Feeling comfortable in your body and its appearance is essential to feeling confident and your all-around best self. For women who experience sagging breasts feeling confident may be difficult, an effective solution is getting a breast lift to reduce sagging and reshape the breasts. Breast lifts leave patients with more youthful, reshaped breasts that many women who experience sagging from aging, pregnancy, weight loss, or other factors are happier with. Prior to making the decision to have a breast lift a lot of women want to understand the breast lift scars after one year and beyond. We’ll cover that along with the procedure itself.
Although a breast lift is a relatively simple procedure, like any surgery, it involves incisions. Therefore, women who are thinking of getting breast lifts may wonder whether the plastic surgery will leave scars, after all, it is cosmetic surgery. And if so, what the breast lift scars after one year will look like and how long they last. While most breast lift scars are minimal and fade with time, the types of scar tissue depend on a number of factors and are worth considering when thinking about getting a breast lift. In this article, we will discuss everything you need to know about breast lift scars, including what causes them, the types of scars, and how to reduce scarring.
Breast lifts remove excess skin and breast tissue to improve the appearance and reduce the sagging of the breasts. Breast lifts are a surgical procedure that requires incisions into the breast tissue to remove tissue and skin in and around the breasts. Therefore, yes, breast lift leave scars.
However, there are many different breast lift procedures available and your breast lift surgeon will try to minimize scarring. Also, properly caring for the scars after the plastic surgery will help to reduce their size and discoloration.
What the scar looks like after a breast lift depends greatly on the expertise of the surgeon performing the procedure and the breast lift technique they use. For example, a lollipop lift will result in a lollipop-shaped scar, which looks different from the more simple crescent lift. However, generally, the scar will be a slightly raised area that can be discolored, pink, red, or skin-colored. Below, we have outlined the different techniques and the types of breast lift scars.
The crescent lift is a surgical technique used for patients who experience minimal sagging and therefore only need to slightly reduce the sagging of their breasts. This method only uses small incisions along the top half of the areola and it results in the least amount of scarring compared to other techniques. The scar tissue will be a small arch around the top of the areola.
The anchor lift is also referred to as the inverted T lift. Most patients who receive the anchor lift procedure experience a significant sagging that they want to reduce. An incision is made along the outside of the areola, and a second incision is made down towards the breast crease. Finally, a third incision is made along the breast crease. The remaining scar looks like an upside-down or inverted T or anchor.
This technique results in the most amount of scarring because of the extent of the incisions needed to remove the significant amount of sagging present.
The Lollipop or circumvertical lift is a very common surgical technique. It is similar to the donut lift in that it involves one incision tracing the areola, in addition to a vertical incision from the areola down to the crease along the breast.
The donut lift, also known as the peri-areolar or circumvertical lift, uses an incision that circles the outside of the areola, resulting in a scar around the areola. This method is used for mild sagging and is often used during breast augmentation, breast reduction, or to alter the size and shape of the areola.
The horizontal mastopexy also referred to as the ultimate lift, involves two horizontal incisions above the nipple, and one incision around the areola. It is often used to reposition and reshape the areola and nipple. The result is two horizontal scars on the breast.
Keloid scars form after an incision has healed. They appear thick and raised on the skin and vary in color from pink to red to the color of the skin or darker.
Keloid scars usually form due to significant damage to the skin and are the body’s response in the form of aggressive healing. However, some people are more prone to keloid scars than others, if you are one of those people you should inform your plastic surgeon dr before the breast surgery.
Whereas keloid scars are raised above the skin, atrophic scars form wide depressions into the skin. The result is a red portion of depressed skin.
Hypertrophic scars are usually slightly raised and discolored; however, they are less noticeable, and therefore of less concern than keloid scars.
The number one factor that impacts the appearance of a breast lift scar is the technique used for the breast lift and the surgeon performing the procedure. Excellent plastic surgeons will leave their patients with minimal scarring.
Other factors that impact the appearance of breast lift scars are how well they heal. After the plastic surgery is completed, your doctor should provide you with tips on how to care for the scar. You should follow these instructions carefully so that the incisions heal well and the resulting scarring will be minimal.
In addition, there are other factors that can negatively impact the appearance of scars like direct sun exposure which can darken scar tissue and can result in more visible scarring. Below we will discuss the healing process of breast lift scars and how to reduce scarring.
The healing and fading process of scars is different for everyone and depends on a variety of factors including the technique used, the skill of the surgeon, the healing process, and factors that interfere with the healing of the scar. Although the scars will always be present, they should significantly fade within two years.
One year after the breast lift plastic surgery the scar tissue should have already faded significantly and should be barely visible. While this still depends on the type of scar and the incisions made by the doctor, you can expect them to be only slightly raised and fading enough where they are not easily visible.
Again, what each patient’s breast lift scars look like is highly case-dependent. For example, if you got a crescent lift that results in the least amount of scarring, it was performed by a highly experienced surgeon, and you took all of the necessary precautions so the scar healed optimally, your scar should be significantly faded and barely noticeable after a year.
On the other side, if you got an anchor lift that wasn’t performed by a very highly qualified surgeon and you didn’t take the necessary steps to help your scar heal and fade, you may experience more significant scarring after a year. That’s why choosing the right doctor and doing everything you can to facilitate proper healing is essential to reducing scarring.
Sunlight causes scar tissue to darken in color. Avoid direct sunlight to your scar tissue and be aware that sunlight can penetrate shirts. Therefore, if you are going to be out in direct sunlight, particularly where there is a high UV index, apply sunscreen to the scars to avoid any discoloration.
During the healing process, you may experience itchiness and irritation around the scar. You should avoid further irritating the scar by itching or scrubbing it or excessively exfoliating the sensitive area. Doing so can irritate the scar tissue and interrupt the healing process, making the scar more visible.
Heavy lifting during the first several weeks of healing should be completely avoided. Heavy lifting can cause the incision to reopen or at least interfere with the healing process.
Smoking can also interfere with the healing process. You should stop smoking at least a month before the surgery and continue this through the entire healing process for best results.
Besides avoiding anything that will worsen the breast lift or breast augmentation scars, there are things you can do to minimize the look of breast lift scars.
Gently massage the scar horizontally and vertically in order to reduce the inflammation and pain around the scar tissue while also flattening out the scar by increasing collagen fibers.
Dressings are bandages that contain silicone. After the doctor closes the incisions, dressings will be used to facilitate the healing process. They will help to reduce any scar tissue buildup and are effective up to 12 months after the breast lift surgery.
Scar gels are used after the incision heals. They are used to reduce the coloring and size of the scar.
Silicone sheets are bandages that prevent scars from recent incisions from getting dried out and forming excessive scar tissue. They may also reduce pain and itchiness after the surgery.
In addition to scar treatments like the ones mentioned above, there is an additional procedure that is used to reduce scar tissue. Fractionated lasers can reduce the discoloration of scar tissue, although multiple procedures are recommended for maximum results.
If your scar is completely healed and you are still unsatisfied with how it looks a year after the cosmetic surgery, you should speak with your plastic surgeon to discuss professional scar removal treatments like laser therapy.
As mentioned earlier, you should always wear sunscreen on your scars if you are being exposed to sunlight and high UV index sun. This will prevent further discoloration of the scar tissue.
As we mentioned, it is essential to find a high-quality, expert plastic surgeon to perform your breast lift surgery. Doing so will ensure that not only the surgery goes through successfully without a hitch, but also that you receive minimal scarring from whichever surgical technique is right for you.
Begin your search for a highly experienced and qualified 5-star breast lift plastic surgeon immediately with the SurgeonNetwork.com directory, where you can search by city and specialty to find the best doctor near you. Surgeon Network makes the search process easy and safe, so you can quickly set up a personal consultation. At the Surgeon Network, we boast our 5 STAR Surgeon Network Approval Rating™, which uses various essential criteria like board certification, number of years of experience and procedures performed, record, and customer reviews and ratings to determine which plastic surgeons are of the highest quality. Check out Surgeon Network today to find your perfect skilled surgeon and get your initial consultation!
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