The breast develops during puberty in response to hormonal changes. However at times the breast overgrows and become too large and heavy. It can cause significant problems like backache, bra straps cutting into the shoulder and fungal infection under the breast.
Besides it can cause considerable inconvenience during exercise, ill fitting of clothes and psychological stress for the individual.
Breast reduction surgery is most commonly done using a keyhole-shaped incision and inferior central pedicle technique of the breast. After making the incision, the skin flaps are raised to expose the underlying breast tissue. The excess breast tissue is trimmed down on the medial, lateral and superior quadrants leaving the inferior and central sector of the breast intact as a functioning breast unit. The preserved breast tissue is reshaped and redraped using the skin flaps. The nipple and areolar complex is raised to an optimal position.
This procedure of breast reduction takes about 3-5 hours under general anaesthesia. Hospitalization for 1-2 days is recommended. The recovery period is about 1-2 weeks. The surgery carries a small risk (<5%) of post-operative bleeding, skin flap and nipple and areola necrosis.
After the Breast reduction surgery, there is significant improvement in the symptoms and the greatest relieve is having the heavy load taken off the chest. They become more confident, outgoing and were able to pursue a more active lifestyle.
