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Breast
Reshaping After Weight loss
Weight
loss following morbid obesity weight loss surgery,
pregnancy, or simply as a result of diet and exercise
can lead to significant physical changes in the appearance
of women's breasts. Most individuals following
significant weight loss develop areas of excess hanging
skin and or fat causing droopy breasts.
After
weight loss women's breasts lose shape, fullness,
and droop. Natural breasts are made up fatty tissue
and once the fat is reduced or loss it dramatically
affects the shape and size of the breasts. Often there
can be excess hanging skin covering the remaining
breast tissue causing an aesthetically unattractive
look.
In
general the effects of gravity and aging also contribute
to drooping breasts. Massive weight loss only adds
to the natural aging process of the breasts. As
the breasts age they change from a glandular tissue
to being replaced by a fatty tissue. This is one of
the reasons why women's' breasts are firmer and perkier
when they are younger. This is also one of the reasons
why women who loose massive amounts of weight latter
in life have saggier breasts.
Because
the breast is mostly fat and when weight loss occurs
it can be dramatically seen in the breasts. Usually
what is seen is a decrease in breast size and a large
skin envelope hanging over the breast causing a droopy
appearance. With major weight loss the skin on
the breast is unable to redrape itself over the smaller
breast as it does not shrink in size like the
breast.
The
major cause of excess breast skin following weight
loss can be quite simple. Like pregnancy where
the muscles, skin and other tissues of the abdominal
wall expand to accommodate the baby, a similar process
happens with the fat in the breasts. The skin adjusts
to accommodate the fat under the skin and it stretches
affecting its elasticity.
With
major fat accumulation in some morbidly obese individuals
it begins during childhood or adolescence, extending
the length of time and tension of the breast skin.
These patients tend to have more saggy skin as it
was damaged and stretched for a longer period of time
than a person who had weight gain for a short period
of time.
In
all areas where the body is storing large amounts
of fat, over time, these areas are affected as the
skin becomes more lax and permanently damaged. This
occurs because the elastic fibers of the skin are
broken. Also the effects of gravity combined with
the skin supporting the extra fat can stretch the
skin affecting its ability to redrape itself to the
new contours of the body after weight loss. After
significant weight loss a patient may have less breast
and a lot of hanging skin. These patients are good
candidates for some of the advanced breast sculpting
procedures performed by Dr. Corbin.
Some
patients may have more extra skin than others. There
are many determining factors on why some patients
will have more loose skin on their breasts and or
stretch marks. In most cases, younger patients
tend to have less loose breast skin because their
skin has not been stretched out for a long as an older
patient. Younger patients may also have more collagen,
a major component of skin in the skin, to give it
a more youthful firm appearance. Another major factor
contributing to excess breast skin is the amount of
weight loss. A patient who loses 150 lbs. is more
likely to have excess skin than a patient losing 50
lbs. Some of the other contributing factors to
loose skin may include, sun exposure received over
a lifetime, skin type, heredity and whether the patient
is a smoker. Patients with fair skin, usually
tend to develop more loose skin than patients with
dark skin. Sun damaged skin tends to have more tissue
damage over the years and consequently will hang more
following weight loss. Lastly, smoking breaks down
collagen and the body's ability to supply oxygen to
the skin. Smokers develop more loose skin than non-smokers.
Whatever
the amount of hanging breast skin a patient has after
weight loss it can usually be removed and reshaped
with plastic surgery. There is many advanced breast
sculpting techniques to remove the extra skin and
help each patient achieve a more attractive breast
or body contour. Foe added breast size many patients
chose to lift and enlarge their breasts at the same
time. Either with a breast lift or after a breast
augmentation can be performed using either saline
breast implants or silicone gel breast implants. Because
most weight loss patient's breasts are so misshapen
a breast lift with implants tends to be the most popular
plastic surgery choice.
Because
surgery is personal decision we advise each patient
to have a personal consultation to be educated, and
evaluated for plastic surgery body contouring procedures.Dr.
Corbin uses minimal scarring advanced breast surgery
techniques to give his patients a prettier final result.
The
most important thing we do is improve your appearance
and self esteem. Plastic surgery is the final
reward after months and sometimes years of discipline,
weight loss surgery, dieting, exercising and a commitment
to loosing weight. Loosing major amounts of weight
is a very emotional and empowering process for many
patients. It is a person's personal commitment to
themselves to be in control of their weight, lives
and health.
At
Dr. Corbin's office, we are here for weight loss patients
to help make their final body image goals a reality.
We offer a very supportive staff to assist patients
every step of the way.
Breast
Reshaping Surgery
Surgical
Solutions For Weight Loss Patients
Breast
Lifts
Breast
Lift General Information: The breast lift or mastopexy
is a procedure to reshape the breast and create
or restore a more youthful "perkier" appearance.
In some cases it can be combined with an augmentation
to increase the size of the breasts while reshaping
them. In some patients a breast lift can be done through
an incision next to the nipple-areolars only. In others
it may require a combination of incisions depending
on the degree of drooping or ptosis of the breast.
Dr. Corbin performs 5 different types of lifts:
Crescent, Binelli, Vertical, Inverted T, and the Spair.
The operation and /or set of incisions that will
give you the best overall appearance will be determined
at the time of your consultation. Dr. Corbin's surgical
goal is to give his patients the prettiest breast
with the least amount of scarring. As with any surgical
procedure there are potential risks and these too
will be discussed at your consultation.
Length of Surgery: 1 to 4 Hours
Location: Accredited Surgery Center or Hospital
Anesthesia: General
Recovery Time: The patient can usually return
to work in 1 week depending on the individual. Exercise
and strenuous activity may be done at one month after
surgery.
Post Operative Results: Each patient heals differently;
however, following the surgery some patients may experience
fatigue, temporary pain, swelling, soreness loss of
sensation in the nipples, throbbing, tingling, dry
skin and possible bruising. The incisions will be
pink at first but over time they will flatten and
fade depending on the individual. It has been our
experience that patients are very happy with their
post op results and perky new breasts.
Helpful Surgery Hints: Be in good mental and
physical health. Any herbal medications must be stopped
2 weeks prior to surgery. Discontinue any use of Aspirin
and anti- inflammatory drugs two weeks before surgery.
Maintain a healthy diet, exercise regularly and do
not smoke. Patients taking birth control pills must
stop taking the pills one month prior to surgery and
one month after surgery. Help improve healing by taking
our surgical pre and postoperative vitamins.
Breast
Augmentation
General
Information: breast augmentation or augmentation
mammoplasty is a procedure to make the breasts larger,
fuller and in some cases more youthful looking. It
is accomplished by placing a breast implant, either
a silicone bag filled with salt water or silicone
gel, behind the breast and/or the pectoralis major
muscle. The breasts implants can be placed via
one of 4 incisions. One along the bottom fold of the
breast called the inframammary incision, one that
parallels the inferior border of the nipple-areola
complex called the peri-areola incision, one in the
arm pit or axilla called the axillary approach and
finally one through the umbilicus or belly button
called the umbilical approach or TUBA. In all cases
DR. Corbin's goal is to use that incision and implant
that will give the most natural result. As this
is real surgery there are potential complications
and these will be discussed at your consultation.
Thousands of women each year choose to enhance their
breasts through augmentation mammoplasty so this is
a very popular and safe operation. If a breast augmentation
is performed with a breast lift then the scars from
the lift will be used to put the implants through.
Only patients with breasts that do not need lifts
are candidates for implants through the belly button,
armpit, or under the breasts.
***Important
fact***
Breast implants do NOT lift the breasts. They only
make the breasts bigger. The only plastic surgery
procedure that will lift the breasts is a mastopexy
(Breast Lift).
Length
of Breast Surgery: 1 to 2 Hours
Location: Accredited Surgery Center or Hospital
Anesthesia: General
Recovery Time: The patient can unusually return
to work a few days following surgery depending on
the individual. Exercise and strenuous activity may
be done at 3 to 4 weeks after the operation.
Post Operative Results: Each patient heals differently:
however, most patients say the first day is the most
uncomfortable. Following the surgery, some patients
experience temporary swelling, soreness, change in
nipple sensation and possible bruising.
Helpful Hints: Be in good mental and physical
health. Do Not Smoke. Help improve healing by taking
pre and postoperative vitamins. Improve the appearance
of small scars with topical gel.
Click here for more detailed
information on Breast lift or Breast Augmentation
surgery
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For
more information on Breast Enhancement, visit Dr. Corbin's
other web site 