Category: Breast Lift

Your Guide to Breast Surgery in Portland

Posted on by Dr. Fichadia

One of the most popular types of cosmetic and plastic surgery, breast surgery can involve many different techniques and goals – including augmentation, reduction, or lift, or a replacement or removal of implants. If you’re considering breast surgery, then you have many different options. As you schedule a consultation with your board-certified plastic surgeon, it can be helpful to learn more about breast surgery and what to expect. Here’s a quick guide to breast surgery with Dr. Fichadia.

Am I a Good Candidate for Breast Surgery?

Determining whether you’re a good candidate for breast surgery is your first step. With the help of your plastic surgeon, you should consider factors like your overall health, your goals, your reproductive status, and your expectations for surgery. Since breast surgery can require downtime, it’s important to have a schedule that can accommodate you taking time to rest for 1-2 weeks.

How Do I Choose My Surgeon?

Since plastic and cosmetic surgery is such a personal choice, it’s vital you select a plastic surgeon you know and trust. In the case of Dr. Fichadia, she not only has years of experience producing excellent results for her patients, but is also double-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery. A well-known presenter of research at international surgical meetings and conferences, Dr. Fichadia offers compassionate and personalized care, taking the time to answer questions and help patients realize their goals. Make sure to meet with a few different plastic surgeons to find one that makes you feel comfortable and heard, as well as offers the expertise needed to achieve your goals.

How Long is Recovery from Breast Surgery?

This can depend on many factors, including the type of surgery performed. For example, if you have breast augmentation surgery, you’ll need to take 2 or 3 days off from work or school. Generally, a majority of recovery occurs within 2 weeks following surgery, though depending on the surgery done, 3-4 weeks of avoiding strenuous activity may be recommended. It may take several months for your augmented breasts to completely heal and achieve their final appearance.

How is Gynecomastia Surgery Performed?

For men who have enlarged breasts and opt for gynecomastia surgery, it’s usually performed either by using surgical incisions, liposuction, or a combination of the two. While liposuction can remove excess fat, a surgical incision may be needed for men who have excess glandular tissue. Though results will be noticeable immediately after surgery, some swelling will still be present for a few weeks. A normal routine can be resumed within 2 weeks but it can take up to 3 months for final results to settle in.

What is Breast Reconstruction?

Though similar to breast augmentation, breast reconstruction focuses on enhancing the shape and size of a woman’s breasts after she has undergone a mastectomy. It offers many psychological benefits to women who have fought cancer. Reconstruction can be done using breast implants or with the patient’s own body tissue. An important step in helping women rebound from cancer, Dr. Fichadia is heavily involved in the Providence St. Vincent’s breast conference, where individualized cancer treatment plans come to fruition.

Schedule Your Consultation

There’s a lot to learn from breast surgery and your board-certified plastic surgeon. To get started, we invite you to contact our Portland office to schedule a consultation with our team. Call or fill out our online contact form to get in touch.

How Long Do Breast Lift Results Last?

Posted on by Dr. Fichadia

Many women suffer from sagging of the breasts over time. Naturally, this can happen with the natural effects of aging, weight gain, pregnancy and breastfeeding. However, a breast lift can correct this issue and might be the answer to your problem. Also known as mastopexy, a breast lift involves removing excess skin and lifting the breasts so that they sit higher and give your figure a more youthful look.

If you’re considering a breast lift, you will probably want to know how long the results can last.

What is the Lifespan of a Breast Lift?

A breast lift can vary depending on each woman. As a result, there’s no set answer for how long your results can last. For some women, the results can last around 10 to 15 years, while for others, they might last 15 years or even longer. However, some patients seek revisions to their original surgery at some point.

What Factors Might Affect the Lifespan of Your Breast Lift?

Several factors can affect how long your breast lift may last. The most common include the following:

  • Your skin: Your genes can play a major part in the aging of your skin. However, the environment can also play a role. You may want to carefully watch your diet to ensure that your skin can remain healthy and glowing. If you avoid processed foods and opt for more plant-based options, it gives your skin a better chance of staying healthy. You will also want to be smart with your lifestyle choices. Avoid smoking and too much sun to keep your skin more youthful and healthier.
  • Breast support: Gravity is enemy number one when it comes to the position of your breasts after a breast lift procedure. You will want to wear a support bra to keep them in an upright position to prevent sagging.
  • Surgical technique: There are different surgical techniques for breast lifts. The surgeon will use the best cutting-edge technique to ensure that you have lasting results. This can prevent the need for multiple follow-up procedures and you can look forward to having results that last many years to come.
  • Pregnancy and weight changes: Gaining too much weight can affect the lifespan of your breast lift surgery. You may also want to put off having the procedure if you plan on getting pregnant as that also causes you to gain weight and your breasts to become bigger. Once you have finished having children, you can have a breast lift and look forward to years with it.

Who is a Good Candidate for Breast Lift Surgery?

A breast lift can address certain problems with your breasts. The most obvious is that it can help to raise the breasts to a higher, younger-looking position and reduce the issue of sagging. It can also address the position of the nipples when they point downward and improve the position of the areolae.

These issues can make a woman a good candidate for the procedure. However, it’s also important that you are at your goal weight if you want a breast lift. If you are in the process of losing weight, you should at least be close to your ultimate goal and maintain it. Women who are pregnant or planning to be are not good candidates. If you’ve recently had a baby and are still breastfeeding, you may not be a good candidate, either. However, if you are done having children and want to improve the look and position of your breasts, a breast lift can certainly benefit you.

Schedule A Consultation

If you’re in the Portland, Oregon area and want a breast lift, schedule a consultation with Dr. Hetal Fichadia, MD, FACS at your earliest convenience. Give us a call or fill out our online contact form today!

Breast Augmentation vs. Breast Lift: How to Choose the Right Procedure for You

Posted on by Dr. Fichadia

The size of breasts can influence how a woman feels about her body. If you are uncomfortable about your breast size, you might think of surgical procedures. The most common surgeries are breast augmentation and breast lift.

What is breast augmentation?

Breast augmentation (augmentation mammoplasty) is a surgical procedure that involves breast enlargement. Breast implants are placed under the chest muscles or the breast tissues. Before you resolve to undergo this surgery, it would help if you consult with an expert.

Four vital considerations determine if you can undergo breast augmentation surgery. These are implant shape and size, placement incision, type of the implant, and the risks associated. Breast augmentation enhances the breast’s appearance (if you think they are too small), reduce the size after pregnancy or breastfeeding, and correct uneven breasts.

What is Breast Lift?

Also known as mastopexy, a breast lift is a surgery that intends to change the breasts’ position. The tissue is reshaped by removing excess skin, raising the breasts. If your breasts are sagging or the nipples point downwards, you might consider a breast lift.

Why is a breast lift done?

With time, your breasts change and lose elasticity. Several issues cause the change in breast elasticity, including pregnancy-the breast ligaments stretch to support the breasts. Other reasons could be changes in weight- as your skin changes, the breasts lose firmness and gravity, pulling the breasts.

A breast lift reduces sagging by raising its position (the nipples and the areolae). In the process, the breast size can be reduced so that they have the appropriate proportion. You can consider a breast lift if you have either of the following:

  • Your breasts are flatter and longer or sagging
  • The nipples fall below the breast creases or point downward
  • The areolae are no longer proportional

Though patients with sagging breasts can undergo a breast lift, you might have to postpone the decision if you intend to conceive. Ladies who are breastfeeding should avoid the procedure to get excellent results. Women with larger breasts might not love the appearance- the breasts will sag again years after the surgery.

How do you choose the right procedure?

Before settling for either or both procedures, several factors should influence your decision. These include:

  • Nipple’s position – if the nipples sit below the breast crease or point downwards (your breasts are sagging), a breast lift is viable.
  • Breast’s volume –It refers to the breast’s fullness. Age, weight loss, or pregnancy can alter the breasts fullness. Both surgeries can are viable for excellent results.
  • Breast size –if your breasts are smaller, the appropriate surgery should be breast augmentation.

Either way, both surgeries vary and have advantages and disadvantages. If you want to increase the size of the breasts, you should consider breast augmentation. On the other hand, breast lift should be viable if you have loose or sagging breasts.

Patients who want to increase the bust’s size should do both surgeries. When you combine both surgeries, you will get two benefits; fuller and firmer breasts. Since breast surgeries are personal decisions, you need an expert’s input –you can contact Hetal Fichadia for comprehensive information and the appropriate surgery.

Breast Augmentation or Breast Lift: Which is Right for You?

Posted on by Dr. Fichadia

If you’re dissatisfied with the appearance of your breasts, it’s important to know you have options. The most popular is breast augmentation, which involves increasing your breasts’ cup size through the use of implants or fat transfer. A breast lift, on the other hand, involves restructuring the breasts so that they are higher and perkier when you have sagging and deflation. It’s important to know when and why you should choose one of these procedures over the other. Sometimes, you can benefit from having them both together, so here’s what to know about choosing the right option for you.

Reasons to Have Breast Surgery

There are a variety of reasons you might choose to have breast surgery. These include:

• You want to correct sagging
• You wish your clothing fit better
• You want to increase the fullness and angle of your breasts
• You wish to restore the volume your breasts had prior to weight loss or pregnancy
• You want to better contour your figure
• You want to balance out the proportion of your figure
• You wish to improve the symmetry of your breasts
• You want to boost your self-confidence and esteem

Is Breast Augmentation or Breast Lift Better for Me?

According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, hundreds of thousands of women undergo breast augmentation procedures each year. Specifically, this includes procedures like breast augmentation, breast implant surgery, and breast enlargement. Overall, breast augmentation has stayed at the top of the list of cosmetic surgery procedures at number two in the United States. At the same time, breast lift surgeries have grown in popularity by around 70 percent since 2000.

Advantages of Each Procedure

There are some well-documented benefits to breast augmentation. They include the following:

• High satisfaction rates
• Improvement in your figure for the long term
• Minimal scarring

There are also plenty of benefits to a breast lift. You can expect the following:

• Improvement in the shape, symmetry, and projection of your breasts
• Your clothing fits better, giving you better self-confidence
• Minimal scarring that’s easily hidden with clothing
• Lasting results if you maintain your weight

Combining Both Procedures

While many women opt for either breast augmentation or breast lift, in some cases combining breast augmentation and breast lift procedures can be a great option. This is often best when you have sagging breasts with a loss of volume and dissatisfaction about the size of your breasts at the same time. When the two procedures are combined, it can have a twofold benefit in saving you money and recovery time. This option is often a popular choice for mommy makeover procedures because it combines the best of both worlds.

Schedule a Consultation

The best way to learn more about your breast surgery options is by meeting with Dr. Hetal Fichadia to begin planning the ideal breast augmentation with lift procedure for you. To get started, we invite you to contact our Portland office by calling or filling out our online form.

Your Best Options to Remove Saggy Skin

Posted on by Dr. Fichadia

Weight loss is one of the significant achievements you can make towards a more active and healthier life. However, weight loss may leave heavy and loose folds of skin, a stark reminder of how far you’ve come, thus presenting a new challenge. Sagging skin makes it difficult for you to enjoy the benefits of your weight loss. Therefore, you will need to contact a specialist who can help eliminate the sagging skin and restore some visually pleasing body contours. If you feel burdened by the extra skin after significant weight loss, several procedures can be used to eliminate it and enhance your self-confidence and comfort.

Options to Achieve a Trimmer and Firmer Body Shape

Plastic surgery removes the extra skin, thus improving the tone and shape of the tissues within your abdomen, face, breasts, thighs, arms, and buttocks. Different types of cosmetic surgery will help you gain a firmer body shape. They include.

Body Lift (Body Contouring)

Body contouring surgery is one of the standard procedures that can be used to improve your body’s appearance after weight loss. The results of the procedure are durable if your weight remains stable. One cut is made along your abdomen, and the surgeon removes the extra sagging skin. The same procedure is also used when lifting and tightening the waist, thighs, hips, arms, and buttocks.

Tummy Tuck

After a body lift surgery, you may get a tummy tuck. The procedure is used to flatten the stomach when weight loss, diet, and exercise have not worked as expected. After making one large cut, the surgeon manipulates the skin, muscles, and tissues and restore the weakened abdominal muscles. The belly button is moved to suit your current shape. The procedure results in a flatter and firmer abdomen that matches your new trimmer shape. The scars left usually fade after some time.

Breast Lift

If you have sagging breasts, going for a breast lift will help in lifting and reshaping them. During the process, the surgeon will remove the excess skin and tissues on the breast. The nipple is also re-positioned higher on the chest to suit the breast’s shape. Sagging breasts can also be eliminated, and a breast implant used to replace them.
Who are the Suitable Candidates for the Sagging Skin Surgery?
You are a suitable candidate for the surgery if:

  • Your body weight is stable
  • You are in good health
  • You do not smoke
  • You have some realistic goals for the outcomes
  • You are dedicated to keeping fit by observing a healthy lifestyle

Choosing a Cosmetic Surgeon

Sagging skin removal surgery is a delicate procedure that should be performed by highly qualified and experienced cosmetic surgeons. For maximum safety and incredible outcomes, visit a surgeon who regularly practices sagging skin removal. Dr. Fichadia is a comprehensively trained and double board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon. She pursued surgical training at St Elizabeth’s, became an affiliate of Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, and later completed a competitive cosmetic surgery program at Oregon Health and Science University, Portland. Having a tremendous educational background has given her the skills and techniques in all sagging skin removal options. She is always passionate and thorough in her work, guaranteeing you incredible results. Consider contacting her, and you will have a great experience.