Breast Reduction

So one of the more common consults that we do get is for breast reduction surgery. So these are typically people who come in with actual symptoms. So they come in complaining about headaches, they get neck pain, they get back pain, they get actual dents and grooves in their shoulders from their bra straps digging into their shoulders over the course of many years. They also often get rashes or even infections under their breasts. So they have these big red irritated areas. What those people are really looking to do is to make their symptoms go away. And the idea is if you take away some of the breast tissue, make the breast lighter and smaller, that you will improve some of that pain, you'll eventually see some of the grooving in the shoulder go away that hasn't been there for too long. And you'll see a reduction or even an elimination of the infections or skin irritation that people have under the breast. It's often a procedure that can be covered by insurance. It depends on the nature of the reduction and it depends on the insurance company.

But if you're taking out a substantial amount of breast tissue, oftentimes the insurance company will cover that. The surgery itself can take anywhere from two to three hours. It really very much depends on the size of the breast and the person's specific anatomy. It's an outpatient surgery. We put them to sleep. And then the idea is we take out a fair amount of skin like we do with a breast lift, but we're also taking out a substantial amount of breast tissue. So the smallest reduction we typically do is about 500 grams, which is about 1.1 pounds. So you imagine one pound per side, one pound is not much to lift with your hand. But if you had a two pound necklace hanging from your neck by the end of the day, that would really feel kind of terrible and you feel great when you took it off.

So you can imagine how these people feel. It's a surgery that has one of the highest satisfaction rates of anything that we do. If you look online, you'll read that people have about a 95% satisfaction rate with the breast reduction. And one of the most common comments people make when they've recovered is, I wish I'd done this sooner. People come in their 40s or 50s and say, I wish I'd done this when I was 22 years old because I've lived for all these years with this back pain, neck pain. The other issue is that people feel self-conscious about it and they have issues fitting into clothes. So we get patients who come in and say, I'm very limited with the clothing I can buy. I feel when I go out, you know, we have a lot of professional women say when I'm out, I feel like people are looking to break my breasts on my face and they feel it takes away from their ability to be professional. So, you know, you do a breast reduction surgery. It's one of those surgeries where people come in, even though when they're in some discomfort by day three or four, they're so happy by that, the transformation that you give them. It's really fun to be part of. For a lot of people, it means suddenly being able to exercise in a way they couldn't before because the breasts got in the way, they're fitting into clothes, like I said, that they, you know, they previously couldn't fit into and it can really be life-changing. It's a, it's a fun surgery to do for patients because it just, it translates into smiles and hugs and, you know, happy patients are just always fun to work with. So it's a, it's a gratifying surgery to do.