Breast Reduction Archives | La Jolla, San Diego

What Is the Connection Between Large Breasts and Back Pain?

Many people experience back pain at some point in their life. For some, it can stem from tension, poor posture, overexertion, excess weight, and many other factors. One factor that largely contributes to back pain for many women is large breasts.

How Large Breasts Cause Back Pain

D-cup breasts can weigh between 16 and 24 pounds. Breasts that size can exert unnecessary force on the chest, which requires a counterbalance on the neck, shoulders, and back. All of these factors can lead to muscle strain and chronic pain. The extra weight can also contribute to issues with posture, as the muscles begin to tire from fighting to stay straight and the upper back begins to curve forward.

Other contributing factors can include women who might feel self-conscious about their large breasts may adjust their posture to hide or minimize the appearance of their breasts by hunching or rolling their shoulders in. These posture adjustments can lead to severe back and shoulder pain. They may also find themselves unable to find a bra that fits, leading to discomfort from the straps digging into the shoulders and shifting the body’s balance in an unhelpful way.

Lastly, large breasts can also lead to women being incapable of performing physical activities that could possibly strengthen their backs and torsos and improve their overall flexibility. Large breasts can make many activities awkward, difficult, or nearly impossible, and also incredibly uncomfortable. This is due to the pressure the breasts place on the chest cavity, which can make it challenging to take a deep breath.

How To Address Breast-Related Back Pain

Back pain related to large breasts can be remedied in a few different ways. Here are a few methods you can try to address back pain if you have large breasts.

Find A Bra That Fits: Shop around for bras that aren’t too tight and have wide shoulder straps to help support and distribute the weight. Customized bras and sports bras can support the weight of your breasts and make movements more comfortable. This might seem like an obvious piece of advice, but two-thirds to three-quarters of all women wear bras with the wrong cup, band, and shoulder strap size.
Keep A Healthy Weight: When women gain weight, the breasts are often affected. The extra fat can also add weight to the abdomen, forcing the back to work harder to keep the body in balance. If you’re carrying around some excess weight, losing it with a healthy diet and exercise plan may help resolve back issues.

Consider A Breast Reduction

If you’ve done everything to try to support or reduce your large breasts, but the issues with back pain continue to persist, you might consider breast reduction surgery. This procedure can have cosmetic and medical benefits and may be the only method to permanently resolve chronic pain. Breast reduction surgery can give you the look you want and allow you more opportunities for a more active lifestyle. If large breasts contribute to your back, neck, or shoulder pain, reducing their size could help resolve the chronic pain you’ve been experiencing.

Learn More About Breast Reduction Surgery in Newport Beach, CA

Double board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Tim Sayed has been practicing cosmetic and reconstructive surgery for over 13 years. His impeccable skill, attention to detail, and commitment to patient happiness and well-being are second to none.

If you are interested to see how Dr. Sayed can help you through cosmetic breast surgery, your next step is to schedule a friendly and informative consultation with Dr. Sayed. Contact our practice today at (858) 247-2933 or through our website to reserve your spot today.

3 Ways to Prepare for Your Breast Reduction

While 320,000 opt for breast augmentation via implants each year, around 45,000 women go the other way and choose to make their breasts smaller with Breast reduction, an increasingly popular aesthetic procedure in the U.S.

Overly large breasts can cause an array of health issues and severely impact one’s quality of life. Breast reduction surgery can be a life-changing procedure for anyone struggling with these issues.

Adequately preparing for breast reduction surgery is the best way to ensure that you get the best results possible. If you are considering breast reduction surgery, or have already booked your appointment, do these three things to make sure your recovery and results are as good as you deserve.

1. Find the Size You Want

Overly large breasts can cause back problems, postural issues, impact shoulder health, and can also affect lifestyle, as more rigorous activity can be hindered by large breasts.

Once you decide to get breast reduction surgery, you must choose a size that is aesthetically pleasing to you and will enable you to lead the type of lifestyle you desire.

The best way to do this is to find women with a body shape and bone structure similar to your own, who lead the kind of lifestyle you wish to lead and have a breast size you would like to emulate.

Doing this helps you visualize how you will look after breast reduction surgery in Newport Beach, CA, and massively contributes towards you being satisfied with the results of your breast reduction procedure.

2. Clear Your Social and Professional Calendars

Completely recovering from breast reduction surgery requires between six to eight weeks. However, the first two weeks are the most critical time.

Patients will need to wear a compression garment all the time for the first four days after surgery and will need to do as little physical activity as possible.

This means staying at home in a comfortable, relaxing environment. As such, it is vital you schedule time off work and have no social engagements during the first week after your breast reduction.

During the second week, patients can return to stationary jobs and start participating in non-stressful social meetings; however, physical activity must be kept to a minimum.

3. Find Out if Insurance will Cover your Breast Reduction

Insurance almost never covers breast augmentation because it is viewed as a “non-compulsory” procedure.

On the other hand, overly large breasts can have considerable consequences on a patient’s quality of life. As such, with the correct medical evidence and recommendations, you may be able to find an insurer who will help cover the costs of your breast reduction surgery. While Dr. Sayed does not participate with insurance plans, many of our patients have been able to recoup some of their surgical fees from their insurance carrier by filing a claim.

This will depend on the symptoms you experience due to your large breasts and is at the discretion of the insurers. The best you can do is seek medical advice and talk with an array of insurers.

Ready to Learn More?

As you consider breast reduction in La Jolla or Newport Beach, CA, reach out to Dr. Tim Sayed at 858 247 2933 or fill out his online form to arrange a consultation and start preparing for your successful breast reduction surgery now.

Can Breast Reduction Really Be Scarless?

Breast reductions can provide a safe and highly effective means of reducing neck, back, and shoulder pain for women with larger breasts. If you’re someone who faces discomfort when exercising due to your breasts, bra straps leaving painful indentations, or just want to reduce size for aesthetic reasons, breast reduction is an ideal solution.

As a board-certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Sayed has extensive experience successfully reducing cup size and creating proportional areolas alongside ideal nipple placement. However, his patients often ask him if he can perform a “scarless” breast reduction.

The Truth Behind “Scarless” Surgery

To be clear, there is no such thing as a “scarless” surgery, and any surgeon who tells you otherwise is spreading misinformation. No matter the technique used, if you’re undergoing a procedure to modify your breasts (whether that’s a reduction, augmentation, a breast lift, implant removal, or anything else), an incision is necessary.

If there’s an incision, some scarring is inevitable. That’s why working with a board-certified surgeon is so critical. A skilled and expert surgeon like Dr. Sayed can both minimize incision size and provide you with all the necessary tools to help reduce scarring over time.

Thanks to advanced suturing techniques and with his masterful craftsmanship and artistry, Dr. Sayed can achieve incredibly fine-lined scar patterns. With each surgery, Dr. Sayed also does his best to use your natural anatomy to conceal visible scarring. If possible, he will place your incision under the fold of the breast, where it’s far more likely to heal discreetly and virtually unnoticeably.

Our responsibility as doctors is to help patients make fully informed decisions about their bodies and health. Alongside maintaining the highest possible levels of safety and care, our chief priority is to ensure you have a clear understanding and realistic expectations about what your results will look like.

Reducing Visible Scarring

While we can’t yet perform scarless procedures, there are many clinically proven means of reducing the appearance of surgical scars.

During your consultation, we’ll discuss all the factors that go into how the body scars and heals. One of the most significant indicators of how your scar will look is how you’ve scarred in the past. Some people are more prone to thicker scars. Your age and environment also play a significant role.

However, by carefully following all aftercare instructions and with a bit of luck, there’s a good chance you can achieve nearly invisible scarring.

The first line of defense begins at home. It’s critical to avoid direct sun exposure to the incision site. Starting a daily routine of applying a high-SPF sunscreen, along with vitamin E creams or other skin oils, can help maintain proper moisturization and aid healing as well.

For patients looking to take more proactive steps, we can discuss medical means of reducing scarring. A variety of prescription topicals, such as Retin-A, are available and encourage the growth of new skin cells. In the office, we can also provide patients with highly successful Fraxel laser treatments.

These treatments are particularly helpful for patients prone to thicker scarring, though anyone can benefit from this powerful technology. The patented Fraxel laser beam allows Dr. Sayed to use a fractionated beam to deliver bursts of energy onto the surface of the skin.

These small “wells” in the skin encourage the body’s natural healing process and increase the production of elastin and collagen. Dr. Sayed has helped many of his surgical patients reduce scarring by combining laser treatments with beneficial medical substances that provide deep nutrition and hydration to the skin. These include:

Hyaluronic acid filler materials
Botox^®
Steroid medications for some inflammatory skin conditions
Topical medications for rosacea
Hydroquinone-containing skincare products that can target pigmentation
Other medications

Following just one session, you’ll see a substantial, but gradual, reduction in the appearance of your scar, along with improved overall quality and texture of the surrounding skin. For optimal results, Dr. Sayed may recommend follow-up treatments, depending on the scarring’s severity and your medical history.

If you’d like to learn more about breast reduction, scar management, or any of our other procedures, the next step is to get in touch with either our Newport Beach or La Jolla, CA, offices to schedule a virtual consultation.

Feel free to give us a call at 858-247-2933 or contact us online today. Our entire team greatly looks forward to talking with you more.

How a Breast Reduction Can Improve Your Health and Comfort

In recent years, breast reduction surgery has become a popular option for women frustrated with heavy breasts. In addition to helping improve the self-confidence of these patients, new studies also suggest that the procedure offers health benefits.

Breast Reduction and Your Health

Simply put, larger breasts weigh a lot. Every increase in cup size adds about a pound to a woman’s weight. Additionally, larger breasts are denser, heavier, and ultimately add to the upper half of the body. This, in turn, puts immense pressure on the back and spine, affecting nerve endings in this area; it is not uncommon for a woman with extremely large breasts to also experience pain in her fingers and arms.

The increased strain on the shoulders and neck caused by large breasts also puts a good amount of stress on the neck, leading to severe headaches and neck aches. As a result, these women are more likely to suffer from poor posture, in which the shoulders start to roll forward to alleviate the additional weight. Poor posture on its own is the source of many health complications, including impacting rib cage size and lung position as well as compromising the spine’s position and increasing the risk of scoliosis later in life. Extreme breast size can even compromise sleep, making it difficult for women to enjoy a full night’s rest without the stress of additional weight pulling chest muscles out of position.

With breast reduction, the patient will find that a heavy weight has been lifted off her shoulders – quite literally. The ability to sit up or stand straight for long periods of time and sleep comfortably does wonders for an individual’s mental and physical wellbeing.

Restoring Comfort

Larger breasts don’t just affect posture and back pain. Chafing is a common side effect for many and can occur when the breasts rub on the upper abdomen. Women with larger breasts may also find wearing traditional bras uncomfortable as the straps dig into the shoulders, creating deep welts when worn over extended periods of time. Sports bras are especially problematic for many of these women. Most athletic bras are extremely tight to keep breasts close to the chest during exercises. For women with larger breasts, multiple bras are often necessary to make exercise tolerable. At the end of the day, the discomfort tied to trying to get active keeps many from pursuing physical activity, contributing to unhealthy weight gain and poor health.

Something that is often overlooked that also contributes to the discomfort associated with larger breasts is how they can change the fit of clothing and the role that plays into a woman’s self-confidence. Large breasts often create the appearance of being much heavier, requiring the patient to buy a size up that may not fit the rest of her body. Disproportionate breasts can also lead a woman to feel self-conscious about her appearance and insecure or uncomfortable with unwanted attention. For many, these factors can undermine the individual’s self-confidence, leading to anxiety and even depression.

Breast reduction surgery offers the patient the opportunity to take control of her appearance in ways not traditionally accessible with diet and exercise. By giving her the opportunity to reduce and recontour disproportionately large breasts to a size that better matches the rest her body, she may find a new sense of freedom in being able to choose clothes without worrying about appearing overtly sexual or frumpy. For many, even fitting into a normal bra is a new and wonderful advantage.

Considering Breast Reduction? Contact our San Diego Plastic Surgeon

Choosing breast reduction surgery can be a life changing decision for countless women. At Tim Sayed MD, MBA, FACS Plastic Surgery, our San Diego and Newport Beach plastic surgery team is here to help you regain confidence, comfort, and exceptional health. Call (858) 247-2933 today and schedule your breast reduction consultation.