Over your lifetime, your breasts will likely change sizes significantly, so it’s not unnatural to wonder: does a breast lift before and after size D make a difference? That is, you might wonder if you’re better off getting your breast lift sooner rather than later. Then again, there’s something to be said for waiting—and getting the biggest transformation possible out of the procedure.
The dilemma pops up because, as with the rest of the human body, the breasts are constantly changing. Gravity exerts constant force, and your skin loses elasticity as you age. Together, these two partners contribute strongly to the collection of excess skin and tissue that causes breasts to sag.
In some cases, it’s easy to know when you should pull the trigger, as it were. But in other cases, it’s hard for patients to evaluate the optimal time to get a breast lift.
The Factors of Your Decision
There will be plenty of factors that go into the timing of your breast lift procedure. To a certain extent the “before or after size D” barrier is something of an arbitrary line. For some women, size D has always been their perfectly proportional size, while for others it’s far too large.
Some of the variables that might dictate the best time to schedule your breast lift may include the following:
- When you have the opportunity to take time off of work
- When you have access to sufficient financing or medical insurance
- When your surgeon is able to fit you in
- When you feel as though you are “ready” for surgery
- When sagging breast tissue begins to make you feel self-conscious
- If you become unhappy with the overall shape of your body
- When you’re having other procedures performed (for example, as part of a mommy makeover)
- When you can arrange the right amount of care during recovery
As you can see, there’s a significant amount of balls to juggle. While finding the optimal timing is important, it’s also not uncommon for patients to feel as though they’ve passed a threshold—to feel as though they’re ultimately ready.
Advantages of Before and After Size D
First and foremost, it’s worth noting that measuring the breasts by bra size is problematic. After all, bra companies are notoriously inconsistent with their own measurements. That’s why you’re usually better off using actual measurements. After all, going from a D-cup to a C-cup can mean different things depending on the brand of bra you wear.
Surgeons like to be much more precise than that. But one thing is certain: a breast lift with larger breasts will be more challenging than one performed on smaller breasts. Let’s put it this way. If you have smaller breasts:
- Surgeons may be able to accomplish your desired results with minimally invasive techniques
- Your results will last longer
- You will likely not need a breast reduction in addition to a breast lift
- You may opt to undergo a breast augmentation concurrently with your breast lift
On the other hand, if you have larger breasts:
- Your surgeon may need to use a more invasive incision technique in order to successfully lift and reshape your breasts
- Your results may diminish more quickly simply due to the effects of gravity
- You may want to consider using a breast reduction in addition to a breast lift in order to achieve your desired final results
- You will likely not need to consider a breast augmentation in addition to a breast lift—though, for some patients it does make sense
A Breast Reduction in Addition to a Lift
In many cases, patients may want to consider a breast reduction in addition to a breast lift. This is often suggested for several reasons. First and foremost, larger breasts tend to sag a bit more over time—that’s just the effect gravity has. Many patients who are considering a breast lift for aesthetic reasons are also thinking about a breast reduction for comfort reasons.
Breasts that are excessively large for one’s frame tend to have the following effects:
- Chronic neck and back pain due to strain
- Decreased mobility (athletes have been known to get breast reduction to improve performance)
- Difficulty finding clothing that fits properly
- A disproportionate frame
Breast reduction is often employed in order to achieve both an aesthetic and a practical outcome. Patients will often look more youthful (especially when the orientation of the breasts is improved with a breast lift) while simultaneously experiencing a large reduction in the amount of discomfort they feel on a daily basis.
Sagging breast tissue is often an artifact from and an exacerbation of overly large breasts. Certainly, a breast lift is not exclusive only to those who have larger breasts—far from it. But the procedure does take on some extra significant and complication due to that.
Changing Cup Sizes with a Breast Lift?
In general, a breast lift is not designed to change the actual size of your breast. Instead, the procedure is intended to alter the orientation of the breast, moving it from drooping to perky in a way that makes the breast look more graceful and youthful.
In the process of this, some excess skin or tissue may be eliminated, but that’s really in the service of improving the orientation. This means a couple of things. First and foremost, most patients who do not get an augmentation or a reduction will stay close to their original cup size.
Second, it means that if you really do want to change cup sizes—either up or down—it’s vital to speak to your surgeon about which direction you’d like to go and how you want to get there. That’s something that almost all breast lift patients can and do discuss during their consultation process. A breast lift before or after size D might make a difference—but it will only matter depending on where you are today and where you want to be tomorrow.
