Can Weight Loss Affect Your Breast Reduction?

Posted on June 12, 2014

June 2014 - Weight Loss Breast Red

I do a lot of breast reduction surgery.  I think it is a great surgery.  It reduces the size of the breast, lifts the breast, and reshapes the tissue.  Get out the sundresses!

A common question I get when thinking of breast reduction is what should my weight be?

Ah. This is a little bit of the chicken and egg issue.  Many women with large breasts are also a little bit overweight.  If you have large, heavy,  floppy breasts exercise can prove difficult.  Many of my patients can’t run, even if they wear two tight sport bras.  When you want to lose weight, you need to exercise. So they want the breast reduction surgery to help them be able to work out.

It makes total sense to reduce, tighten and lift the breasts to make exercise easier.  There was a study a long time ago which showed 25% of patients lose weight after a reduction.  There were many theories as to why, ranging from feeling better about their bodies, to seeing how big their belly really was, to finally being able to work out.

What happens if you lose weight after your breast reduction?

The breast is made up of breast tissue and fat.  The proportion of fat to breast tissue varies from person to person and as you age, so some people see larger changes in their breast size with weight fluctuations.  If you lose weight the breast will become smaller.

The issue then is the skin.  Your skin is like a bathing suit.  When you are born it is a tight, great elasticity suit.  As you age the bounce back of the skin worsens.  When we do a breast reduction we tighten the skin, but if you lose weight the skin needs to shrink and tighten to the smaller size.  Frequently it can’t, so your breast will droop.  How much it loosens and droops varies based on how much smaller, what is your skin tone, etc.

My strong advice?

Lose the weight prior if you can.