Mammaplasty

Mammaplasty started a surgical procedure to help relieve women of the excess weight of their breasts, it was only later that it was used for cosmetic purposes.[4] There is immense pressure on women to subscribe to socially prescribed beauty standards of how their bodies must be, a part of this is the pressure on women to have 'perfect breasts'.[5][6] Earlier records of such surgery were either for medical purposes or to make a person fit in more easily with a certain social group. It was in the beginning of the 20th century that Hippolyte Morestin and Eugene Hollander started breast reduction (reduction mammoplasty) for beauty purposes only. By the 1930s though, breast reduction had majorly become more of aesthetic surgery than reconstructive surgery.[7]

It is still however used for medical purposes and female celebrities vocally getting such surgery has allowed for more to undertake it and speak up openly about it, a recent example of it being Ariel Winter, who plays Alex in Modern Family, undergoing breast reduction surgery after years of back and neck pain.[8]

Breast augmentation, sometimes referred to as a "boob job" by patients, involves using breast implants or fat transfer to increase the size of one's breasts. This procedure can also restore breast volume lost after weight reduction or pregnancy, achieve a more rounded breast shape or improve natural breast size asymmetry. For some women, breast augmentation is a way to feel more confident. For others, it is part of rebuilding the breast for various conditions.[9][10]

Breast augmentation is performed with implants (see below) that can be placed under a chest muscle or over a chest muscle.[11] In general, all breast augmentations are minimally invasive procedures, involving incisions that are usually between 3 and 5 cm in length.[12] Breast augmentation is a relatively straightforward procedure. As with any surgery, some uncertainty and risk are associated with breast augmentation surgery.[13]

Breast reduction surgery is also known as reduction mammaplasty or mammoplasty. It is a cosmetic surgical procedure aimed at reducing large or sagging breasts to a more comfortable size and shape.[15] Large ptotic breasts can quickly become troublesome for patients, leading to potentially debilitating symptoms and a poor quality of life.[16] Patients seeking breast reduction commonly present with complaints of migraines, back pain, neck pain, severe discomfort, unwanted harassment, poor self-image and anxiety among other symptoms.[17][18] These patients can benefit greatly from a reduction in breast size, as most symptoms are relieved by reduction mammaplasty.[19]

Research has indicated that breast reduction surgery, for women who are at high risk for breast cancer, may serve as an effective primary prevention strategy for tackling breast cancer and is not shown to increase chances of the breast cancer coming back or making it harder to check this through a mammography.[21] As opposed to mastectomy, therapeutic mammoplasty has emerged as a way to address breast cancer in women with larger breasts and where early breast cancer is detected, this helps align with the cosmetic needs of the person in question and has positive health benefits as well.[22]

Many reports have also addressed the relationship between breast cancer and augmentation mammaplasty using implants. Most of them report that there is no increased rate of breast cancer in patients with augmentation mammaplasty.[23] On the contrary, several studies have reported that the rate of breast cancer is actually lower in patients with augmentation mammaplasty. These studies argue that the lower incidence rate of breast cancer is probably due to the lower calorie intake of patients who wish to have augmentation mammaplasty. These patients, being on the thinner side, do not have a tendency toward breast cancer.[24]

A concern for breast cancer survivors can be the physical appearance of their breasts after the surgical procedures required to cure breast cancer in several cases. Reconstructive mammaplasty is breast reconstruction that is done after mastectomy to give the breasts an appearance that is more normal/familiar. Some factors that are considered before deciding whether such surgery would be apt are the size and shape of the breasts before operation, the amount of tissue remaining after the mastectomy, chance of the cancer returning, and what the mastectomy scar looks like and where it is.[25] Mammoplasty has also evolved as a way for women to address physical changes that mastectomy brings about to their bodies. Surgery to reconstruct the breasts can be started along with the mastectomy or after the body has healed from the mastectomy.[26]

Mammograms in general are not performed on reconstructed breasts that have had implants, it is recommended that a woman who has had a breast implant let the radiology technician know of it, before a mammogram, as special steps may be necessary for ensuring correct results and not causing harm to the implant.[21]