Before and after bilateral breast reduction and lift in an 18-year-old woman. She had a slender, dancer’s body, but her breasts limited her dancing and made her feel extremely top-heavy.
A breast reduction removed much of her heavy, dense breast tissue and rearranged her breasts using the
auto-augmentation technique.
Early follow up photos are shown 5 months after surgery. She is applying scar gel to her pink incisions twice daily and is back practicing ballet with unrestricted arm range of motion. Her nipples are starting to wake up, as evidenced by erect nipples.
The sensory nerves (that provide sensation to the nipples) go to sleep after surgery, and gradually wake up on their own schedule over the first year after surgery. even though the same surgery is done on each breast, the rate of nerve recovery can differ widely between the right and left breasts.
There are also motor nerves that allow the areola and nipple to contract. These contractile nerves also go to sleep after surgery. They often follow the same timeline of the sensory nerve recovery, but not always. In this patient’s case, her areolas are still flat and smooth while the nipples have woken up. With time, the areolas will also constrict normally, creating a smaller areolar circle when she is cold or undressed.
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
