Cited Research
If your concern is volume, you need augmentation. If your concern is position, you need a lift. If your concern is both — and for most women in their 40s and 50s, it is — you need both.
The nipple test
Stand in front of a mirror. If your nipple sits at or above the inframammary fold (the crease beneath the breast), augmentation alone may achieve your goal. If the nipple sits below the fold, augmentation alone will produce a 'snoopy' deformity and a lift is required.
Augmentation alone — best candidates
- Mild volume loss with maintained skin tone (often after weight loss or breastfeeding).
- Naturally smaller breasts at any age with good skin elasticity.
- Asymmetry where the smaller breast can be matched without lifting.
Mastopexy alone — best candidates
Patients whose breasts are the right volume but have descended. Common after weight loss, pregnancy, or significant aging. Multiple incision patterns exist (lollipop, anchor, donut) chosen based on the degree of ptosis.
Augmentation-mastopexy combined
The most technically demanding of the three because the surgeon is simultaneously adding volume (which stretches tissue) and removing skin (which tightens it). Patient selection and surgeon experience matter more here than in any other breast procedure.
References & Further Reading
- ASPS — Breast Lift plasticsurgery.org
- ASPS — Breast Augmentation plasticsurgery.org
- PubMed — Augmentation mastopexy outcomes pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
This article is general information about procedures we perform. It is not medical advice and does not replace an assessment by a physician who has examined you. Individual results, risks and recovery vary.