PROCEDURES / BREAST

Breast Reduction

on Long Island

Many adults and adolescents with large breasts have struggled with chronic pain and embarrassment for years. Often, breast reduction surgery becomes medically necessary to improve their quality of life. When considering breast reduction surgery, you want to work with the best medical team to walk you through your options and the best administrative team to cover the financial aspects. Harris Plastic Surgery is the best option for breast reduction on Long Island.

Are You a Candidate for Breast Reduction Surgery?

Patients for breast reduction at our Long Island office all have different problems, goals, and desired outcomes from surgery. For one reason or another, their breasts have continuously caused them problems, and they’d like to know what their options are. Here are a few of the scenarios that we often see:

  • Neck, back, and shoulder pain: Large breasts continuously pull on the chest wall and can affect things like posture, activity level, and muscle strain, resulting in pain that doesn’t go away with treatments like physical therapy, supportive bras, medication, or other options. Sometimes, a breast reduction is the only way to permanently resolve that pain.
  • Skin conditions: Large, sagging breasts can also cause chronic skin conditions that don’t resolve with topical treatments or medications. These skin conditions can even get infected and cause substantial, sometimes debilitating pain. Breast reduction surgery might be appropriate to help resolve problems like these.
  • Shoulder grooving: Indentations in the shoulders caused by tight or pulling bra straps can create permanent uncomfortable grooves. Patients may also suffer from chronic rashes and pain in this area.
  • Mastectomy asymmetry: Patients who have had a unilateral (single) mastectomy may also get a breast reduction to create symmetry. This is usually considered part of the original breast reconstruction surgery, which is a medically indicated procedure protected under state and federal laws.
  • Breast reduction for minors: Breast reduction for minors isn’t a problem so much as it is a unique category. While most reductions are done on individuals over 18, sometimes it’s medically indicated for younger people if their large breasts are affecting their health, development, and activity levels.

When our patients suffer from one of the above conditions, we walk them through a detailed consultation to help them understand their options and what they can expect from surgery.

What to Expect From Breast Reduction at Our Long Island Office

Starting with the initial consultation, we take an empathetic approach to our patients for breast reduction in our Long Island office.

Initial Consultation 

The initial consultation begins with an exam to document the physical conditions reported and correlate them to the size of the patient’s breasts. A question-and-answer session will allow the patient to receive more information about recovery, potential surgical scars, and potential results. Based on the individualized assessment made at that time, a customized surgical approach will be recommended. The common goal of all of the procedures is to remove an adequate amount of breast tissue and skin to eliminate the chronic symptoms related to the large breast size AND to lift and reshape the remaining breast tissue into an aesthetically pleasing breast shape.

Insurance Coordination

Medically necessary breast reduction surgery may be covered under insurance like the NYSHIP Empire Plan, the common coverage for many of New York’s teachers, LIRR workers, police officers, and civil servants. Our expert insurance coordinator helps walk you through the process of submitting breast reduction surgery for insurance coverage as well as navigating copays, coinsurance, deductibles, and more. Once there is a plan in place to cover the cost of surgery, it’s time for the procedure.

Surgical Approaches

While Dr. Harris will complete a custom surgical plan for every patient well ahead of surgery, there are two general approaches to breast reduction:

Vertical, or “lollipop”

Traditional, or “anchor”

This approach uses a more limited incision to perform the reduction and reduce scarring. Dr. Harris makes an incision around the areola, extending vertically down to the fold beneath the breast. In some cases, a limited horizontal extension of the incision is made to lie in the under-breast fold. This allows Dr. Harris to remove excess tissue while minimizing the scar. This approach is typically done on individuals with a lower amount of breast tissue to remove. The traditional breast reduction approach uses a similar incision to the lollipop one, but then a third incision is made horizontally under the breast, again following the natural fold. While this creates an anchor-like scar—hence the name — the third incision is not as visible as the others. This technique may be used when there is a larger amount of breast tissue to remove.
The operation is usually performed under general anesthesia as an outpatient—i.e., there’s no overnight hospital stay. At Harris Plastic Surgery, we follow the latest evidence-based guidelines to ensure a safe and rapid recovery from breast reduction surgery. Harris Plastic Surgery is one of the best options for breast reduction on Long Island because of the individualized approach we take with every patient. We make sure you receive the medical and financial knowledge you need for the results you want while reducing your out-of-pocket costs as much as possible.

If you'd like to learn more about breast reduction at our Long Island office,
reach out to us for a consultation.