I meet a lot of women in consultation to discuss improving the appearance of their breasts who have what I like to refer to as “borderline” breast ptosis (breast drooping): They don’t have enough ptosis to warrant the scars of traditional lifting techniques, but they don’t have a high enough or youthful enough nipple position that an implant or fat alone will make them look better. Or as is sometimes the case, these women are happy with the size of their breasts but have noticed some changes to the “perkiness” after breastfeeding, weight loss and/or aging. They’d like to make an improvement, but can’t commit to the scars associated with a circumareolar or circumvertical breast lift.
To evaluate the position of the nipple-areolar complex, I use the side profile photo and draw a straight line forward from the inframammary fold. If the nipple-areolar complex is below this line, in most patients it means that some degree of breast ptosis has happened. How we go about correcting this can involve a few different approaches. One of those is by applying a skin tightening technology, ThermiTight, to the skin of the breast. For women who need about 2-3 cm of lift ThermiTight, which delivers radiofrequency energy directly under the skin and causes skin tightening by increasing collagen deposition, may be the answer.
While ThermiTight will not replace surgical breast lift techniques in the world of plastic surgery, it is an exciting option for those “borderline” or minimal ptosis patients who are scar-averse. While ThermiTight can be combined with an augmentation (breast implant) procedure, by itself ThermiTight can be performed awake, with local anesthesia. There is no downtime, and you can resume your regular activities the following day.
To learn more about ThermiTight Breast Lifts, schedule a consultation with one of our Board Certified Plastic Surgeons today.
