This is the final post regarding breast shaping options and why a woman might choose one option versus another. 

Why would a woman choose to have a breast reduction (reduction mammaplasty)?

Excessive breast development can cause significant physiological and psychological distress.  A woman may feel self conscious about the large size of her breasts and feel that they are an impediment to her ability to perform her job, exercise, or to wear certain fashions.  The weight of the enlarged breasts may cause significant neck and back pain as well as significant grooving in the shoulders from brassiere straps.  This grooving may lead to nerve compression and result in numbness of the hands.  Hygiene may be an issue with large breasts, and a woman may experience chronic skin irritation or infections in the fold of her breasts especially in the summer.  In severe cases of breast enlargement, skin ulceration can occur.  Breast enlargement may limit a woman’s ability to exercise and place her in a vicious cycle of weight gain.  These problems are improved or resolved with breast reduction surgery.  Over 90% of women surveyed following breast reduction are happy they underwent the procedure and would undergo it again.  In many instances, health insurance carriers may cover a breast reduction procedure.

Why would a woman choose to have a breast reconstruction?

Congenital deformity, or in more severe cases, complete absence of the breast may motivate a woman to seek a breast reconstruction procedure.  Alternatively, a patient who has undergone treatment of breast cancer may feel that she is missing a component of her identity.  Mastectomy without reconstruction removes the entire breast and leaves a scar on a flat bed that once had a feminine contour.  Breast conservation therapy followed by radiation can leave a woman with a contracted, disfigured breast.  These situations are painful daily reminders of a woman’s encounter with a potentially fatal disease.  Breast reconstruction is designed to help in the healing process of a woman, restore her identity, and help make her feel whole again.  Typically, reconstruction is performed in several stages that begin with the creation of a breast mound using either implants, the patient’s own tissues, or a combination of both.  Additional procedures such as a breast lift or reduction for the other breast are performed to improve the symmetry between them.  The reconstruction culminates with the reconstruction of the nipple and ultimate tattooing of the areola.  In 1998, the Women’s Health and Cancer rights Act was enacted requiring health insurance carriers to cover breast reconstruction in conjunction with mastectomy.

Our websites www.beauty-surgeon.com and www.drmckane.com have  additional information about breast contouring procedures and before and after photographs for review.  I invite you to schedule a consultation with me if you would like more information about these procedures.  Please feel free to contact our office at (713) 661-5255.

-Brice W. McKane, M.D.

© 2008 – 2009, Dr. McKane. All rights reserved.