Saggy Breasts and Implants

Implants Do Not Correct Droopy Breasts. Here's Why.

Dr. Loftus feels that it is critical that women understand that implants alone do not raise your nipples or lift your breasts, no matter what your plastic surgeon might say. On this page, she explains why.

Breast implants, make breasts larger but do not raise your nipples or breasts. Saggy breasts are breasts in which the nipple sags below the natural crease beneath the breasts. A breast lift is the proper solution for saggy breasts, because it will raise your nipples and tighten loose skin. Simply put, if your nipples and breasts are droopy and you want them lifted to a higher position, then you will need to have a breast lift.

If your breasts are small but not droopy and you want them larger, then you will want a breast augmentation.

If your breasts are both smaller than you would like and droopy, you may chose to have both procedures.

The best way to view this is to understand that breast augmentation and breast lift are two different operations that accomplish two different goals. They are commonly performed at the same time, but may also be performed separately.

When trying to decide which surgery will benefit you the most you may take into consideration the following recommendations of Dr. Loftus (and also read her blog on this topic):

• If you have Grade I ptosis (mild), you can probably avoid having a lift. You must accept, however, that your nipples will not be raised and will continue to appear low. You will probably be happier with slightly lower nipples than with the scars that accompany a breast lift. If not, you can choose to have a breast lift at any time.


• If you have Grade III (severe) breast ptosis, then you will probably want to have a breast lift done at the same time as your augmentation for the best results. If you have this degree of droop and you choose to have implants without a lift, then you will almost certainly have a bulge either above or below the implant. These deformities are referred to as "bulging" and "double bubble". Fortunately, a lift will prevent either problem.


• If you have Grade II (moderate) breast ptosis (droop), then you will need to decide whether you want implants alone (which would avoid the scars associated with a lift), and a lift alone (which would not give you increase of size), or both aug and lift (which would remedy both issues, but impose lift scars. Another great option is to proceed with the implants alone, and then decide whether you want a lift after you have a chance to see where that puts your breasts. Dr. Loftus has found that most women in this category who have implants alone, are very happy with the final result. Yes, their nipples are still lower than they would consider optimal, but they feel that they would rather have this than the scars associated with a breast lift.

Bulging is due to the apparent fullness of the upper half of the breast. This occurs in those cases when the implants are placed in the proper position on your chest wall but because the natural breast is so low it has the appearance of hanging off the implant.

If your surgeon attempts to remedy bulging by over-lowering the implant, you may develop a double bubble, which is an unnatural bulge below the breast.