Noncosmetic Reasons to Have Breast Surgery

Many women decide to have breast surgery for cosmetic reasons, but you may need breast surgery for an entirely different reason. Non-cosmetic breast surgery isn’t solely about improving the appearance of your breasts. Reconstructive breast surgery is a type of non-cosmetic breast surgery aimed at repairing an abnormality such as a birth defect or a health condition like cancer.  

Dr. Jack Hensel, Jr., board-certified plastic surgeon with Lowcountry Plastic Surgery Center in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, has performed reconstructive breast surgery on many satisfied patients. Another type of non-cosmetic breast surgery is a breast reduction. These types of breast surgery are normally covered by health insurance, so that’s one less worry. 

Following are good reasons to have non-cosmetic breast surgery.

After breast cancer

Perhaps you’ve had breast cancer and have had a mastectomy or a lumpectomy. You don’t want to have just one breast or a partial breast from now on; you want to restore your breast symmetry so you don’t look and feel off-balance. 

Perhaps you’re a swim coach and being in a bathing suit is just part of your workday. Maybe you just love swimming and water sports. Whatever the reason, you’ll need reconstructive breast surgery to fit into a one or two-piece bathing suit. 

Even if you never wear a bathing suit, you want to be able to fit into your clothing — including your bras — after breast cancer surgery. Reconstructive breast surgery helps restore your breast or breasts to a normal size and shape so that you look and feel good in your bras and your clothes. 

Depending on what your breast cancer surgeon says, Dr. Hensel advises you whether to wait until your mastectomy has healed or whether he can safely reconstruct your breast at the same time as your mastectomy. If you need radiation, you’ll probably need to wait on reconstruction. 

Newer techniques have also reduced the amount of scarring. 

After an accident

Perhaps you were in a vehicle accident or were burned in a fire and one of your breasts was mangled or burned. You need a skilled plastic surgeon to restore your breast to a very close approximation of the size, shape, and look it once had. 

Your plastic surgery can’t eliminate all of the scars from your burn or accident. However, Dr. Hensel can improve your skin’s appearance and your body’s function by releasing scar tissue that formed in the muscles in and around your breast and may have limited your movement.  

Chronic pain from large breasts

Are your breasts abnormally large? Are they causing you noticeable discomfort? Your back or neck pain may be related directly to the size of your breasts. 

Women with extremely large breasts are prone to develop chronic neck or back pain from the strain of their weight. Sometimes custom-made bras don’t help enough. A study published by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons found that half of the women in the investigation with breasts size D or larger developed chronic upper back pain or pain in the neck, shoulders, or lower back. Surgery relieved the pain for a large majority of the participants in the study. 

Whether it’s for a non-cosmetic reason or to simply give your self-confidence a boost, call or book an appointment online with Lowcountry Plastic Surgery Center for a breast surgery consultation today.