Breast Reduction

Feel Better, Look Better

Many women suffer daily from the effects of having breasts that are disproportionate to their body size. If you are one of these women, you may be experiencing back pain, neck pain, difficulty exercising, painful bra strap marks, chronic rashes, or unwelcome stares that often times accompany having uncomfortably large breasts. If you are in the Milwaukee area and have breasts that are uncomfortably large for your figure, Dr. Bosbous can help relieve your symptoms with a breast reduction surgery.

What to Expect During Your Consultation With Dr. Bosbous

During your consultation with Dr. Bosbous, you will have the opportunity to discuss every aspect of your desired breast reduction procedure. Dr. Bosbous will evaluate your desired final outcome as well as your individual physiology in order to determine the most appropriate way forward.

You will also have an opportunity to ask all of the questions you might have about what to expect from the procedure, including pre and post-operative instructions. Patients are also encouraged to arrive prepared to discuss their general medical history, including the use of tobacco products and other prescriptions you might have taken in the past or currently be taking.

A consultation is the first step towards your transformation. If you want to know more about how a breast reduction might work for you and your body, contact us today to start the process!

Discomfort Caused by Excess Breast Tissue

Breast reduction is such a popular procedure in Milwaukee, WI, and across the country, in part due to the discomfort caused by excess breast tissue. For many patients, eliminating this discomfort is the primary motivation for undergoing the procedure. That said, the aesthetic benefits of breast reduction can also be a powerful factor.

Specifically, excess breast tissue can lead to the following complaints:

• Shoulder pain: The weight of the breast tissue can cause strain on the upper body, resulting in chronic shoulder pain.
• Back pain: The vast majority of the weight from excess breast tissue is supported by the back. This can cause severe strain on your back muscles, resulting in chronic fatigue and discomfort.
• Neck pain: The neck can also experience a great deal of strain. When the back and shoulders become fatigued, the neck has to bear a larger portion of the weight, and that can cause uncomfortable strain.
• Headaches: Strain throughout the back, shoulders, and neck can lead to chronic headaches. These headaches can be particularly potent and difficult to get rid of through traditional means.

The elimination of excess breast tissue will often mitigate this discomfort, especially if the root cause of that discomfort is indeed stress and strain caused by overly large breasts. For most of Dr. Bosbous’s Milwaukee area breast reduction patients, discomfort tends to dissipate once the excess tissue has been removed.

That results in a significant amount of relief once the procedure is completed.

What Causes Excess Breast Tissue?

Excess breast tissue can develop for a variety of reasons, many of which will often influence or interact with each other. Two of the most prominent reasons why excess breast tissue developers are:

• Genetics: Some people naturally have larger breasts than others. Genetic variation can cause some patients to develop more tissue than others. This is especially true with younger patients who have more developer breast tissue.
• Aging: As you age, your skin loses elasticity. Gravity exerts a constant downward pressure on your breast tissue, and over time, this can create excess skin–the skin, essentially, is stretched out. This excess skin can add mass to the breasts. Additionally, the ways in which your body metabolizes fat can change. Together, these two factors can lead to a significant increase in the mass of breast tissue. As you age, additional volume can encourage even more volume development.

These factors often also play a part in creating the presentations that breast lift is often used to treat. During a breast lift, the breasts will be repositioned into a more youthful orientation. Often, breast lift and breast reduction are performed concurrently.

Lifestyle Factors

There are some lifestyle factors that can lead to the development of excess breast tissue. For example, significant changes in your weight can lead to either excess volume or excess skin. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle may limit the size of your breasts over time, but it also may not–there are many factors that play a role.

Once a patient has developed overly large breasts, lifestyle changes–such as diet and exercise–can have an impact, but any results tend to be quite limited.

• Diet and exercise cannot tighten skin. So if your issues are based on the presence of excess skin, diet and exercise will not have a significant impact.
• Breasts can be composed of a collection of fat, muscle, and other tissues. If the bulk of volume is fat-based, diet and exercise may help somewhat. But because weight loss cannot be targeted, many patients find it difficult to achieve their desired results.

That’s why many patients opt for surgery–and treat that surgery as the beginning of a continued healthy lifestyle. Patients who are able to maintain a stable weight will often enjoy the benefits of their breast reduction procedure for a longer duration.

If you have questions about how a breast reduction could help you achieve comfort, relief, and an aesthetic transformation, contact Dr. Bosbous today to schedule a consultation.

Who is a Good Candidate for Breast Reduction?

Excess tissue can develop around the breasts for a wide variety of reasons, from genetics to pregnancy to weight gain or weight loss. That excess tissue, however, can cause problems and complications in the lives of patients, and it is in those cases that breast reduction surgery might be an appropriate solution.

At a glance, good candidates for breast reduction will:

• Exhibit a significant amount of excess breast tissue (this tissue is sometimes composed of fat, skin, or some combination of both).
• Experience chronic neck or back pain due to the weight of overly large breasts.
• Be uncomfortable with their overall proportions due to the volume of overly large breasts.
• Want to achieve a more youthful looking silhouette.
• Are generally healthy for surgery.
• Have realistic expectations about what breast reduction surgery can accomplish for them.

In some cases, breast lift procedures are also recommended for patients undergoing a breast reduction. A breast lift will reorient the breasts into a more youthful position (in some cases moving the nipple as well). When coupled with a breast lift, breast reduction can help patients look and feel significantly younger.

However, not every breast reduction patient also requires a breast lift procedure. Additionally, patients are often counseled to maintain a stable weight–as much as possible–after their breast reduction procedure in order to help maintain the potency of their resutls.

If you feel like you’re a good candidate for breast reduction, contact the office of Dr. Bosbous to set up an appointment for a consultation.

The Breast Reduction Procedure

Dr. Bosbous is happy to offer his Milwaukee breast reduction patients a short scar procedure known as the SPAIR technique. The technique was developed by his former fellowship director, the well-known and respected breast plastic surgeon Dr. Hammond. The SPAIR procedure reduces the scar length necessary to perform your reduction surgery, meaning Dr. Bosbous can shape your breasts and improve their aesthetics while minimizing visible scarring.

Benefits of Breast Reduction

Breast reduction surgery typically creates both aesthetic and physical benefits for patients. Some of the physical benefits include:

• Decreased frequency of headaches.
• Decrease in chronic neck pain.
• Decrease in chronic back pain.
• Bra straps will no longer or less frequently leave painful marks
• Some daily activities, such as exercise, will be significantly easier.

Some of the aesthetic benefits include:

• A more youthful looking overall appearance.
• More control over the look of your proportions.
• A more feminine looking silhouette.
• Available clothing options may expand (in other words, it might be easier to find clothing that fits you properly).

The benefits of a breast reduction procedure will also be quite personal. For many patients, a breast reduction will help them reclaim part of their youth lost to motherhood. For other patients, a breast reduction will allow them to finally feel comfortable in their own bodies. Some of the benefits of your own breast reduction procedure will likely also be quite personal to you and your body.

Advantages of the SPAIR Technique

Dr. Bosbous performs breast reduction surgery with an artistic eye and hand. Too often breast reduction is performed with a “cookie cutter ” mentality. Dr. Bosbous brings individual care, consideration and detail to every procedure he performs. Working to restore your breasts to a more youthful, proportionate look Dr. Bosbous will use the SPAIR technique to:

• Reduce breast size and weight by removing excess tissue
• Tailor breast tissue and skin to be youthfully repositioned
• Reposition the nipple areolar complex to fit with your new breast shape/size

Traditionally reduction procedures result in an “anchor” shaped scar, but with the SPAIR procedure you have one scar that passes around the nipple areolar complex and gently curves down to the inframammary fold greatly reducing your scar length compared to other methods. By decreasing the scar length the SPAIR avoids some of the complications experienced with more traditional breast reduction techniques.

Occasionally, depending on the patient’s age and skin quality Dr. Bosbous may be able reduce the breast with liposuction alone or using liposuction and a SPAIR pattern skin resection.

Breast Reduction Recovery and Results

Breast reduction is performed as an outpatient procedure in an accredited surgical center or hospital. Dr. Bosbous takes pride in the attention to detail he gives each of his patients. A typical reduction surgery takes about 4 hours, and often insurance will cover this procedure. Patients can expect to resume daily activity within 3-4 days of their surgery, but may experience swelling for 7-10 days. Exercise and vigorous activity should be avoided for 4 weeks after surgery.

If you believe breast reduction surgery could help you as it has already helped so many other Milwaukee breast reduction patients, contact Dr. Bosbous today to set up a consultation.