Making the Choice for Breast Reduction

Breast reduction surgery, also known as reduction mammography, is a form of plastic surgery that is most often performed on mature women, although the procedure can be performed on men. It is a very popular and commonplace surgery; hundreds of thousands of these procedures are performed every year.

Purpose

The intent of breast reduction surgery is to reduce the amount of body tissue contained within the breasts in order to relieve chronic pain that the patient may suffer as a result of her weight. Women with larger-than-average breasts may suffer from various ailments, including neck, back and shoulder pain. They may also experience mental distress and embarrassment as a result of their appearance and lessened ability to perform some tasks and activities that women with smaller breasts can perform.

Procedure

Reduction mammography is usually done under a general anesthetic, although some surgeons will use local anesthetic or sedation instead. Barring any complications, the surgery usually takes about 2 to 4 hours, from start to finish. There are two popular types of breast reduction surgery:

• Pedicle technique: In this, the most common form of reduction, the nipple and areola are lifted to a higher position on the breast; the tissues are detached but not totally removed from the body during this kind of procedure. Surrounding skin and breast tissue are removed from the incision to create a smaller breast. The result is usually a smaller, less saggy breast.


• The free nipple graft technique is most frequently used on women who are having a large amount of breast tissue removed. It may also be performed on women with medical complications and the elderly. Here, the areola is removed from the and preserved. Excess breast tissue and skin are removed, with the remaining breast reformed. The nipples are then resized for the smaller breast and sewn back on as skin grafts. This technique is faster than the pedicle technique, but usually results in a loss of sensation in the nipples due to their total removal from the body.