Anyone who has visited a medical office, been through a hospital… or sat in front of a television watching Doctor House knows that the world of medicine is full of strange, complex names—undoubtedly etymologically justified, but difficult to pronounce. And cosmetic surgery is no exception.
Mastopexy is one of those terms. This is the name given to the surgical procedure designed to lift sagging breasts and restore their firmness, something that happens almost inevitably over the years due to the relentless force of gravity, and which is accentuated if a woman has gone through one or more pregnancies or has breastfed her babies. The fact is that the breast tends to sag and simultaneously lose its shape, a phenomenon known as breast ptosis.
Ptosis—yes, another word that needs explanation. Ptosis means sagging, and when we speak of breast ptosis, it is clear that we are referring to sagging breasts.
What is pseudoptosis?
By definition, breast ptosis is considered to exist when the areola–nipple complex is located below the inframammary fold. It can be mild, moderate, severe… or even false. In that case, it is called pseudoptosis, which occurs when the nipple is above the fold but, due to a lack of breast volume, the breast appears sagging. In this situation, it is not necessary to perform a mastopexy; most cases are resolved by placing a breast implant of appropriate volume.
But let us return to true breast ptosis, the kind that finds its solution through mastopexy.
Women who suffer from it have an excess of skin in relation to the underlying breast volume; this skin is usually very thin, has lost its elasticity, and presents stretch marks. In addition, the glandular tissue is quite mobile over the chest wall due to the thinning of the ligaments that support the breast.
A side note: breast sagging is independent of breast volume; that is, breast ptosis can occur in small breasts as well as in cases of breast hypertrophy.
Let’s continue. In breast ptosis, the skin has given way, which requires us to remove, to a greater or lesser extent, the excess skin present. That is why the most decisive step of the surgical procedure takes place before surgery, when we mark with a pen the lines along which incisions will later be made to remove the excess skin.
If you would like more information, contact our team at Clínicas Fernández Blanco by calling 915 54 09 24 (Madrid) or 952 850 468 (Marbella, Málaga).
Dr. Alfredo Fernández Blanco
The plastic surgeon Dr. Alfredo Fernandez Blanco stands out in his branch of medicine, as the best breast surgeon, he is also a pioneer in the so-called secondary surgeries or sequelae. With more than 30 years of experience and thousands of successful cases, he continues to achieve the most natural results that can be expected in a cosmetic surgery operation.
