Time and age change our bodies, and the breasts are no exception. Both breast lift surgery and breast augmentation are popular with our patients, but you may not know which procedure is right for you. These surgeries can help women look younger and more feminine, but each option provides slightly different results. This blog post will describe the benefits of each procedure and explain the dramatic results that can come from combining both.
What’s the Difference Between a Breast Lift and Breast Augmentation?
Before deciding which option is better suited to your goals, it’s important to know the basics of each procedure.
Breast Lift
A breast lift—also called a mastopexy—is mainly focused on correcting sagging that is caused by age or pregnancy. It raises the position of the breasts along the chest wall to give a youthful, perkier appearance. You may want your nipples repositioned, as the surgery requires the surgeon to make an incision around the nipple area. The doctor can also remove excess skin and gland tissue to create a more visually appealing breast. You can see the results of a breast lift alone in the 2 before and after pictures below.
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Breast Augmentation
Breast augmentation, on the other hand, is focused more on the size of your breasts. Breast implants boost volume or add symmetry. You can choose between a variety of implant types (such as saline or silicone) to customize the size, shape, and fullness of your breasts. Breast augmentation is not a “one size fits all” procedure, so I personalize each surgery so the breasts are in harmony with your unique body shape.
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The recovery time following a breast lift or breast augmentation is similar, but a lift usually involves more incisions than augmentation. You can learn more about what to expect during breast augmentation recovery in an earlier blog post.
Can You Combine a Breast Lift With Implants?
Pregnancy, breastfeeding, and age can all affect the appearance and elasticity of breast tissue. This often results in sagging breasts that lose volume. Combining a breast lift with a breast augmentation can fix all of these issues in one surgery. A breast lift helps create a perkier, youthful look while breast augmentation enhances size and body proportions.
There are many reasons women choose to combine these popular procedures. A few of those reasons include:
- Maximizing results
- Minimizing surgical risks
- Saving money
- Requiring only a single recovery time
When a breast lift and implants are used together, the results are more dramatic and transformative, as you can see in the before and after photos below. Occasionally, a patient has only one specific issue to address (such as sagging with no loss of volume), but most women experience multiple issues that require a multifaceted approach. And combining a lift with implants is safe when performed by a board-certified plastic surgeon.
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Find Your Best Fit
Finding the surgery best suited to your goals depends on your situation. There are a few things to consider when choosing between a breast lift and a breast augmentation, such as:
- Do you plan to continue having children?
- How frequent or intensive is your exercise routine?
- Do you like to dress more modestly?
Your lifestyle, social circles, and surgery expectations all play a part in decision-making, so discuss your options with a board-certified plastic surgeon. Overall, the general rule is that placing an implant in a saggy, droopy breast is not ideal and will probably require more than one procedure.
If you would like to learn more about your breast lift and breast augmentation options in Idaho Falls and Jackson Hole, you can have a private, one-on-one meeting with our certified staff. Request a consultation online or by calling our practice at (208) 881-5351.
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