Do you find yourself lamenting the loss of your once perky, well-positioned breasts as you grow older? Perhaps you’re considering remedying the problem through a breast lift, but you’re worried you may be too old.
At The Nikolov Center for Plastic Surgery, Dr. Nicholas Nikolov has extensive experience helping adult women of all ages achieve their dream breast shape, size, and position. When it comes to breast lifts among our older patients, namely those who are going through menopause, or who’ve already made the transition, here’s what you should know.
The Reason Behind The Sag
Many forces conspire to rob your breasts of their youthful shape and position, such as breastfeeding and aging. These forces often come together the older you get, leading to breasts that succumb to gravity and droop or point downward.
When you pass through perimenopause and menopause, your estrogen and progesterone levels drop precipitously, leading to a decline in collagen production. Collagen is the protein that’s primarily responsible for the support in your tissue, so its absence is marked by everything from the ever-increasing wrinkles on your face to breasts that sag.
Hitting The Reset Button
Most women make the transition through menopause around the age of 51 or 52, and many believe that they’re too old for breast surgery at this stage. Our view is that your candidacy for a successful breast lift, or mastopexy, depends far more on your health than your age.
For example, you can be a spry and vibrant 55-year-old who looks, feels, and acts more like a 40-year-old. You can also be a 40-year-old whose health has prematurely aged you and may preclude you from undergoing an elective procedure such as a breast lift.
In other words, we’re more concerned with your mental and physical health than we are in the number of years you’ve been alive.
No matter your age, we ensure that you undergo a pre-operative exam that analyzes your health to ensure that you can withstand the anesthesia and post-operative recovery.
If you have no underlying health conditions that make elective surgery like a breast lift risky, we can go ahead and start planning.
When Age Plays A Role
The one caveat we have about age and a breast lift is that while we can expertly restore your breasts to a more youthful position on your chest, this won’t stop the aging process from marching forward.
Your tissue will continue to lose its elasticity and tone, and your breasts may begin to sag again years down the line, but a breast lift gives you an excellent opportunity to restart the clock on this inevitable process. In other words, you’ll have plenty of years to enjoy the results of your breast lift.
If you’d like to explore whether a breast lift is right for you, please contact our office in Beverly Hills, California, to set up a consultation.
