Breast Lift in Tampa, FL

Over time, whether because of aging, pregnancy, breast-feeding, or weight gain and loss, every woman will experience some degree of sagging and deflation of the breasts. Very often drooping and sagging of the breasts can make a woman feel self conscious and disappointed with her appearance. Fortunately, with modern advances in breast lift surgery, almost every woman can once again have perky, full, youthful breasts!

Dr. Traci Temmen, a board certified female plastic surgeon at Temmen Plastic Surgery, understands a woman’s concerns and desires when it comes to breast lift surgery. She understands how disruptive sagging breasts with loose skin can be to a woman’s self-esteem. Dr. Temmen is trained in some of the most advanced techniques in breast lift surgery, enabling her to perform breast lifts through short scars and obtain long term, beautiful, natural results.

Breast Lift Surgery Benefits and Details

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Your Results May Vary

The goals of breast lift surgery are three fold: 1) to raise the nipple areolar complex of the breast to a higher and more youthful position, 2) to tighten the skin envelope of the breast, and 3) to improve upper breast fullness and shape.

To achieve these goals during a breast lift surgery, Dr. Temmen surgically repositions the nipple and glandular breast tissue and secures the new, elevated position with permanent sutures. Additionally, excess, loose, and sagging skin is removed to create a tighter skin envelope that helps to further shape and refine the breast. Occasionally, if maximal breast reshaping is needed, Dr. Temmen may also perform liposuction and/or fat transfer to the breast during a breast lift surgery.

Using a combination of these advanced techniques, Traci Temmen, M.D. can give almost any woman the high, tight, and perky breasts of her dreams.

Who is a Candidate for Breast Lift Surgery (Mastopexy)

The ideal candidate for breast lift surgery is a woman that is generally happy with the size or volume of her breasts, but is disappointed with the degree of breast sagging or drooping. In general, the distance between the nipple and the crease under the breast where the breast and the chest wall meet measures the degree of sagging or ptosis of the breasts. A nipple that is at or 1cm above the breast fold is considered Grade I (minimal) sagging or ptosis. A nipple that is below the fold is considered Grade II (moderate) sagging or ptosis. A nipple that is at the very bottom of the breast contour and “pointing towards the floor” is considered Grade III (severe) sagging or ptosis.

To accurately diagnose each woman’s degree of sagging and to determine the operation that will best meet each patient’s goals for breast lift surgery, Dr. Traci Temmen takes exacting measurements and performs a thorough physical examination during each and every breast lift patient consultation. You can be sure that the plan you and Dr. Temmen agree on will provide you with the safest, longest lasting, and most beautiful results possible.

Who is Not a Breast Lift Candidate?

Of course, not every woman is a perfect candidate for breast lift surgery. Patients that smoke, have complicated medical problems (e.g. heart disease, diabetes, blood clots), or are considered obese with a BMI >30 are not candidates for breast lift surgery. Dr. Traci Temmen requires that patients stop smoking for at least 6 months to 1 year, have medical conditions well controlled, and have reached the ideal body weight before proceeding with breast lift surgery.

Additionally to obtain the most exceptional results possible, women who have recently had a baby or breast fed a baby should postpone surgery for at least 6-9 months to let their breast tissues contract before undergoing breast lift surgery.

Breast Lift Surgery (Mastopexy) Scar Location

Most women’s biggest concern when considering breast lift surgery is, understandably, the location and length of scars on their breasts.

Fortunately, by using modern breast lift surgery techniques, Dr. Traci Temmen is able to perform most all breast lift surgery through just one or two small scar locations.

Patients with a small degree of sagging may achieve beautiful results following a breast lift with a single scar placed around the nipple areolar complex (i.e. the border between normal breast skin and the colored portion of the nipple areolar complex). The scar around the nipple is essential to reduce the size of the areola and reposition the nipple higher of the breast mound.

For patients with moderate or moderate/severe degrees of breast drooping, Dr. Temmen must add a vertical scar from the bottom of the nipple areolar complex to 2-4 cm above the breast fold at the chest wall. While this vertical scar is the scar that most concerns women considering breast lift surgery, the vertical scar usually heals very well and can become virtually invisible after 1 year. The vertical breast lift scar is necessary to tighten the skin envelope and help add fullness to the superior breast.

Rare patients who have lost significant amounts of weight or have extreme degrees of sagging or ptosis may occasionally need a third horizontal scar placed at the breast fold.

Breast Lift Recovery

Dr. Traci Temmen performs her cosmetic breast surgeries in an accredited, private surgical suite. She performs breast lift surgery under general anesthesia with the surgery generally lasting 1 1/2 to 2 hours, depending on the complexity and degree of breast sagging. Patients recover in the luxury of a private recovery suite with a recovery room nurse dedicated solely to them and their comfort.

Patients may occasionally have drains placed in the breasts that are generally removed in one to five days. A supportive bra is worn for six weeks to aid in healing and shaping of the breast tissues following breast lift surgery. Most patients are able to return to work within 2-3 days, drive when they are no longer taking narcotic pain medications, and return to full exercise by six weeks.

Breast Lift Surgery Cost

While it is true for all cosmetic surgery that cost should not be the determining factor when choosing a plastic surgeon, it is especially true when choosing a plastic surgeon to perform your breast lift or mastopexy. Because of the high level of skill required to perform this surgery, only plastic surgeons certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery should be considered. Dr. Temmen is proud to be one of the few female board certified plastic surgeons in her area to offer advanced breast lift surgery.

The cost breast lift surgery varies by plastic surgeon and by region of the country. The average price of a breast lift surgery starts at $8,900 and a breast augmentation with a lift starts at $9,900 including surgeon fees, anesthesia fees, and facility fees. This cost may increase with higher degrees of breast sagging, complexity, previous breast surgeries, and increases in planned surgical time.

Dr. Temmen offers convenient payment options for breast lift surgery and all other cosmetic surgery. They accept check, credit, card, and CareCredit, a credit card that offers special financing and low monthly payments for cosmetic surgery procedures.

Breast Lift Risks and Possible Issues

While associated with a very high patient satisfaction rate, there are some risks and complications associated with breast lift surgery. Minor risks and complications for breast lift surgery include small blood or fluid collections that can be managed in the office. Superficial infections rarely occur but can also usually be treated with oral antibiotics in the clinic. Almost all women have some degree of asymmetry between the breasts prior to undergoing breast lift surgery and may see small differences in size or shape following breast lift surgery.

Other risks of breast lift surgery include wound-healing problems, changes in sensation to the nipple areolar complex, or rarely, loss of the nipple areolar complex. All of these risks can be minimized with proper patient selection. Thus, Dr. Traci Temmen, and most other credible plastic surgeons, will not perform breast lift surgery on patients who are currently smoking, have high-risk medical problems, or are extremely overweight.

Plastic surgeons like Dr. Traci Temmen, certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, are trained not only in breast surgery, but also in diagnosing and appropriately treating the complications and risks associated with cosmetic breast lift surgery.

Breast Lift Before and After Photos

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then when it comes to breast lift surgery, a before and after picture is priceless! Please note that many of our breast lift photos are taken six weeks to three months after surgery, thus the scars you see in the breast lift before and after photographs will continue to improve and fade away over one year.

Dr. Traci Temmen and her many satisfied breast lift patients are proud to showcase her before and after breast lift surgery photographs in the Gallery section of this website.

For more information on Dr. Traci Temmen, breast lift surgery, and all other cosmetic breast surgery procedures offered at Temmen Plastic Surgery, please contact us at (813) 771-6393.