How many times have you looked at yourself in the mirror and wondered “are my breasts starting to sag?”
Pencil Test
Some women use what’s called a “pencil test” to determine if their breasts are sagging — this involves taking a pencil and placing it along the chest wall under one of your breasts. If the pencil falls, your breast is firm, but if it stays stuck, held under your breast, sagging is likely to occur. While this isn’t a scientific measure of breast ptosis, it can give you some insight into the changes that are happening in your own body.
This is The Shape of Sagging Breasts
When the nipple is under the inframammary fold, or the fold beneath the breast that meets the chest wall, sagging occurs. If your nipples are above the inframammary folds, your breasts are firm, and not sagging. Sagging breasts have varying levels or degrees of ptosis, ranging from mild to severe.
In order to determine where your breasts fall due to sagging, you can divide them into the following categories:
Breasts are firm and not sagging: the nipple is above the inframammary fold.
Grade 1 ptosis: mild sagging where the nipple sits in line with the inframammary fold.
Grade 2 ptosis: moderate sagging where the nipple is below the inframammary fold.
Grade 3 ptosis: significant sagging where the nipple is at the lowest point of the breast and facing down.
Pseudoptosis: the nipple is level with the inframammary folds, but the lower part of the breast is sagging or pulled down.
How Can You Fix Sagging Breasts?
How to fix sagging breasts? Unfortunately, once breast tissue loses its plumpness, it can’t work and recover like muscle. Although the pectoral muscles are located near the breasts, they do not affect sagging. While working out at the gym can help maintain the lift of your breasts, it won’t reverse lost tissue laxity.
The only way to repair breasts with loose ligaments is through a surgical procedure. You may be wondering which surgical approach is better for your sagging breasts: breast lift or breast augmentation?
Breast Lift Surgery
The most effective way to deal with sagging breasts is mastopexy, which is better known as breast lift, removing excess skin, tightening the skin and lifting the breasts to the desired position. This creates the appearance of a more youthful and perky breast.
Your surgeon consults with you to determine your goals, and then reshapes the breast to flatten it and lifts the nipple above the inframammary fold. After breast lift surgery, women with saggy breasts can enjoy the confidence of having firm breasts again.
Breast Lift by Augmentation Surgery
Mastopexy with augmentation is a combination of breast augmentation with breast augmentation surgery. The loss of volume in the breasts has contributed to sagging breast tissue, and gives the appearance of sagging or sagging breasts.
This could be due to breastfeeding, weight loss, or aging, but you don’t have to live with sagging breasts forever. Having your surgeon perform a breast lift with the addition of breast implants allows you to rejuvenate and reshape sagging breasts, and achieve the desired flattering look to your chest.
Breast Reduction Surgery
Although most women seek breast reduction surgery due to back pain caused by the weight of their breasts, it can also help restructure the breast by reducing sagging tissue. During breast reduction, tissue and skin are removed to make the breasts smaller, firming them and ultimately giving you a more lifted, firmer and attractive looking breast that is not sagging.
