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clock-icon   September 14, 2018

Common Causes of Sagging Breasts

Posted: September 14, 2018

Authored by: Dr. Sacha Obaid — Board Certified Plastic Surgeon

Women often see perky breasts as a sign of youth and femininity, which makes sagging breasts frustrating. While the thinning of your skin due to loss of elastin and collagen is a natural part of aging, it typically doesn’t occur until middle age and older. There are some ways you can avoid early onset of drooping breasts and loose skin, and our board-certified plastic surgeon in Dallas has a few tips on how to do so. If you’ve already noticed significant sagging, a breast lift procedure can restore the placement and contour of your breasts.

  1. Maintain a Steady Weight

Losing or gaining a few pounds here and there won’t increase your risk of pre-mature sagging, but life happens. Your metabolism slows as you get older, making maintaining a steady weight even more difficult as you age. Massive weight loss and changes during and after pregnancy are the more common culprits to sagging, loose skin not only on the breasts but the abdomen as well. Consistent crash dieting can cause breast changes because of the rapid fluctuations, but natural weight gain and weight loss may play a toll too.

  1. Kick Your Smoking Habit

Smoking and nicotine have a growing list of severe side effects after long-term use, which goes beyond lung cancer. The nicotine and the chemicals added during cigarette production cause your skin’s elastin to break down much faster than normal. Elastin is one of the proteins in your tissues responsible for taut, youthful skin, and helps your skin maintain shape after distending and contracting such as when you pinch the skin on your fingers and it resumes its shape right away. There are many ways you can quit smoking, and the CDC has tips and resources to help you quit.

  1. Wear Sunscreen

Sunscreen has numerous benefits and should be a part of your daily hygiene routine even if you’re in the sun for just 30 minutes or so. The UV rays shining down on a beautiful Dallas day cause skin damage and reduce collagen in the skin, which is another compound associated with a younger-looking appearance. Your body slows collagen production as early as age 20, but constant sunbathing, tanning with indoor beds, and exposure to the sun overall will lead to wrinkles and lines on your face and sagging breasts.

  1. The Right Bra

Many of these actions and habits can be avoided or corrected by changing certain aspects of your diet and lifestyle. Some women are genetically prone to large breasts that overwhelm their body shape, causing back and shoulder pain along with more sagging than the average woman. That is due to gravity speeding up the process.

Making sure you wear the right size and kind of bra that provides the support you need to prevent the breast-related pain and premature sagging can slow down the process. Your genetics work against you in this case similar to the way some women develop stretch marks during pregnancy and others do not. Women who’ve worn the wrong bra for decades can also have substantial drooping in their breasts because of the lack of support. A breast reduction surgery might be the best way to alleviate these symptoms, and your health insurance may even cover the cost of the procedure.

Many of these habits can be changed through diet and lifestyle changes, but if you already have a lot of sagging in your breast area, our plastic surgeon can help you determine if a breast lift is right for you.

If you’re interested in breast surgery, please contact our plastic surgery office in Dallas at 972-627-4175 to schedule your consultation. We serve clients in the Dallas and Fort Worth areas of Texas.

 

Category:

Breast Augmentation

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