Time changes everything, including the size and shape of breasts. Over time, your breasts can sag and lose elasticity. Other factors contribute to the process as well. These include gravity, weight fluctuations, pregnancy and breastfeeding, and especially your genetics. If you would like to regain a chest more reminiscent of your youth, you may want to consider breast lift surgery.

Breast lift surgery, technically known as mastopexy, is the process of removing excess skin from the breasts to raise them up, shrink the areola if necessary, and produce younger, firmer looking breasts. This can be a great solution for those who have sagging, flatter, or drooping breasts. It can also be helpful to those whose nipples point downward or whose areolas have been stretched out over time. The basic requirements for the surgery only include being physically healthy, being a nonsmoker, keeping a steady weight, and having realistic expectations about the results.

A mastopexy takes place in a hospital, a surgical center, or an outpatient facility. Your surgeon will give you either general anesthesia or intravenous sedation in preparation for the procedure. Then depending on the size and shape of your bust, the surgeon will make one of three different types of incisions. The first type is an incision around the circumference of the areola, the second type goes around the areola and downward to the breast crease, and the third cut is around the areola, downward and then across the bust crease horizontally. After the incision, the surgeon will lift up the sagging skin and trim off the excess. Sutures will be placed within the breast tissue to reshape and hold up the breasts. The doctor will also reposition the areola and nipple and reduce the areola size if necessary. Finally the incision is sown back together.

Recovery after breast lift surgery includes wearing a soft support bra over gauze wrappings for several weeks. You will keep the bra on at all time to aid recovery, but can remove and replace the gauze as necessary. Your surgeon may also put in small drainage tubes to let extra fluids flow out for a few days post-surgery. These will be removed within a week. After several weeks the bruising and swelling associated with the healing process will subside and you will be able to fully see the results of your procedure.

Breast lift surgery helps you to get rid of sagging but it does not necessarily create perfectly shaped breasts and does not restore roundness to the top. If this is your desire, your surgeon may recommend having breast implants placed during the same time. There are many different breast augmentation size choices, offering you plenty of options in getting the right look. If you have trouble deciding what size implants to get, talk with your plastic surgeon. He or she may have special implant sizing balls that can help you determine the right implant sizes to match up with your breast lift.

As with any surgery, there are risks associated with a breast lift. You may experience extra bleeding, infection, or unsightly scarring. You may also have either temporary or permanent loss of nipple and bust sensation. Fortunately, the risks of these and other complications are low. Plus the surgery is performed in such a way that there will typically be no interference with pregnancy and breastfeeding.