Dear Dr. Winder:
Q. I've thought about having a breast reduction for many, many years; however, I've always "chickened out" because I was worried about the pain. A few weeks ago you did a new procedure to reduce the size of my niece's breasts that, she says, you did with liposuction. My question to you is, is that really true? And, is there less pain?

A. Yes, it's true, and there is less discomfort involved!

Breast reduction surgery is performed to reduce the size of a woman's breasts. The procedure has been done for many years, and has traditionally been accomplished by removing both the excess breast tissue that is glandular in nature, along with the excess skin left over. Board certified plastic surgeons can now offer, to many patients, the latest surgical technique which is a combination of liposuction and/or a mastopexy, or breast lift.

For the patient who has an excess of fatty tissue, as opposed to excess glandular tissue, liposuction is performed to remove the unwanted fat. We then re-shape and re-mold the breast by performing a mastopexy, or breast lift if needed. The result and scars are the same; however, what most women don't realize is that, given a year or two to resolve, these scars can be very acceptable. The advantage of this newer technique to the patient is that there is considerably less discomfort, and there is no necessity to leave drains in the breasts for the first week following surgery.

So, if you've been concerned about pain in the past, or "turned off" by having to have drains for a week, now would be the perfect time for you to see if this procedure would be appropriate for you.

Read more about this procedure.