Breast Lift Surgery (Mastopexy)

Why Women Get Breast Lift Surgery

Over time, the shape and contours of a woman’s body change. Breast skin loses its youthful elasticity and breasts lose their firmness and shape. This happens because of age, weight fluctuations or pregnancy. Some women with large breasts can experience sagging or drooping earlier in life due to the weight of their breast tissue. With other women, heredity determines the look and placement of the breasts. Breast surgery can give the breasts a more youthful look and feel.

Breast lift surgery, or mastopexy, is designed to tighten breast tissue and restore the breasts to a natural-looking position on your figure. By removing excess skin and repairing muscle tissue, Bellevue cosmetic surgeon Dr. Alex Sobel can successfully relocate the breasts higher on the chest. Breast lift alone will not significantly change the size of your breasts, but can often help them appear fuller.

Seattle women can explore all their options with us—we offer a full range of breast and body surgeries to enhance and reshape your figure. We work to provide natural, beautiful results which will give you a renewed sense of confidence.

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Customizing Your Breast Lift

When you come to our office, you will first consult with Bellevue breast lift surgeon Dr. Alexander Sobel. Together, we will discuss your surgical options and answer any questions you may have about the procedure. Women often want to combine breast lift surgery with breast augmentation or breast reduction. Dr. Sobel also has great expertise in fat grafting to the breasts, for women who want increased fullness without implants. Based on your aesthetic goals, we will create a customized surgical plan that addresses your needs and expectations. Seattle patients often choose to have more than one procedure at a time to save on anesthesia costs, minimize downtime, and maximize results!

Breast Lift Techniques & Incision Options

Your breast lift incisions will depend on how much sagging you are experiencing, and the degree of correction you’d like to see. Following is a general guideline to breast lift incisions. If you plan to have breast implants inserted during the operation, any of the following incision options can be used.

• Crescent Mastopexy: This is a half-moon shaped incision around the areola. Patients with minimal sagging may benefit from this most minimal incision.
• Peri-Areolar Mastopexy: This is a full circle incision around the areola. Patients with moderate sagging can have this type of breast lift.
• Vertical Mastopexy: This incision is lollipop shaped: the top of the “lollipop” is a circle around the areola, and the stick is a central incision from the bottom of the areola to the base of the breast. It can be a successful choice for patients with moderate to intermediate sagging.
• Inverted T or Anchor Mastopexy: Patients with more severe sagging may need this type of incision. This incision adds an incision in the fold of the breast to the vertical mastopexy (lollipop) incisions described above. This was the main method for breast lifting before the development of the crescent, peri-areolar and vertical incision options.

Dr. Sobel will discuss which breast lift incision options may be the best for your goals during your personal consultation.

Video transcript

The breast lift procedure is at its best when it removes the heavier portion of the breast and reorganizes the skin around the lifted breast. While there are other techniques that can assist, such as the use of synthetic materials like mesh, Gore-Tex, or a series of silk products, as well as cellularly derived products like Strattice (currently the most popular), these materials have replaced the use of the patient’s own tissue. Historically, elaborate flaps of tissue, such as the large pectoral muscle of the chest wall, were used to support the breast in a lifted position. However, these adjuncts, as elegant as they may sound, introduce their own degree of unpredictability, whether they stretch, swell, or, in the case of certain materials, disappear over time. These techniques are best suited for specific situations, particularly for women who have had prior implants, capsular contracture, or other scar tissue, or who have specialized lift needs. Most commonly, though, women seeking a breast lift or reduction do not require these adjuncts for a highly successful procedure.

Increasing Breast Fullness with Fat

If you’d also like your breasts to be fuller, ask Dr. Sobel about fat grafting to the breasts during your consultation. You can learn more on our site too; click to read about how fat transfer works.

After Your Breast Lift: Recovery & Results

Once the surgery is complete, we recommend that patients strictly follow their personalized recovery plan. Bed rest is encouraged for two to three days. It is also important to limit reaching and stretching motions with the arms for up to three weeks. The final results of the surgery should be revealed within six months. Complete recovery is usually 6 to 12 months after surgery.

Recovery following cosmetic surgery can be an incredibly emotional process. Just as you should prepare yourself for your physical recovery, you should likewise have an idea about what to expect emotionally and mentally as your body heals and your final results take shape.

Throughout the healing process, you will have easy access to Dr. Sobel so that any concerns can be addressed. We’d be glad to discuss the best timeline for your surgery if you need to be ready for summer, winter holidays, or any important event or occasion.

Results

After your recovery, you can go out in public to flaunt your breast lift results as soon as you feel comfortable doing so. To keep your surgery under wraps, however, it’s best to keep the area out of sight until post-op bruising and swelling have gone away. Scars can appear bright pink for several months, but they are usually easy to conceal with cosmetic products if you desire. When cared for properly, surgical scars will continue to heal and fade beautifully over time.

It’s important to understand that while your results will look great within two to four months after surgery, they won’t be final for up to one year. Fortunately, the most dramatic changes occur in the first few months and are subtle thereafter.

View results in our gallery

Dr. Sobel has performed thousands of cosmetic surgeries on happy patients in the Seattle area. To view real patient transformations and see what kind of results you can expect from breast, body, or facial rejuvenation surgery, please visit our before and after gallery.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if my breasts need a lift, implants, or both?

Many women experience volume loss in the upper pole of the breast after pregnancy, breast feeding, weight loss, and aging, which results in the appearance of breast sagging (also known as pseudoptosis). Restoring this volume via breast augmentation with implants or fat grafting to the breast can elegantly reverse a drooping appearance without the need for a lift. However, if there is already adequate breast tissue – it is just a matter of correcting the sagging that comes with age with a breast lift. Some women desire both a lift and a volume boost, so a breast lift with augmentation is the best fit for them.

Will my breasts have scars after surgery?

If cared for properly, incisions following breast lift surgery will slowly lighten and continue to heal over time. That being said, modern breast lifting encompasses a spectrum of approaches—including minimal scar breast lifting, and the procedure is usually less invasive and leaves fewer scars than patients typically expect.

Video transcript

Mastopexy (breast lift) and reduction mammoplasty (breast reduction) are terms that can be as confusing as the incisions that make them happen. The incisions are important not just because of the scars—of course, no one wants scars, especially in cosmetic surgery where we aim to optimize outcomes and make it look like we were never there. But what’s particularly interesting is how the design of the incisions actually shapes the breast.

For example, in vertical mastopexy techniques, you often hear terms like “teardrop,” “keyhole,” or “lollipop.” These terms refer to roughly the same procedure, where the goal is not to pull the breast down, as you might pull a shirt over pants, which can result in a boxy or squared breast and a long scar under the breast fold. Instead, if we aim for a teardrop, conical, and projected shape, a simpler vertical incision up and down can achieve that. The final scar is just a line, but what it represents is the removal of tissue—sometimes described as a “snowman” shape—where the wide base of the breast can be gathered to create projection and a teardrop shape.

It’s not enough to do this just with the skin. What’s far more important is reshaping the breast tissue underneath. For most women, age, pregnancy, and breastfeeding cause the fat and volume to disappear from the upper part of the breast and accumulate in the lower part. To correct this, we need to remove the heavier tissue that’s weighing down the breast, and reconstruct a supportive brassiere-like structure underneath to hold the breast in a lifted, teardrop shape.

Historically, for many women, the only solution was a scar all the way across the bottom of the chest to lift the breast skin. However, this approach isn’t as reliable as removing tissue from underneath and allowing the skin to follow its natural design for the best results.

Will a lift also affect the shape and size of my breasts?

Breast lifts are performed on candidates who already have enough breast tissue, as opposed to patients who desire additional volume via implants for fat transfer. Breast lifts make the breast appear younger, while still retaining a natural look. During this procedure, the surgeon removes excess skin around the breasts, as well as repairs the breast mound to reposition the breasts and make them appear fuller. The resulting shape will be much more lifted, but the size should not be too different.

How much does a lift cost?

The cost of a breast lift in Seattle can range anywhere between $5,500 – $11,500 depending on the extent of your procedure. During your consultation with Dr. Sobel, we will provide you with a full estimate, including all costs and fees associated with your procedure. We are happy to answer any questions you may have about paying for your cosmetic surgery, and we also have financing options available. Our cosmetic surgery financing partners offer convenient solutions for patients by providing extended financing options, low monthly payments, and stellar customer service. If you would like to apply for financing, please contact our office to get started. It’s very easy to apply!

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Prioritizing your safety during a breast lift

Choosing to have cosmetic surgery is a very personal decision—and it’s important that you feel safe, comfortable, and confident with the surgeon and practice you choose. At our Bellevue cosmetic surgery practice, we are fully committed to your safety and comfort.

Because a breast lift an incredibly nuanced surgical procedure, it’s critical that patients choose a doctor who operates in a surgery center with hospital-level safety measures in place. You and your family can rest assured knowing that our private operating suite is accredited by the Washington State Department of Health (WADOH). Our fully-equipped, state-of-the-art surgery suite is well-appointed with your safety and comfort in mind.

In addition, Dr. Sobel is Cosmetic Surgery Patient Safety® certified by the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery.

Why choose Dr. Sobel for your breast surgery

As an award-winning, triple-board certified surgeon in general cosmetic surgery, cosmetic facial surgery, and otolaryngology, Dr. Alexander Sobel has extensive experience performing cosmetic breast surgeries, in addition to breast augmentation with implants, breast augmentation with a lift, fat transfer, mommy makeovers, facelifts, Brazilian butt lift, liposuction, and more. Dr. Sobel had the honor of being voted as a Seattle-area Top Doctor in the Seattle Met’s 2018 Top Doctor awards.

Find out why Dr. Sobel’s Bellevue and Seattle patients love his safe, consistent results—schedule your breast lift consultation online or by calling (425) 738-3560. He will be happy to discuss the best procedures to fit your goals and what you can expect from surgery.

Areas served:

• Bellevue
• Seattle
• Kirkland
• Redmond

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