Breasts that are excessively heavy can cause a number of symptoms. Some of those include neck and back pain, shoulder grooving, skin irritation, numbness of the arms and even breathing problems. These symptoms can often be alleviated by reducing the size of the breasts surgically through a reduction mammoplasty.

This is an outpatient procedure, often covered by insurance, which lasts 3 hours and involves the removal of fat, glandular tissues and skin from the breasts, making them smaller, lighter and firmer.

The incisions are visible around the areola and as an inverted “T” underneath the fold, but fade after a few months. Preoperatively, we may request a mammogram and some lab work. We will also require complete tobacco abstinence as this may increase wound healing problems. After the surgery, patients feel sore and tight for a few days but can return to work as early as a week post-op. There are generally no sutures or drains to remove and the patients are invariably happy to have undergone the surgery, often wishing they had done it sooner.