A breast lift is a procedure that reshapes and elevates your breasts so that they look as rejuvenated and attractive as they did in your younger years. With this surgery, you can have uplifted, fuller, firmer, and beautifully shaped breasts.

If you seek more confidence in your feminine appearance and are dealing with sagging breasts from aging, weight loss or breastfeeding, schedule a consultation with Dr. Mossi Salibian at his office in Los Angeles. Call (310) 550-0750 or fill out his contact form to find out if a breast lift is right for you.

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About Breast Lifts

Over time, a woman’s breasts undergo changes that lead to a loss of their youthful shape and firmness. These changes can vary from slight skin laxity to more pronounced sagging (ptosis), where the nipples may point downward toward the abdomen. Factors contributing to these alterations include pregnancy, breastfeeding, weight fluctuations, aging, gravity, or hereditary traits. A breast lift addresses these issues by removing excess skin, tightening the remaining skin around the breast tissue, and lifting the breasts without altering the underlying glandular tissue. This procedure repositions the nipples to a higher position, resulting in breasts that appear fuller, firmer, and more contoured.

Breast Lift with Implants

Some women choose to combine a breast lift with the use of implants to enhance both their breast size and projection. This approach not only rejuvenates the youthful appearance of the breasts but also helps them maintain their shape with minimal sagging over time. This is provided there are no significant weight fluctuations. Breast implants, first introduced in the 1960s, have undergone numerous revisions and extensive FDA testing over the decades to improve their safety and efficacy. The current FDA-approved implants are well made and last a long period of time and there is no established time interval to replace breast implants.⁽¹⁾

When Should You Receive a Breast Lift?

I usually recommend a breast lift procedure after childbearing is completed and when one’s weight is stable, since the results of a breast lift may change after pregnancy or with dieting and weight loss. I will also perform breast lifts for younger women before childbearing who have breast asymmetry or when the position and shape of one breast is much lower than the other. Natural breasts are not necessarily identical, it is more of the norm than the exception for them to be of different shape, size, degree of sagging or projection. Therefore, it is also very common to have a symmetrizing breast lift performed in a younger age group and in those who have congenital breast ptosis. There are several surgical approaches to performing a breast lift. I will determine the best approach for each patient at the time of the initial consultation.

Procedure Techniques

Limited Nipple Incision or the Benelli Technique for Breast Lift

I can complete a breast lift with a limited nipple incision only. The final scar remains placed at the junction of the areola and the skin of the breast. This fades with time and with minimal scarring. This technique is best for patients with limited sagging of the breast tissue, yet with dilated or stretched areola that will benefit from a breast lift and at the same time reduce the size of the stretched areola. In addition, in those that desire a larger breast size, or to correct for breast size asymmetry, I perform a breast implant and lift via only a circular areolar incision without having to place scars anywhere else on the breast skin.

“Lollipop” Incision Breast Lift

A vertical extension or “lollipop” incision can effectively tighten and lift the breasts for patients experiencing downward migration of glandular tissue and loosening of the skin envelope. These patients must still have sufficient skin elasticity to ensure the success of tis technique. The final incision here is circular, reducing the size of the stretched areola with a vertical extension from the circle at the six o’clock position towards the inframammary fold (lower breast crease). This technique will elevate the actual breast volume and inframammary fold to a higher position.

The breast skin that is removed in a lollipop (vertical incision only) breast lift is only from the central lower half of the breast. This is also why the procedure is often called the “vertical lift” or vertical incision-only breast lift. It is ideal for women who have good skin elasticity but with moderate ptosis. It is also a technique that is commonly used when breast lift and augmentation are desired to increase both volume and projection to a larger breast size and elevate the breast at the same time. Women who have significant sagging and poor skin elasticity are best treated with an “anchor lift” which also has an incision hidden in the inframammary crease. ⁽²⁾

The “lollipop” technique produces results that maintain upper pole fullness and breast projection. ⁽³⁾ There are variations to the vertical incision only breast lift such as the L-Lift or the Y-Lift among many others which essentially describe where the final incision will end up on the breast skin envelope. In the L-Lift for example the vertical limb of the lollipop incision is tailored laterally along the inframammary fold but not medially. In the Y-Lift, excess skin is removed from the lower half of the areolar complex in addition to the central lower skin of the breast. This incision pattern for breast lift is designed for patients with more of a glandular breast ptosis or “bottoming out” (pseudoptosis) of the breasts, where the nipples have remained in good position.

“Anchor” Incision Breast Lift

For those with significant skin laxity, poor skin elasticity as well as a downward migration of the nipples and glandular tissues, I perform an anchor incision breast lift. This technique is also called the “inverted T” or Wise pattern mastopexy. This procedure results in a traditional anchor-shaped final breast skin incision. The horizontal length of the incision in this technique can be limited in length depending on the degree of breast skin excess and sagging.

Regardless of the length of the inverted T mastopexy, it is well hidden within the natural breast fold. If I determine that patients want to achieve larger breast volume, especially after significant weight loss that has resulted in severely deflated breast tissue, sagging skin, and ptosis, I perform a breast lift and augmentation using an anchor incision. In such patients with severe breast volume loss and sagging, I preferentially place the implants in the subpectoral or dual plane position to improve the upper pole breast volume due to the loss in breast tissue and to maintain better blood supply to the overlying breast skin and nipple-areolar complex when a breast implant is added at the same time as the breast lift.

Lifts with Breast Implants

Patients who have sagging breasts after weight loss or pregnancy will usually need an implant in addition to their breast lift. Depending on the specific needs of an individual patient as far as the desired size, shape, and projection of the breasts, implants in conjunction with a breast lift may be necessary to produce the best results. I give careful consideration to the surgical preparation and pattern of breast lift when breast implants are also placed to minimize the risk of skin and nipple areolar healing issues to achieve a successful aesthetic outcome.

Cost of a Breast Lift in Los Angeles

The cost of your breast lift will depend on Dr. Salibian’s recommended technique and whether breast implants are needed to complement your results. In general the more extensive a lift that is performed the more it will cost. The surgical nuances in performing a good breast lift are highly individualized for the best results with or without the use of implants. Dr Salibian has the aesthetic sensibility, training and experience to successfully transform your existing breasts to their youthful and attractive appearance and feel. For an in-depth consultation where a total cost estimate will also be generated, please call (310) 550-0750 or request a consultation online.

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References

1. Fardo D, Sequeira Campos M, Pensler JM. Breast Augmentation. PubMed. Published 2021. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482206/
2. Ramanadham SR, Rose Johnson A. Breast Lift with and without Implant: A Synopsis and Primer for the Plastic Surgeon. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open. 2020;8(10):e3057. doi:https://doi.org/10.1097/GOX.0000000000003057
3. Swanson E. Comparison of Vertical and Inverted-T Mammaplasties Using Photographic Measurements. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open. 2014;1(9):e89. doi:https://doi.org/10.1097/GOX.0000000000000034