How do you determine if your breasts are aesthetically appealing? There is no exact definition because beauty is indeed all a matter of perception. However, they can be distinguished by the following factors: size, shape, contour and skin condition. If your breasts are saggy, a skilled plastic surgeon can help make them tighter, perky and firmer by removing the extra drooping skin and tightening the breast tissue through a procedure called mastopexy.
A mastopexy, or more commonly known as a breast lift, will help you feel happier with your breasts. However, like all surgeries, it will leave behind scars.
Breast Mastopexy Scars
This mammoplasty procedure can help restore a woman’s self-esteem by making her breasts firmer, perky and raised. A breast lift makes her appear youthful and enhances her femininity. The procedure involves creating incision and removing surplus skin, which means that scars will emerge on your breasts after the surgery.
The mastopexy scars will be visible during the first few months after the surgery, and it may appear red and lumpy. As time passes, the scars will fade and become less noticeable. However, the scars will still not permanently disappear. Your surgeon may prescribe you cortisone cream or silicone sheeting in order to make the scars less visible.
While most breast lift patients accept the fact that the scars are a trade-off for tighter, raised and perky breasts, there are others who are turned off by the scarring. Furthermore, there are patients who may experience abnormal or excessive scarring, which can lead to undesirable and unimpressive results. Genetics, health and skin condition does play a major role on the results, so you should provide your doctor with full disclosure.
Pregnancy and Scarring
If you are planning to get pregnant in the foreseeable future, you should postpone your mastopexy. This is because pregnancy and breastfeeding can affect the shape of your breast and may create complications later on. Moreover, pregnancy can affect the aesthetic results you achieved by making your breasts saggy. If this happens, you may want to undergo another breast lift surgery, which would result in additional and more noticeable scars.
The Incision Types and Surgical Technique
The shape and severity of scars after a mastopexy also depends on the type of incision created by your surgeon during the surgery. The most common incisions used for breast lifting are:
- Benelli
- Vertical
- Inverted T
Each of these incisions will leave behind a different scar. The Benelli incision involves the least skin removal, while the inverted T removes the most skin out of all three. The Benelli scar emerges around the areola’s edge, whereas the inverted T forms two scars: a perpendicular and a flat one. As for the vertical incision, this leaves a scar in the breast’s central area under the breasts.
The appearance of your scars after breast lifting relies heavily on the surgical techniques and incision types used to perform the procedure. Your plastic surgeon should discuss with you the type of scars linked with each method of mastopexy before the surgery.
Crescent Lift
The crescent lift technique is for patients who have very little breast sagginess to fix. This technique involves the making incisions on the upper half of the areola border. This technique is used rarely in mastopexy alone, but it is used often when combining mastopexy with breast augmentation.
The “Donut” Lift
The technique is used for patients who have mild breast roping, and are expected to benefit from mastopexy. This technique involves the creation of a spherical incision around the border of the areola. This is also normally used when breast augmentation is combined with breast mastopexy. This technique delivers impressive results when it comes to decreasing the size of the areola.
“Lollipop” lift
The lollipop lift is a very common mastopexy technique. It provides the surgeon the opportunity to take out surplus skin and then sculpt the full breast with simple and perfectly camouflaged scars. Also known as the the vertical lift, this technique creates two incisions. One incision runs about the border of the areola, while the other is created steeply down from the end of the areola to the inframammary crease.
Inverted T
This inverted T incision is for women who have substantially flabby and overhanging breasts. This incision technique provides the surgeon the freedom to take out a substantial amount of surplus skin and drooping tissue from the breasts, resulting in raised, perky and beautiful breasts. One incision is made around the areola’s border, the other perpendicular from the base of the areola to the breast fold, and finally a third one alongside the inframammary crease, which is concealed in the fold. This method delivers impressive aesthetic results when it comes to how tight and perky your breasts will look like. However, the scarring is substantial and visible.
The Best Looking Scar
If your goal was to get minimum scarring or the best-appearing scar, the Benelli technique would be the most suitable for you. It will create a perfectly camouflaged scar that will wane into your nipple line over time. However, there are many women who prefer the vertical scar because it is situated on the breast’s bottom, which hides it fairly well.
On the other hand, the inverted T can deliver you excellent improvements in your breast structure, but the scars are the least appealing. It is also noteworthy that the inverted T is the most used incision technique in the United States because it has been in use for longer, and women are less likely to take any risks with the new incision methods.
Complications of scars
Some scars after the mastopexy may trigger complications. One of the common problems that often follow the inverted T technique is a wound-healing problem. According to a study that appeared in the journal “Wounds,” the inverted T technique has a wound complication rate of 10 percent, which is relatively high.
Conclusion
If you are considering undergoing breast mastopexy to give your breasts a facelift, make sure to discuss your aesthetic goals with the plastic surgeon, especially the scar you expect to see after the surgery. Upon examination, your surgeon should be able to give you a recommendation on the technique to use, and they will be able to tell you exactly where and how the scar will appear. You may also ask the surgeon to show you pictures of how the scars usually look. To decrease your risk of scar complications, it is important to select only a board-certified and experienced plastic surgeon to perform your mastopexy.
Surgeons understand that the type of breast implant suitable for you depends on a number of factors, such as your aesthetic goals, the breast shape and size you want to achieve, your current breast anatomy, your budget, and possible associated risks and complications. But overall, your plastic surgeon’s skills and experience will play a crucial role in defining the pros and cons of saline breast implants.