BREAST REDUCTION

What does a breast implant operation involve?
The surgeon will carefully measure and mark out the breasts with a marker pen, according to the size you want, which you will have discussed beforehand. Once you are asleep, the nipple - attached to breast tissue and its blood supply - is moved to its new, higher position, usually at the level of the crease underneath the breast. Then the lower part of the breast is removed to make it smaller. The fold of fat in the armpit can also be sucked out. The skin is then tailored, cut back over the new breast and stitched, leaving three scare: one around the nipple, one running from the nipple crease under the breast and one long vertical scare along the crease below the breast. However, the latest surgical improvement aims to reduce scarring by leaving out the horizontal cut. The stitches are placed under the skin on the gland tissue to shape it after reduction. The skin is then draped over the reduced breast in the hope that it will contract naturally - a "vertical scar breast reduction".

What are the after effects like?
You will wake up after the 2-3 hour operation with drains from the breasts which will be removed the following day, when you should be able to leave hospital. To make sure you're left with the faintest possible scars, you will be shown how to dress our scars with micropore tape, which you will need to do for the first six weeks. You will probably need two to three weeks convalescence. Breastfeeding may still be possible after breast reduction, although it is better to postpone the operation until after you have had your family, as pregnancy and breastfeeding will enlarge you breasts and cause them to loose their new shape.

What about the risks?
Haematomas may arise, which may have to be surgically removed, although they may equally resolve on their own about two weeks later. In about three percent of cases, some of the fat inside the breast dies off in reaction to the surgery. This causes a lump which disappears in some cases. The most serious risk is that of bad scarring. Time, rather than treatment is what is required for healing.