How do I determine if a breast lift is needed?

Many women come in to my practice desiring breast rejuvenation procedures and are unclear whether they need a breast lift or not. In an oversimplified way, a breast lift is needed when a woman desires a more lifted or perkier appearance to the breasts. Ptosis, or in lay terms, droopiness, occurs when there is a mismatch between the outer covering of the breasts, that is the skin and nipple areolar complex with respect to the inner breast, which is the gland and fat. Too much skin and not enough gland and fat under the skin results in droopy breasts. This can be corrected in cases where there is minimal or a low degree of ptosis by a small breast implant or augmentation if a lady also desires to have a larger volume. Ladies who have a relatively large volume of breast and are happy with their
size when not in a padded bra, benefit most from a pure breast lift, as this reduces and reshapes the outer covering by reducing it and giving the breasts a more shapely appearance without altering the volume. Many women will fall in between and desire slightly larger breasts, which can be accomplished with an implant,  however the implant that they choose to give them the desired overall volume will not be adequate to fill the skin and nipple areolar complex envelope. So they will still also need a breast lift. The intersection of breast augmentation, breast lift and breast lift augmentation together is a topic best addressed with a one-on-one consultation.