Breast Reduction – St. Louis

Dr. Michele Koo, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, performs breast reductions that significantly reduce your neck, back and shoulder pain. The grooves in your shoulder will be relieved and the skin on skin rashes will disappear. Dr. Koo reduces the heaviness of your breasts, lifts them off your stomach and centers them back on your chest with the nipples pointing outward instead of downward. Afterwards, you will remark on how truly beautiful your breasts appear in addition to how much relief you will have gained.

Also known as reduction mammoplasty, breast reduction surgery is quickly becoming one of the most popular procedures in the United States.  The procedure is specifically designed to ease the physical and emotional discomfort associated with large and heavy breasts.  Overly large breasts can cause a woman to experience neck, shoulder and back pain, as well as limit a woman’s physical activity.  A breast reduction removes excess breast tissue and reshapes the breast to a more proportional and natural size and shape.  If the overall volume causes the breasts to sag, a breast lift is often combined with breast reduction to restore breasts to a more natural and youthful position.

Overly large breasts can cause a woman both mental and physical discomfort.  The overall weight of breast tissue can impair your ability to lead an active life.  An active lifestyle can cause more stress on the body and exponentially increase the amount of discomfort a woman feels.  The emotional and mental discomfort is often just as important to a woman as the physical discomfort that pendulous breasts may cause.

Breast Reduction Procedure

It is important to note that while the benefits of a breast reduction can be both mental and physical, the main disadvantage to the procedure is that in order to decrease the size and reshape the breasts, it is necessary to remove skin, resulting in scarring.  The most common incision results in a scar pattern often referred to as an inverted “T” or “anchor” scar.  The anchor scar typically goes around the nipple, vertically down and then transversely at the fold under the breast.  In cases where minimal correction is necessary, Dr. Koo can often reduce the amount of scarring from the procedure by using a different incision pattern.

Once the incision is made, the underlying breast tissue is reduced, lifted and shaped to the desired breast size and shape.  In some cases, the nipple and areola may need to be removed and relocated to a higher and more natural location on the breast.  Relocating the nipple may impact a woman’s nipple sensation and ability to breastfeed.  Once the desired contour is achieved, any excess skin is removed from the breast to restore the natural skin elasticity to support the newly formed breast mound.  The incision lines are permanent, but will fade over time.

If the volume of the skin has stretched the skin of the breast creating an overly large areola, I can also correct this during a breast reduction procedure.  The areola can be removed and trimmed to a more proportional size before closing the incision lines.

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Breast Reduction Results

Results of a breast reduction are generally immediately apparent following the procedure and should be long-lasting.  The new breast size should help to alleviate physical discomfort and the physical limitations caused by the overly large breasts.  The new better proportions figure should also enhance self-image and boost self-confidence.

Over time, breasts can change due to aging, weight fluctuations, hormonal factors and gravity.  I will discuss these factors that may impact the results of a breast reduction and offer suggestions to ensure long-lasting results.

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