A breast lift, also known as a mastopexy, is a plastic surgery procedure that lifts and reshapes the breasts into a more youthful form. It’s commonly performed for women who have pendulous or sagging breasts.
Treatment has boosted the self-esteem and pride of countless women. For so many, nicely-shaped breasts aren’t just visually appealing —they signify youth and vitality. Breast lifts reshape pendulous breasts, lift aging breasts, reverse the effects of breastfeeding, and create a better-defined cleavage. The main purpose of treatment is to reshape and reposition the nipples. These are just a few benefits patients can enjoy, but the most important outcome is a figure that reflects just how vibrant they feel on the inside.
As a board-certified breast surgeon with years of experience, Dr. Josh Waltzman knows full well how crucial cosmetic surgery can be. It’s why each breast lift in Long Beach is highly personalized for each patient, from the consultation to the recovery period; your unique needs and aesthetic goals are kept in mind at all times.
Before moving forward, Dr. Waltzman will ensure that the patient is a proper candidate for the procedure. There are a few characteristics that define the ideal breast lift candidate in Long Beach:
If the patient wants to address volume loss as well as reshape the breasts, Dr. Waltzman may recommend a lift with implants instead.
This procedure is designed to reposition the breasts to a more youthful, perkier position by removing excess skin and reshaping the breast. Treatment can also resize the nipple (which is often stretched too large by sagging breasts) and move it to a more youthful position.
To perform the extensive reshaping, Dr. Waltzman will need to create a variety of incisions on the breast:
The length and position of the incisions will depend on the amount of reshaping required, the amount of tissue that needs to be removed, and the elasticity of your skin. Of course, Dr. Waltzman will do what he can to reduce the appearance of the scars by reducing the tension on the incisions. Over time, the scars should heal and fade. According to many of our patients, the benefits outweigh any potential scarring
Although many women in Long Beach think that a breast lift will reduce the size of their breasts, that’s not necessarily true — your breasts will likely remain the same size. If you’d like to reduce the size of your breasts, your treatment can be combined with breast reduction surgery. And if you’d like to increase the size of your breasts, you can opt for a lift with implants.
At The Waltzman Institute Plastic Surgery & Aesthetics, we’ll support you the moment you walk into our modern, comforting medical office in Long Beach. You’ll get to meet with Dr. Waltzman one-on-one during your consultation.
Dr. Waltzman’s main goal for the consultation is to educate the patient, ensure that they feel supported, and come to a consensus on what their main goals are for the breast lift surgery. Dr. Waltzman is a warm, comforting physician who cares about informing the patient, and he’ll answer any questions and concerns you may have. Dr. Waltzman will also have an honest discussion with you about your aesthetic goals and whether they can be accomplished with a lift. Your consultation will take as long as it needs to, and you’ll have Dr. Waltzman’s complete attention the entire time.
At some point in the consultation, Dr. Waltzman will perform an exam to analyze your figure and the characteristics of your skin. He’ll also take measurements and photographs to help him plan his procedure in better detail.
Your breast lift will be performed using general anesthesia in a Long Beach hospital or surgery center, where Dr. Waltzman has privileges. Dr. Waltzman performs a variety of different breast lifting techniques, including vertical and Wise pattern lifts. Because it can reshape the tissues in both a vertical and horizontal plane, the Wise Technique can efficiently remove excess skin—a huge benefit for women suffering from excess skin due to weight loss or breastfeeding.
The kinds of incisions that Dr. Waltzman uses will vary depending on your skin and the degree of lift needed. He’ll either make an incision around the areola, from the areola down to the breast crease, across the breast crease, or all three. If he uses all three, the patient will have an anchor-shaped scar on the breast.
Dr. Waltzman will make the incisions and then create a pedicle, which is a bridge of tissue that establishes a blood supply to the nipple. He’ll rearrange the tissues, excise skin around the incisions, and move the nipple-areola-complex to a higher position.
Dr. Waltzman will give you specific post-surgery instructions following your breast lift in Long Beach. Generally, patients take 1-2 weeks off from work to recover. He also recommends that patients take it easy from exercising or strenuous activities for the first month of the recovery. And since patients will need to refrain from lifting anything heavy for the first four weeks, they may need some help with activities such as childcare.
Patients will feel some combination of soreness, swelling, tightness, and numbness. However, his patients also report that the recovery is quite tolerable and that they can switch to over-the-counter medications a few days after the surgery.
Your breast lift experience doesn’t end after the surgery; Dr. Waltzman will see you back in his Long Beach office for a regular schedule of post-surgery checkups.
Ready to take the next step in your cosmetic journey? Call our office today to schedule a consultation and learn more about the process of undergoing a breast lift in Long Beach.
View real before and after results performed by Dr. Josh Waltzman in Long Beach, CA.
A breast lift and breast augmentation surgeries are both highly popular procedures, but they offer patients different results.
Primarily, a breast lift raises sagging breasts and positions them higher on the chest. This also helps to reposition the nipple and areola in a more forward, aesthetically pleasing position.
Breast augmentation, on the other hand, involves making the breasts shapelier, and in most cases, larger using implants. The results from breast augmentation depend on the size, profile, and type of implant used.
Surgeons can lift the breasts using implants, and can also reduce breast size to make breast firmer and more youthful-looking. Dr. Waltzman is one of the best breast lift surgeons in Long Beach and will advise you on the most appropriate procedure for your situation.
Any surgery that involves incisions will result in scarring. However, with constant advances in technique, anatomical understanding, and state-of-the-art equipment, top plastic surgeons are able to minimize scarring to almost unnoticeable traces.
This is achieved by using micro incisions to manipulate the breasts, using evolved suturing techniques to seal and heal the incisions, and placing the incisions in parts of the skin where the body will naturally conceal them.
Your surgeon will discuss all of these topics with you in-depth before your surgery, so you are fully aware of the extent of scarring and potential outcomes of the operation before fully committing to the procedure.
The best surgeons offer imaging software to help patients visualize how they will look after the procedure, and is something you should look for when choosing your surgeon.
We generally recommend patients take five days off work to stay at home and completely relax and recharge from breast lift surgery.
This gives you a peaceful, quiet environment to rest and allows your body to recover, and you’re also not under any time-constraints or stress while you heal. Healing is a critical stage of the surgery. The longer you can rest with as little disturbance as possible, the better your results will be.
