Breast Reduction Gallery

A woman in her early 20’s who is a 36 DD cup and has a “snoopy” breast deformity.  She wished to have the shape of her breasts corrected and also decreased in size to a “C” cup.  She is a runner and has difficulty exercising due to the size of her breasts, as well as back pain, shoulder pain, and problems with her posture.  She did not want to be too small after surgery.

She is shown before and again, 7 ½ months after bilateral reduction-mastopexy with the removal of just over 200 grams of breast tissue from each breast.  Scars are typically redder and thicker for 6 weeks and will then fade and improve over the next 2 years or longer.  She is thrilled with her new shape and size, and her symptoms have resolved.  Her scars are starting to fade with time and topical silicone.

An Egyptian woman in her early 30s who was a 36 DD cup and was bothered by bulging of her breasts in the side of her bra, shoulder pain, upper back pain, difficulty exercising due to the size of her breasts, and a rash under her breasts in the warmer months.  She is shown before and again, 8 months after a superior pedicle Wise pattern breast reduction with the removal of more than 300 grams of tissue from each side.  Scars typically get thicker for 6 weeks and will then fade and improve over the next two years. Darker-skinned patients need to be especially careful about exposing the scars to the sun in the first year, which can lead to darkening of the scars (“post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation)

She is thrilled with her “C” cup and her symptoms have all resolved.

A woman in her early 20s with a 38 DDD bra is having trouble with back pain, shoulder pain, and a rash under her breasts.  She is a pediatric physical therapist and needs to jump frequently, which she finds very difficult with the weight of her breasts.  She is 5’ 7 ½” and 189 lbs and did not want her breasts to be out of proportion with her frame.  She is shown before and again, 8 months after bilateral breast reduction with a superior pedicle approach.  514 grams of breast tissue were removed from her left breast and 575 grams from her right breast to reduce her to a “C” cup  Her symptoms have resolved.  She is happily helping her young patients without pain, and her scars have faded well for 8 months with the topical silicone.

An Asian woman in her later teens describes herself as a 34 DD and has had problems with exercise, especially swimming.  She also has back and shoulder pain, and has not had relief with support bras.  She is shown before and again, 5 months after bilateral breast reduction with the removal of 471 grams of tissue from her right breast and 385 grams from her left breast to bring her down to a “C” cup.  Her symptoms have resolved and she is thrilled with her new shape and size.  Scars are typically thicker and redder for 6 weeks and then will diminish and improve over the next 2 years or longer.  We are having her use topical silicone to aid in scar maturation.

A woman in her late teens with 38 DDD cup breast and lipodystrophy ( bulging) of the anterior axillae who is bothered by shoulder pain and irritation from her bra straps, back pain, problems with her posture and difficulty exercising due to the size of her breasts.  She is shown before and again, 4 ½ months after bilateral breast reduction combined with liposuction of the axillary lipodystrophy.  She is 5’ 3 ¼” and 179 lbs and had 780 grams of breast tissue removed from each breast ( 454 grams = 1 pound) and 700 cc of liposuction from each breast along the lateral breast and anterior axilla.  Scars are typically at their reddest and thickest at 6 weeks and then will fade and improve over the next 2 years or longer.  We are having her use topical silicone to help the scars to improve faster.  At 4 ½ months they are typical for this stage and can be expected to continue to improve.  She is thrilled with her new shape and size, and her symptoms have all resolved.

A mother of 2 in her early 40s is a 38 DDD cup and is bothered by back pain, neck pain, a rash under the breasts, difficulty with her posture, and difficulty exercising due to the size and weight of her breasts.  She is a little over her ideal body weight at 5’5” and 189 lbs and is shown before and again, 4 months after breast reduction with the removal of 908 grams of breast tissue from her right breast and 872 grams of breast tissue from her left breast, to reduce her to a full “C” cup.  ( 454 grams = 1 pound).  Her scars are fading nicely with the topical silicone and her symptoms have all resolved.  She is thrilled with her new shape and size.

A young woman in her later teens with 38DD breasts. who has problems with back pain, shoulder pain, grooving, and irritation of her shoulders from the bra straps, difficulty exercising, and difficulty with dance competitions? She is “Tanner stage V” which means that she has completed puberty and is no longer growing.  She is shown before and again, 14 months after bilateral breast reduction with the removal of 454 grams of tissue from each breast. 454 grams is equal to one pound.  She is now a “C” cup and her symptoms have all resolved.  Scars are typically redder and thicker for 6 weeks and then will fade and improve over the next 2 years or longer.  Her scars have faded extremely well, in part due to the topical silicone and how she heals.

A woman in her later 50s with a 44DD cup who has problems with neck pain, shoulder pain, grooving and irritation of her shoulders from the bra straps, and back pain.  She is a ½ ppd smoker.  Smoking and a history of smoking dramatically increases the risk of healing complications    It damages the tiny blood vessels that supply the skin and can lead to larger amounts of tissue dying at the time of surgery.  She was very symptomatic and wished to proceed with surgery if it was possible and an acceptable risk.  I had her stop smoking for 2 months before surgery with the nicotine patch.  We then proceeded with a “free nipple graft” technique.  With a typical breast reduction in someone who has never smoked and doesn’t have diabetes or other reason for vascular compromise,  we will try and maintain the blood supply to the nipple either from above “superior pedicle technique”  from above and the side  “superior-medial technique” or from below “inferior pedicle technique”.  In the case of someone with a significant smoking history the small blood vessels in the tissue connecting the nipple, the “pedicle” have been damaged enough that the tissue is likely to die.  In that case, a free nipple graft is done, where the nipple is removed completely and replaced like a skin graft.  Because it is thicker, it will become scabby and blister and generally not look very attractive in the first 6-8 weeks.  But then it generally heals and allows us to proceed in someone with a smoking history and with fewer potential complications

A woman in her early 20s who is a 40DD cup and has problems with back pain, shoulder pain, irritation of her shoulders from the bra straps, difficulty exercising due to the size of her breasts, and a rash under her breasts in the warmer months.

She is over her ideal body weight at 5’2” and 170 lbs but finds it difficult to lose more weight.  She is shown before and again, 9 months after bilateral breast reduction with the removal of more than 500 grams of tissue from each breast as well as liposuction of axillary fullness. She is now a full C cup to match her frame, and her symptoms have resolved.

A woman in her mid-40s who is a 36 D-DD cup and has problems with shoulder pain, upper back pain, neck pain, and grooving and irritation of her shoulders from her bra straps.  She is petite at 4’10” and 118 lbs.  She is shown before and again, 4 ½ months after bilateral breast reduction with the removal of 202 grams from her right and 254 grams from her left to reduce her to a C cup.  Her symptoms have all resolved, and she is thrilled with her new shape and size.