Too Old for Awesome Breasts? Breast Surgery Age Considerations

It is often said that “age is just a number” and this saying is normally used in conversations and situations where a person is trying not to feel too old to accomplish a task, get a new job or even have a plastic surgery procedure. One type of plastic surgery where the age of the patient can factor into the success of the procedure is breast surgery and this includes both breast augmentation and breast reduction surgery.

Breast Augmentation and Breast Reduction – Are They Still Popular?

Even those these two breast surgery procedures are performed for different reasons, both breast augmentation surgery and breast reduction surgery are popular and common plastic surgery procedures.

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, there are more than 90,000 breast reduction procedures performed each year in the United States. When it comes to breast augmentation, it ranks as one of the Top Five cosmetic procedures performed in the United States as almost 200,000 breast augmentation surgeries were performed in 2020.

Patients do need to know that both of these breast surgery options are invasive surgical procedures that are performed under general anesthesia. This means they need to talk to their doctor to make sure they are an ideal candidate for the surgery and that they understand what is involved in having any type of anesthesia administered before a surgical procedure.

Breast Surgery and the Aging Process

To put it simply, aging is certainly a factor when it comes to any type of surgery performed on the breasts. The size and shape of the breasts change throughout the life of a female and some of the factors that impact the appearance of the breasts include menopause along with pregnancy and breastfeeding. The age of the patient needs to be considered when planning to augment or reduce the size of the breasts. Taking the age of the person into consideration helps to determine the extent of the results that can be achieved along with the best age to have the surgery.

No matter the current age of the patient, there are common aspects of each procedure patients should know about before they make the final decision to have breast augmentation or breast reduction surgery.

One of the common misconceptions about breast augmentation surgery is that women only want to have the procedure in order to gain a more enhanced or augmented look to the breasts. It is true that the desire to change the size and appearance of the breasts can be a motivating factor in the decision to have breast augmentation surgery, The breasts can be enlarged through the placement of breast implants as well as through the transfer of fat that is removed from another part of the body of the patient. However, the augmentation of the breasts can also give them a more symmetrical look, give the breasts a look that is more proportional with the rest of the body, and even give the patient an improved self-image if they have never been happy with the appearance of their breasts in the past. Thankfully, there is no real age limit when it comes to having breast augmentation surgery as long as the patient is healthy enough to have the procedure. Many women want to have breast augmentation once they are finished having children as the process of giving birth and breastfeeding can impact the appearance of the breasts and make changes that some women are not happy about experiencing with their body.

As the name suggests, breast reduction is a procedure that gives the breasts a lighter feel and smaller look. Many women want to have breast reduction surgery because their current breasts are either heavy or overly large (or both of them). The experience of having breasts that are extremely large in size can result in chronic and severe neck and back pain, the inability to comfortably fit in certain clothing or even impact the ability of a person to take part in certain sporting activities. In addition, overly large and heavy breasts can cause a person to have a negative self-image because they might think that people are staring at them all of the time because of the appearance of their breasts. When taking the age of a patient into consideration, it is important to remember that breast tissue can continue to grow in young women until they reach around 22 years of age. The decision to have breast reduction surgery before the breasts are fully developed can lead to less than satisfactory results and the patient might even need to have an additional procedure in the future to further address the size of the breasts. Older patients who are age 60 (or older) often want to have breast reduction surgery because they are tired of having heavy breasts as well as the impact of aging and gravity on the breasts. If the patient is of a mature age and does not have any health issues that can negatively impact the surgery or the recovery process, there is not really an age limit involved with having breast reduction surgery.

- MA