Breast Reduction with Breast Lift
Seattle and Bellevue Washington
Large pendulous breasts can cause a multitude of physical discomforts. These include back and neck pain, shoulder pain, grooves in your shoulders from the bra strap indentations, infections in the skin under your breasts, difficulty exercising or just finding comfortable fitting clothing. Macromastia or breast hypertrophy can also cause females and males to become very self conscious.
Reduction mammaplasty removes the excess breast fat, glandular (breast) tissue, and excess skin from the breasts. Breast reduction surgery also reduces the size of the areola (the pigmented portion around the nipple) and provides a breast lift (mastopexy) at the same time. The goal of this procedure is to reduce the weight and size of the breasts to minimize shoulder and back discomfort. Virtually all patients note a dramatic relief in the pain and discomfort immediately following the surgery. You will also have a much more youthful shape and form to your breasts.
The operative technique used by Dr. Isik is a short scar vertical reduction mammoplasty. Unlike anchor-shaped incision patterns, the vertical reduction technique minimizes scars on your breast and provides a more natural, youthful breast form. The incision goes around the areola and down towards the bottom of the breast. The vertical reduction method does not leave scars under your breasts and provides a longer-lasting youthful shape than the more traditional anchor-scar methods.
For more detailed information on this method of breast reduction, please see the following published journal articles by Dr. Frank Isik:
Innovations to the vertical reduction mammoplasty: making the transition
Simplifying the vertical reduction mammoplasty
Breast reduction surgery is performed as outpatient surgery, which means you go home the same day of your surgery. All patients need to have a recent mammogram (breast x-ray) before surgery. Also, patients that are interested in breast feeding may wish to postpone breast reduction until breast feeding is completed. Due to the high post-operative complication rates in patients who are smoking or are very obese, pre-operative smoking cessation for 6 weeks and dieting maybe recommended.
Complications from this procedure are rare, but can include slight asymmetry, nipple loss (extremely rare and applies only to smokers), nipple sensation changes or loss of nipple sensation (10-20% risk), and wound healing problems (including keloids if you are prone to developing them). If you have very large breasts, you may require that a surgical drain be left in for a few days. Most patients are able to resume non strenuous work in less than 1 week and resume physical activities after 3 weeks.
All insurance companies require a substantial amount of your breast tissue removed before pre-approving payment for breast reduction surgery. The amount of breast tissue that needs to be removed is related to your height, weight and your insurance plan provisions for breast reduction surgery. We will assist you in determining whether you would qualify for insurance coverage and submit the documentation required by your insurance company. We will also provide you with the cost of breast reduction surgery should your insurance carrier deny approval.
Actual patient photos are not shown on this web site. However, you are welcome to come for a consultation to see actual patient photos. We routinely perform breast reduction surgery for patients from Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland and the greater Western Washington area. For patients from Eastern Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska, we coordinate reduced rate accommodations at several high-quality hotels that are within walking distance of our plastic surgery center and downtown Seattle.
