Breast reduction can help women who suffer with back and shoulder pain caused by the weight of large breasts. A breast lift is often incorporated into breast reduction surgery for a comprehensive enhancement. Dr. Gaines uses techniques that minimize scarring.
Prospective candidates come in with complaints of upper neck, back, or shoulder pain. They may have grooves or notches in their shoulder muscles from bra straps, and they’re typically fairly uncomfortable from breasts that have been larger than normal probably since puberty. As patients get a very nice result from a breast reduction, they’re usually much more comfortable even in the recovery room right after surgery. And they are typically very happy patients because of that. That’s an operation that, because of the discomfort that comes with the macromastia or the very large breasts, is a lot of times covered by insurance, so this is one of the options that we’ll speak with patients about. And if they’re a candidate, it depends on how much tissue we’ll be removing. But if we’re removing enough or if I anticipate I’ll be removing enough tissue, that’s a patient who can have this operation done for insurance. The recovery time for a breast reduction is generally around . . . We ask patients to look for around two weeks off from work if they can get it, although a lot of patients will be back at work within a week or so. The discomfort from the breast reduction although it is a lot of work done on the breast itself, surprisingly is a lot less uncomfortable than you’d expect. It typically tends to be less uncomfortable than some of our smaller operations like a breast augmentation, for instance. Multiple patients who comment on the fact that their back and neck pain is significantly improved in the recovery room when they’re waking up from the procedure, so it can be transformative.