Many women are looking to lift their sagging breasts after pregnancy and breastfeeding, as part of a body contouring makeover, or simply because they have lost weight. A boob lift (mastopexy) can provide perky results at an affordable cost.
Price variations depend upon several factors, including surgeon fees, anesthesia costs, and surgical center expenses as well as prescription drugs prescribed to each individual patient.
Cost of Boob Lift
Mastopexy (or “boob lift“) can significantly decrease breast sagging by helping restore lost volume, improve nipple position, and correct any asymmetry present in your breasts. However, this procedure won’t make your breasts larger or smaller in any way.
American Society of Plastic Surgeons estimates the average cost of boob lift surgery at about $5,000, including surgeon’s fees, operating room facilities fees,
anesthesia costs, and any applicable additional charges.
Your surgeon’s experience and training are one of the key determinants in your boob lift‘s cost, typically charging more for their services.
The location also plays a vital role in the price of a boob lift procedure, with higher costs of living in major cities as well as more costly surgical facilities and anesthesia options.
Boob Lift Procedure
A boob lift can be performed in either a hospital, outpatient surgery center or your surgeon’s office under general anesthesia or sedation. Your plastic surgeon will remove excess skin while shifting the nipples higher; she may also add volume by placing saline or silicone implants – incisions will then be closed using stitches and surgical tape before being bandaged with gauze for additional support and drain tubes may also be left inside of your breasts for proper drainage of fluid and blood accumulation.
When selecting a doctor for this procedure, experience and skill should be an important consideration. More experienced surgeons tend to produce better long-term results with better care taken to avoid additional costs such as anesthesia and operating room fees (usually charged on an hourly rate), pre-operative tests, medications, and hospital stays should all be included when planning.
Recovery
A boob lift may leave your breasts looking swollen and bruised for up to two weeks after surgery, with discomfort medication likely being prescribed and compression garments advised upon. Over time, bruises should subside while scars should fade within several months – although in rare instances women may lose some sensation in either or both nipple and breast area while healing progresses.
If you are contemplating boob lift surgery, your plastic surgeon will need a complete picture of your medical history and health status, including any preexisting conditions or allergies. Lab work must also be conducted prior to surgery.
Many women elect to combine boob lift and augmentation (implants) procedures for improved results. Combining procedures is cost-effective, eliminating some of the top contributors to breast lift costs such as surgeon’s fees, facility fees, and anesthesia costs. You will have the freedom to select either saline or silicone implants; your plastic surgeon can offer guidance when making this choice.
Complications
Boob lift surgery is typically considered cosmetic, which means insurance will likely not cover it unless it can be proven medically necessary – for example, if breast asymmetry causes health-related issues like discomfort or skin irritation.
As part of your surgery, you will be given either general anesthesia or local anesthesia with twilight intravenous sedation in a surgical center or doctor’s office. The entire process typically lasts about 3 hours before you can return home later that same day.
After surgery, you may experience soreness and/or pain around your incision sites that should resolve within several days. On rare occasions, infection may arise at these incision sites and should be addressed quickly to protect health. Skin tissue may even die altogether, known as necrosis; its symptoms are recognized by bluish-tinged blistering with a foul odor. To minimize risks related to necrosis and prevent necrosis altogether, follow your surgeon’s instructions for healing in an orderly manner complete recovery as instructed by them, and heal properly yourself during recovery time.