts and in some cases can give a “relative” lift. However, if your breasts are sagging to begin with, and all you have done is an augmentation, you are going to end up with larger sagging breasts. Most women in your situation may need a lift in addition to the augmentation. This usually requires additional incisions and therefore scars. Some women may not want to have additional scars and therefore choose to only have an augmentation.

Your surgeon will discuss this with you to determine if you need a lift in addition to the implants. (Albert Dabbah, MD, Boca Raton Plastic Surgeon)

Saggy Breasts after implants

The appearance of the breast after implants is related to the preoperative look. Therefore, augmentation of a sagging breast leads to a fuller, but still sagging breast.

Some patients are fine with this. They can do their own lift with a great bra, and avoid the scars and expense of a surgical breast lift.

Secondly, placing implants that are too large will create sagging over time.

This is especially true of saline implants, which are about 20% heavier than silicone gel devices. (Eric Pugash, MD, Vancouver Plastic Surgeon)

Why breast implants or enlargments with implants look saggy (ptotic) with no lift (mastopexy)?

Yes, this is true and an accurate observation. The real problem is that many of the best breast lift techniques require multiple or lengthy scars. Because the healing of scars is unpredictable, many women elect to undergo a breast implants alone. However, to answer your question on greater detail, there are many factors that can make a breast look saggy (ptotic) and include looking at: location of the breast tissue on the chest wall location of the nipple & areola relative to the crease location of the gland relative to the crease size of the areola amount of skin superior to the areola amount of skin from the areola to the crease degree of breast contriction and lack of lower pole fullness with a downward looking nipple & areola

Treating all or some of these factors come into play when considering a breast lift. In many cases a small scar may result in a nice improvement with minimal side effects. In other instances, the correction requires many scars and this is deemed undesireable by patients who prefer to have larger breasts that you can apppreciate in clothing.

Unfortunately, you are judging the results in the nude and this is not the way the majority of paitents reveal their breast augmentation results to the rest of world. (Otto Joseph Placik, MD, Chicago Plastic Surgeon)

Emphasize the look you desire during your consultation

You make a great point – with implants alone a saggy breast may just look like a larger saggy breast. Some women are perfectly satisfied with this look, however. If you choose to have an implant to give you more cleavage and upper pole fullness it is important that you explain to your surgeon that this is what you desire so a submuscular pocket can be developed to help maintain the position of the implant. (W. Tracy Hankins, MD, Las Vegas Plastic Surgeon)

Breast implants with a lift

Sometimes, a breast lift (mastopexy) may be necessary to lift the breasts when an augmentation is done simultaneously. It all depends on how much sagginess, or ptosis, is present before any surgery. A small amount of ptosis can be fixed with an implants alone.

However, with increasing amounts of ptosis the complexity of the type of lift increases. The types of mastopexies include periareolar lift, vertical lift, and Wise pattern lift. Let your local plastic surgeon determine which one is right for you to accomplish your specific goals. (Jeffrey E. Schreiber, MD, FACS, Baltimore Plastic Surgeon)

Breast lift (mastopexy) for breast rejuvenation after pregnancy

Some of the photos you’re describing may be of women who may have needed a breast lift (mastopexy) as well as an augmentation, and chose to only have the augmentation because they did not want the extra incisions of a lift. In these cases, the breasts may look just fine in a bra or swimsuit, but sag when not supported.

The good news is that these patients still have the option of a lift and it can be done as a second procedure. Remember, while an implant alone will give some lift to the breasts, it is minimal, and often a breast lift procedure must be added to get the best, long term results. (Shahram Salemy, MD, FACS, Seattle Plastic Surgeon)

Several factors should be analyzed for saggy breast implants results

Breast implants are devices intended to increase breast volume. If a patient started with a saggy breast an implant might help but the correct procedure is a breast lift.In some cases, sagging could be due to a very large implant with bottoming out. (Hisham Seify, MD, PhD, FACS, Orange County Plastic Surgeon)