Breast Reduction FAQ

Hi guys, today I'm going to be answering some of the most common questions asked by patients about breast reduction surgery.

How to choose a breast reduction surgeon
When choosing your breast reduction surgeon, look if your surgeon is board certified in plastic surgery. You should be able to ask any question that you have and you should feel comfortable with the answer the surgeon is giving. You should ask for before and after pictures of similar patients like you are of similar color form, and shape.

And you should ask the surgeon of how much experience he or she has in this field. At no point in time you should feel that it's cumbersome for the surgeon to answer any of your questions. You should feel very comfortable with how all this is handled prior to surgery.

Is breast reduction covered by health insurance?
I often get asked if insurance covers breast reduction surgery, and it really all depends. If we're talking about a functional breast reduction, in order to remove enough weight of the breast, in order to help with symptoms like neck pain, shoulder pain bra strap grooving from the heavy weight, or rashes underneath the breast, difficulties performing household or work chores then there is a good chance that the insurance company may cover it.

It's important for the woman to be willing to approximately lose about half of her breast weight and size in order to help with the symptoms that she has. At no point there is a guarantee that all your aches and pains going to be gone after surgery. But honestly, I had yet to have a woman come to say that the surgery did nothing for her and that all her aches and pains are still there.

What are the potential risks of breast reduction?
Known risks of breast reduction surgery specifically for that are, for instance wound healing complications where two incision lines meet. The nipple can lose sensation with the surgery. Although it's It's rare to lose sensation in both nipples or in one. Most of the patients have a decreased level of sensation in their nipples after surgery, which can be temporary or permanent.

I had 26 patients so far in my career that actually had more sensation after surgery than before. So that was quite a happy surprise for them. In addition additional risk factors are the potential loss to the ability to breastfeed after surgery. So that's an important conversation I have with every woman in a childbearing age.

And there is the chance of disturbing the blood supply to the nipple. It's extremely rare that it can happen in my hands. But I talk to every patient about it, because that is something that you should know ahead of time which could lead to a partial or even complete loss of the nipple. Other risks for breast reduction surgery are common things like the collection of blood, also called a hematoma, or potentially a post operative collection of fluid, also called seroma.

And smaller wound healing complications where, for instance, incisions line meet. It is important that your surgeon talks to you about potential risks of the surgery beforehand and also really talks to you about your expectations about this and how your post op or course will be.