Breast Reduction FAQ

I often get asked if the patient has to be close to their ideal weight or if their weight limitations in order to qualify for breast reduction surgery. I keep it very simple. I do operate for breast reduction surgery up to a BMI, which is the body mass index, which is a relation of the height to the weight of the patient up to 40.

Anybody who has a BMI of 40 or higher, I have them lose weight in order to be below 40. The reason is that the risk, general risk with surgery increases significantly with a BMI over 40, you know, and patient safety is my, at my utmost importance to me.

Another common question is, if you lose a lot of weight after the breast reduction surgery, will that influence the results? And again, that is very individual, it, it depends on how much the breast contains glandular tissue, breast tissue versus fatty tissue. So I can have an individual discussion with every patient before.

Now smaller weight patients. Weight loss, like anything up to like 30, 40 pounds should really not influence your breast reduction result. When we talk about major weight loss, over 50 pounds or close to 100, yes, your breast may droop a little bit and lose some volume and a potential touch up later in form of a breast lift might be necessary.