The Ministry of Health in Ontario may cover the expense for breast reduction surgery if there are significant medical symptoms related to breast size.
A personal consultation with Dr. Kesarwani can answer your questions and help you determine whether breast reduction surgery is right for you. His ultimate goal is to ensure you are comfortable with your decision and happy with the results.
If you’d like to learn more about the Breast Reduction procedure, contact us now to book your confidential appointment with Dr. Kesarwani in Toronto.
Dr. Kesarwani can also show you before and after Breast Reduction photos from patients he has performed the procedure on previously, during your consultation.
For patients concerned with scarring, we do recommend following post-op instructions closely and applying CytoDerma™ silicone gel as advised. We have found that CytoDerma™ is an essential part of post-treatment recovery to help scars fade as much as possible. You can read more about it here.
Signs You Should Get A Breast Reduction
Overly large breasts can have many negative effects on quality of life such as back and neck pain, self-consciousness, low self-esteem, shortness of breath, and impeding enjoyment of physical activity. Many women and girls with extremely large breasts feel that they cannot participate in sports or other physical activity, feel that it restricts the clothes they can wear, and feel uncomfortable in public. For many, a breast reduction can significantly improve health, happiness, comfort, and self-esteem.
During a breast reduction, excess tissue and skin are removed from the breasts and the breasts are reshaped. Breast reduction is performed in a hospital, or other surgical centre under general anesthesia. It is a safe procedure, and usually doesn’t require an overnight stay. Breast reduction has proven to be very successful, improving many lives.
If you feel that your breasts are causing health issues, discomfort, and self-consciousness, you may want to consider a breast reduction. Here are some signs a breast reduction is right for you:
1. Do you experience back and neck pain?
Excess weight in the chest causes shoulders to roll forward, compressing the back and neck and causing pain and discomfort. It can also cause structural changes in the spine and neck, including premature curvature of the spine. If you’re experiencing this sort of pain, a breast reduction will work wonders.
2. Do you feel limited physically and socially by your breast size?
Large breasts can make girls and women feel uncomfortable in their own skin. The self-consciousness and physical discomfort that comes with having extremely large breasts may make you unable to participate in sports, and other physical activities. It can also affect the kind of clothing you can wear.
If you feel uncomfortable about your breasts, you may feel you cannot wear certain clothes that you would otherwise like to wear! It can also turn a fun outing like a day at the beach into a self-conscious crisis, as you may feel insecure in a swimsuit, or other revealing clothing.
Your body shouldn’t stop you from living your life to the fullest. If you feel your breasts are getting in the way of your enjoyment of life, it’s time to make a change.
3. Do you experience other symptoms such as headaches, or shortness of breath?
Extremely large breasts have also been linked to migraine headaches, dizziness, and shortness of breath. You may also experience numbness or tingling in your arms. This is all caused by the extra weight and pressure on your chest. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, you may be a good candidate for a breast reduction.
Some women try to manage pain, discomfort, and self consciousness by wearing loose clothing, trying to lose weight, taking pain medication, and even going for physical therapy. However, nothing is as effective as a breast reduction.
At what age is a woman a good candidate for this type of surgery?
The breasts may continue to grow for a number of years, so the ideal time is when the breasts have stopped growing for six months or longer. For many women, this is at age 16. Breast reductions are performed by many surgeons at this age. However, in order to have it done at such a young age, a girl would need a signed parental consent form. Dr. Kesarwani likes to meet with the patient and her parents and only considers breast reductions in women this young if they have massive breasts and if he confirms their breasts are not still growing for a period of six months.
By the age of 18 a woman’s weight and hormones have stabilized, resulting in less further changes to breast development. By this time, the woman has reached adulthood and is of legal age to make her own decision as to whether or not breast reduction is the right option.
Another thing to think about is that breasts can grow during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Some women may wish to delay breast reduction until after they are done having children.
Smoking and Breast Reduction
The negative effects of smoking have been much publicized, so you’ve no doubt heard about the potential risks of coming down with all sorts of cancers amongst other possible diseases if you light up.
If you’re planning to get breast reduction surgery, however, there are even more risks that you should be aware of. Specifically, smoking immediately before or after getting breast reduction surgery can open you up to issues that can derail the healing process.
Any licensed plastic surgeon will warn you about the dangers of smoking cigarettes in the weeks leading up to and following surgery, so you would be wise to heed such instructions.
What follows are some things you need to know about breast reduction and smoking. Ultimately, what you’ll find is that the risks associated with ignoring the advice are simply not worth taking.
Healing
One of the reasons you should steer clear of lighting up before or after breast reduction surgery is that doing otherwise can complicate the healing process. The reason for this is quite simple. The nicotine contained in cigarettes impedes blood flow to the body’s tissues. In addition to this, the breast reduction surgery will have an adverse impact upon blood flow to the portions of the skin bordering the incisions. The combined effect of the impact of the cigarettes and the stress of the surgery is such that you could suffer negative consequences such as skin loss, and potentially even nipple loss post-surgery. If you smoke, you really do need to avoid doing so leading up to the surgery, and avoid its use for however many weeks your plastic surgeon recommends. Decreased blood flow to the incisions may also result in a poorer final scar.
Infection Fighting
Again, you need to stop smoking not only about six weeks leading up to your breast reduction surgery, but also a few weeks after the procedure has been performed. Failing to do that will see the nicotine you take in keep blood from getting to the tissues and limits the effectiveness of antibiotics needed to safeguard against infection.
Coughing
Using tobacco can irritate your lungs’ lining, which can trigger bouts of coughing that can lead to internal bleeding post-surgery. In order to prevent this from happening, you need to steer clear of cigarettes for as long as your plastic surgeon advises.
Breast reduction surgery and cigarettes definitely don’t mix. When you go in for pre-surgery consultations, we will give you precise guidelines so that you can heal and get on with your regular routine.
