Breast Reduction, also known as reduction  mammoplasty, reduces the size of your breasts and reshapes them so they are more proportionate to the rest of your body, which can greatly reduce discomfort and pain caused by large breasts.

Breast Reduction removes breast tissue, breast fat, glandular tissue and skin to make the breasts smaller, it also lifts the breast and evens out breasts of different sizes (many large busted women have one breast that is larger than the other).

To remove tissue and skin from the breast, the surgeon makes one or more cuts in the breast, removes the excess tissue and skin, and then closes with stitches.

Sometimes, the nipple and areola are removed and repositioned. Often the areola is resized using the “cookie cutter” method.
(I used to have large areolas and now they are a normal and very round.)

Many people believe that the nipple and areola are cut off completely from your body; however, the surgeon retains blood flow to the nipple and areola so that they can be repositioned with blood flow so that they don’t die off. Nipple-die-off is one of the major risks of breast reduction surgery.

Liposuction is commonly used with breast reduction surgery to ensure that the best shape is obtained for the breast. If liposuction is not done, the breast can look square and boxy.

If most of the breast is fatty tissue and excess skin isn’t an issue, you can have your breasts reduced in size by liposuction alone. For many women, however, this is not an option.

Breast reduction is considered major surgery and requires a general anesthetic. Surgery takes place in a day surgery clinic or a hospital. Surgery usually takes three to five hours. Depending on the surgeon and clinical setting, you may need to stay overnight (which I highly recommend if possible, as you will need the care of the nursing staff and good pain medication).

There are some cases of smaller reductions only requiring a local anesthetic, but I haven’t heard of anyone having a reduction in this manner.

When you see your surgeon, they may recommend a Breast Lift instead of a breast reduction. A breast lift can raise sagging or drooping breasts, which as you know is common for heavy breasts, and this will also elevate the nipple and areola. This is a less invasive procedure and usually costs a lot less. But if you want to remove weight and volume, removing a bit of skin and lifting your boobs won’t be enough.