Weight loss following morbid obesity weight loss surgery, pregnancy, or simply as a result of diet and exercise can lead to significant physical changes in the appearance of women's breasts. Most individuals following significant weight loss develop areas of excess hanging skin and or fat causing droopy breasts.

After weight loss women's breasts lose shape, fullness, and droop. Natural breasts are made up fatty tissue and once the fat is reduced or loss it dramatically affects the shape and size of the breasts. Often there can be excess hanging skin covering the remaining breast tissue causing an aesthetically unattractive look.

In general the effects of gravity and aging also contribute to drooping breasts. Massive weight loss only adds to the natural aging process of the breasts. As the breasts age they change from a glandular tissue to being replaced by a fatty tissue. This is one of the reasons why women's' breasts are firmer and perkier when they are younger. This is also one of the reasons why women who loose massive amounts of weight latter in life have saggier breasts.

Because the breast is mostly fat and when weight loss occurs it can be dramatically seen in the breasts. Usually what is seen is a decrease in breast size and a large skin envelope hanging over the breast causing a droopy appearance. With major weight loss the skin on the breast is unable to redrape itself over the smaller breast as it does not shrink in size like the breast.

The major cause of excess breast skin following weight loss can be quite simple. Like pregnancy where the muscles, skin and other tissues of the abdominal wall expand to accommodate the baby, a similar process happens with the fat in the breasts. The skin adjusts to accommodate the fat under the skin and it stretches affecting its elasticity.

With major fat accumulation in some morbidly obese individuals it begins during childhood or adolescence, extending the length of time and tension of the breast skin. These patients tend to have more saggy skin as it was damaged and stretched for a longer period of time than a person who had weight gain for a short period of time.

In all areas where the body is storing large amounts of fat, over time, these areas are affected as the skin becomes more lax and permanently damaged. This occurs because the elastic fibers of the skin are broken. Also the effects of gravity combined with the skin supporting the extra fat can stretch the skin affecting its ability to redrape itself to the new contours of the body after weight loss. After significant weight loss a patient may have less breast and a lot of hanging skin. These patients are good candidates for some of the advanced breast sculpting procedures performed by Dr. Corbin.

Some patients may have more extra skin than others. There are many determining factors on why some patients will have more loose skin on their breasts and or stretch marks. In most cases, younger patients tend to have less loose breast skin because their skin has not been stretched out for a long as an older patient. Younger patients may also have more collagen, a major component of skin in the skin, to give it a more youthful firm appearance. Another major factor contributing to excess breast skin is the amount of weight loss. A patient who loses 150 lbs. is more likely to have excess skin than a patient losing 50 lbs. Some of the other contributing factors to loose skin may include, sun exposure received over a lifetime, skin type, heredity and whether the patient is a smoker. Patients with fair skin, usually tend to develop more loose skin than patients with dark skin. Sun damaged skin tends to have more tissue damage over the years and consequently will hang more following weight loss. Lastly, smoking breaks down collagen and the body's ability to supply oxygen to the skin. Smokers develop more loose skin than non-smokers.

Whatever the amount of hanging breast skin a patient has after weight loss it can usually be removed and reshaped with plastic surgery. There is many advanced breast sculpting techniques to remove the extra skin and help each patient achieve a more attractive breast or body contour. Foe added breast size many patients chose to lift and enlarge their breasts at the same time. Either with a breast lift or after a breast augmentation can be performed using either saline breast implants or silicone gel breast implants. Because most weight loss patient's breasts are so misshapen a breast lift with implants tends to be the most popular plastic surgery choice.

Because surgery is personal decision we advise each patient to have a personal consultation to be educated, and evaluated for plastic surgery body contouring procedures.Dr. Corbin uses minimal scarring advanced breast surgery techniques to give his patients a prettier final result.

The most important thing we do is improve your appearance and self esteem. Plastic surgery is the final reward after months and sometimes years of discipline, weight loss surgery, dieting, exercising and a commitment to loosing weight. Loosing major amounts of weight is a very emotional and empowering process for many patients. It is a person's personal commitment to themselves to be in control of their weight, lives and health.

At Dr. Corbin's office, we are here for weight loss patients to help make their final body image goals a reality. We offer a very supportive staff to assist patients every step of the way.

Breast Reshaping Surgery

Surgical Solutions For Weight Loss Patients

Breast Lifts

Breast Lift General Information: The breast lift or mastopexy is a procedure to reshape the breast and create or restore a more youthful "perkier" appearance. In some cases it can be combined with an augmentation to increase the size of the breasts while reshaping them. In some patients a breast lift can be done through an incision next to the nipple-areolars only. In others it may require a combination of incisions depending on the degree of drooping or ptosis of the breast. Dr. Corbin performs 5 different types of lifts: Crescent, Binelli, Vertical, Inverted T, and the Spair. The operation and /or set of incisions that will give you the best overall appearance will be determined at the time of your consultation. Dr. Corbin's surgical goal is to give his patients the prettiest breast with the least amount of scarring. As with any surgical procedure there are potential risks and these too will be discussed at your consultation.

Length of Surgery: 1 to 4 Hours
Location: Accredited Surgery Center or Hospital
Anesthesia: General
Recovery Time: The patient can usually return to work in 1 week depending on the individual. Exercise and strenuous activity may be done at one month after surgery.
Post Operative Results: Each patient heals differently; however, following the surgery some patients may experience fatigue, temporary pain, swelling, soreness loss of sensation in the nipples, throbbing, tingling, dry skin and possible bruising. The incisions will be pink at first but over time they will flatten and fade depending on the individual. It has been our experience that patients are very happy with their post op results and perky new breasts.
Helpful Surgery Hints: Be in good mental and physical health. Any herbal medications must be stopped 2 weeks prior to surgery. Discontinue any use of Aspirin and anti- inflammatory drugs two weeks before surgery. Maintain a healthy diet, exercise regularly and do not smoke. Patients taking birth control pills must stop taking the pills one month prior to surgery and one month after surgery. Help improve healing by taking our surgical pre and postoperative vitamins.

Breast Augmentation

General Information: breast augmentation or augmentation mammoplasty is a procedure to make the breasts larger, fuller and in some cases more youthful looking. It is accomplished by placing a breast implant, either a silicone bag filled with salt water or silicone gel, behind the breast and/or the pectoralis major muscle. The breasts implants can be placed via one of 4 incisions. One along the bottom fold of the breast called the inframammary incision, one that parallels the inferior border of the nipple-areola complex called the peri-areola incision, one in the arm pit or axilla called the axillary approach and finally one through the umbilicus or belly button called the umbilical approach or TUBA. In all cases DR. Corbin's goal is to use that incision and implant that will give the most natural result. As this is real surgery there are potential complications and these will be discussed at your consultation. Thousands of women each year choose to enhance their breasts through augmentation mammoplasty so this is a very popular and safe operation. If a breast augmentation is performed with a breast lift then the scars from the lift will be used to put the implants through. Only patients with breasts that do not need lifts are candidates for implants through the belly button, armpit, or under the breasts.

***Important fact***
Breast implants do NOT lift the breasts. They only make the breasts bigger. The only plastic surgery procedure that will lift the breasts is a mastopexy (Breast Lift).

Length of Breast Surgery: 1 to 2 Hours
Location: Accredited Surgery Center or Hospital
Anesthesia: General
Recovery Time: The patient can unusually return to work a few days following surgery depending on the individual. Exercise and strenuous activity may be done at 3 to 4 weeks after the operation.
Post Operative Results: Each patient heals differently: however, most patients say the first day is the most uncomfortable. Following the surgery, some patients experience temporary swelling, soreness, change in nipple sensation and possible bruising.
Helpful Hints: Be in good mental and physical health. Do Not Smoke. Help improve healing by taking pre and postoperative vitamins. Improve the appearance of small scars with topical gel.