Dear Dr. Winder:
Q.I came to your office for a consultation to find out what could be done about my saggy breasts about 3 years ago. The before & after pictures of your patients were absolutely amazing; however, I never had the surgery because I couldn't seem to "make peace" with the scarring. Are there any newer techniques that don't leave as many scars?

A. Yes there is!! Whether due to pregnancy, nursing and/or the basic aging process, a woman's skin will lose it's elasticity, resulting in droopy breasts. The objective of a breast lift, technically called a "mastopexy" is to raise and reshape the breast. Along with the mastopexy, some patients elect to have their areola (the pink skin around the nipple) reduced in size if it was stretched during pregnancy, and add implants to replace volume lost during pregnancy. In any mastopexy procedure, skin is removed, eliminating the excess that causes the sagginess. Up until recently, board certified plastic surgeons would perform what's known as an "anchor mastopexy", so called because the incisions are anchor-shaped . . . the incision starts around the outer border of the areola, extends in a vertical line down the front of the breast, and in both directions along the lower crease of the breast. Now, however, when appropriate, I perform a newer technique developed by a French surgeon, Dr. Binelli. With a Binelli mastopexy, the only incision is that around the areola; the difference is that the glandular breast tissue itself is re-shaped. This results in not only raising the breast, but also recreates the fullness lost in the upper portion of the breast, something not accomplished with the older procedure.

Read more about this procedure.