Nothing can stop the natural aging process. While a healthy lifestyle, regular exercise, and a nutritious diet can certainly help you age better over time, there are certain effects of aging that are inevitable. Of these changes, the loss of youthful characteristics in the breasts are usually the most unwelcome. You likely have at least a cursory understanding of how aging affects the breast tissue, but you may be less familiar as to how and why.
In our blog, board-certified and fellowship-trained plastic surgeon Gregory Wittpenn, MD, FACS breaks down the most common ways in which the breasts change over time. As one of Nacogdoches’ most prominent plastic surgeons, Dr. Wittpenn is well-equipped to evaluate your needs and provide you with personalized, effective treatment options.
Most Common Age-Related Breast Changes
Aging affects the breast shape through a combination of less collagen and elastin production, a decline in estrogen, natural changes in breast composition, and the gradual loosening of supportive structures.
Aesthetically, unwanted changes in the breasts are typically encompassed by:
- Weakening of Cooper’s ligaments: The breasts lose internal support due to weaker connective tissue in the breasts, called “Cooper’s ligaments.” Result: The breasts sit lower on the chest wall.
- Lost Volume and Shape: The breasts do not have clearly defined contours. Result: A flat or “deflated” look in the breasts, often negatively impacting the silhouette and making it difficult to find well-fitting clothing.
- Reduced Firmness: The breasts feel softer and do not have definitive fullness in the upper breast poles. Result: Sagging and drooping of the breasts, loss of internal support, and stretched areolas, with the breasts sometimes drooping below the natural breast fold.
- Greater Skin Laxity: The skin is less taut and has lost the ability to contract tightly around the shape of the breasts. Result: Sagging breasts, loss of profile, and stretched or downward-facing nipples.
While these developments occur naturally as you proceed through the various stages of life, the effects of each can also be exacerbated by pregnancy, shifts in weight, and lifestyle choices (e.g. smoking, alcohol, etc.). Aging is inevitable, but the aesthetic implications to the breasts don’t have to last forever.
Solutions for Age-Related Changes in the Breasts
The best procedure for you is determined by the exact nature of your concerns — for example, whether your reasons for surgery involve a lack of volume, a more elongated breast shape, significant breast sagging, etc. The only way to confirm how to achieve your goals is to speak to a qualified aesthetic surgeon about your treatment options.
- Breast Augmentation — Restores Fullness, Volume, and Shape: Breast implant surgery is among the most customizable aesthetic procedures available. Everything from the incision technique, implant profile, implant size, implant fill-material, and placement location are chosen based on what you envision for the outcome. Breast augmentation can improve fullness in the upper breast poles, enhance cleavage, create a rounder or more teardrop-like breast shape, and replenish lost volume.
- Breast Lift — Corrects Sagging and Reclaims Firmness, Shape, and Projection: Mastopexy is the gold standard treatment for reducing sagging or drooping in the breasts. If your breasts look stretched, flat, or “deflated” from hormonal fluctuations or aging in general, a breast lift can be tailored to enhance the profile of the bust, achieve a more natural breast shape, and restore younger-looking contours.
Reviewed By: Nacogdoches Plastic Surgeon Gregory Wittpenn, MD, FACS
About the Doctor: Meet Dr. Gregory Wittpenn
A plastic surgeon who has been practicing for 22+ years, Dr. Wittpenn is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS) and Medical Director of neighborhood Nacogdoches practice New Horizons Plastic Surgery. He was fellowship-trained in craniofacial and pediatric plastic surgery at the world-renowned Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, subsequently serving as head of the Division of Plastic Surgery at the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio.
Whether your breast contours have changed as a result of pregnancy, weight loss, aging, hormonal shifts, or other factors, Dr. Gregory Wittpenn is a board-certified plastic surgeon with over 22 years of experience who can work with you to find the right solution. With breast implant and breast lift options available at our Nacogdoches practice, you can reverse unwanted changes in the breasts and restore the youthful volume and shape you desire. Contact New Horizons Plastic Surgery today to schedule a consultation.