Growing up, girls often worry about the breast size they’re going to have once their body matures. It’s often the case that they’ll hope to end up with a larger size and it’s understandable considering the female body ideals promoted in the media.

Busty women will, however, know that larger breasts can come with many downsides. They can get in the way, making simple things like hugging awkward. They make it difficult to get involved in sports, especially when you have to grasp your chest just to go down the stairs.

Let’s not forget that finding a perfectly fitting and supportive bra, or any kind of clothes shopping for that matter, seems as intense a quest as finding the Holy Grail.

More importantly, a large bust can cause intense back pain and physical discomfort, making normal daily activities particularly taxing. Sometimes the discomfort can become emotional, especially when you get unwanted attention and harassment because of the size of your breasts.

For some it’s simply a matter of feeling uncomfortable in your own skin and suffering from low confidence, self-esteem and even embarrassment because of their disproportionate bosom.

Be it for cosmetic or health reasons, if your bust has become a nuisance you might be considering getting a breast reduction, in which case you probably want to know how it works before you commit to anything.

Surgical Breast Reduction / Mammoplasty

A mammoplasty is an cosmetic surgery procedure during which a surgeon reduces the size of a patient’s breasts by removing any excess fat, skin and glandular tissue. Once these have been removed, the surgeon will then work to make your breasts more uplifted and proportionate to your body by moving your nipples upwards and in some cases reducing the size of the areola.

Breast reduction surgery can lasts around three hours. When you arrive at the hospital, you will meet with the surgeon again before your procedure to go over what is going to happen, your desired results and they will draw surgical markings on you to assist them during the procedure.

There are different techniques your surgeon may use which will determine which scarring you will have following surgery.

• Anchor type or inverted T reduction – is the most common type of breast reduction, resulting in an anchor-shaped scar starting around the areola, going down vertically and then horizontally across your natural breast crease.
• Vertical pattern breast reduction – results in a circular scar around the areola, and a vertical scar directed downwards. This technique has the advantage of leaving no scarring under the breast and a lower chance of wound complications. However, this technique may leave a small fold of skin, initially, at the lower end of the vertical scar.
• Circumareolar reduction – only results in a circular scar around the areola. This technique is only suitable when removing a small amount of tissue.

At the end of the procedure the incisions are stitched up, your breasts wrapped in a special supportive bandage and you will be required to wear a surgical bra for the next 6 weeks following your procedure.

A breast reduction may require an overnight stay and this will be discussed with your surgeon prior to your surgery date.

It is common to have swelling and bruising after a breast reduction procedure but these usually subsides after 1-2 weeks. You may also feel a little numb or tingly in certain areas which are down to nerve irritation which again should stop after 1-2 weeks. We recommended taking 1-2 weeks off work as full recovery can last 2-6 weeks. All exercise is best to be avoided for at least 6 weeks following surgery.

The great advantage of this procedure is that you get to tailor your breasts to look exactly how you want them to and since a mastopexy (uplift) is often undertaken in combination with the mammoplasty your breast can be significantly lifted.

The Private Clinic

Our clinic has over 35 years of experience in providing patients with pioneering treatments performed by world-class doctors.

Our biggest priority is YOU and that includes your health and safety, meaning our doctors won’t go through with a procedure if they judge that it won’t benefit you.

We’ve worked hard to select an elite medical team that will guide you through the treatment process from start to finish and support you throughout.

Breast Reduction Surgeons at The Private Clinic

• Mr Navid Jallali BSc MB ChB (Hons) MD FRCS (Plast)   GMC Number: 4404969
• Mr Dario Rochira BS, MD GMC Number: 6130664
• Mr Maisam Fazel  MA(Cantab) MB BChir MSEd FRCS  GMC Number: 4767420
• Mr Adrian Richards, MBBS, MSc, FRCS (Plast.) GMC Number: 3286812
• Mr Kenneth Kok MBChB MRCS MSc(Hons) FRCS(plast)   GMC Number: 4701147
• Mr Olubowale, MB ChB, MSc (Sheffield), FRCSI, FRCSI (Gen Surg) GMC Number 6044974
• Mr Mobinulla Syed MBBS, MSc, PhD, FRCS (Plast) GMC Number: 6035480
• Mr Philip Lim BSc (Hons), MB ChB, AFRCS (Ed), MRCS (Eng), FRCS (Plast) GMC Number: 4219068
• Ms Lyndsey Highton, BM BCh (Oxon) MA FRCS (Plast) GMC Number: 6128243
• Mr Adel Fattah, FRCS (Plast.) GMC Number: 4764599
• Mr William Van Niekerk, MB ChB, MSc, MRCS, FCMI, FRCS (Plast.), RAF (qs) GMC Number: 4362791 in London
• Mr Prashant Govilkar, MBBS MS MCh FRCS FRCS (Plast) GMC Number: 4258041
• Ms Helena Antoniadou, MBBS, MD & Surg (Hons), FRCS (Plast), GMC Number: 3700956

Our specialised breast surgeons are available to meet at our clinics in: London Harley Street, Birmingham, Bristol, Buckinghamshire, Manchester, Leeds and Northampton.

To find out more about breast reduction or to book a consultation at a clinic near you, please call 0333 920 2471 or use our online contact form.