A breast lift raises and reshapes sagging breast tissue, which also repositions the nipple and areola higher on the breasts. If your areolas are large or stretched, adding an areola reduction to your lift can shrink your areolas so they better match your new breast shape. The most common breast lift incision patterns already involve making a cut around the areola, so it is often possible to add an areola reduction to a breast lift without creating additional scarring.
Breast lift and areola reduction surgeries are often combined, but the two aren’t always a package deal. An areola reduction is a distinct and separate procedure. Your plastic surgeon will recommend adding an areola reduction to your breast lift only if your current areolas would look grossly out of proportion with your lifted breasts, or if you’ve expressed a desire for areola reduction.
Not everyone who gets a breast lift needs an areola reduction, and vice versa. A breast lift will move your areolas to a higher position on your breasts, lifting them along with the breasts themselves. But it will not change the size of the areola — only its position relative to the breast. You may not need or want an areola reduction too. But if you’re already giving the girls a lift, you may want to give your areolas some attention as well if you have:
It’s important to understand that while combining a breast lift with areola reduction can produce dramatic results, these procedures are designed to accomplish very specific goals. As such, a breast lift won’t increase breast volume or upper pole fullness. You need an augmentation to do that.
If you’re looking for lighter or smaller breasts, you will need breast reduction. A lift allows your breasts to sit higher on your chest but won’t make them any smaller. Also note that an areola reduction reduces the size of your areolas only. It does not change the size or shape of your breasts or nipples.
Combining an areola reduction and breast lift procedure begins before your surgeon ever picks up a scalpel. First, they will evaluate your breast tissue as well as your areola size, mapping out a new areola size that will match your newly lifted breasts. They will also address any size differences between the left and right areola to correct them.
During an areola reduction, your surgeon makes an incision around the existing edge of your areola and around the place where your new, smaller areola will end. They then remove the donut-shaped piece of tissue between these two incisions. This fits well with all the most common breast lift incision patterns:
Because these common lift techniques already use an incision around the areola, a skilled plastic surgeon can often resize the areola during a lift without creating any additional scarring. As usual for a breast lift, the areolar incision is made along with any other necessary incisions. The excess breast tissue is removed and reshaped, and then the incisions closed. The extra areola tissue is removed along with the excess breast tissue, and the areola portion of the incision is closed around the now smaller areola.
You should expect recovery from your combined areola reduction and breast lift procedure to follow the trajectory of the breast lift. Areola reduction by itself is a far less invasive procedure, and patients usually return to their daily routines fairly quickly after. But recovery takes a bit more time after a breast lift.
Swelling, bruising, tenderness, tightness, and temporary changes in nipple sensation are all common after a breast lift and areola reduction combination. Patients can often return to work in a week or two if their job is sedentary, but you could need three weeks or more if your job is physically demanding.
Although you’ll feel better and resume most activities in a few weeks, complete healing and scar maturation will take several months. You will have exercise restrictions for about six to eight weeks and won’t see your final results for a few months.
Although they will fade and flatten with time, you will have scars after an areola reduction and breast lift combination. If you have a periareolar breast lift, your scar will be around the edge of your areola where it will be somewhat camouflaged by the darker skin. If you have a lollipop lift, you’ll have a scar around your areola and a vertical scar that extends from your nipple down toward the crease where your breasts meet your chest. An anchor lift scar will be the same as that of a lollipop lift with an additional scar running beneath your breast along the breast crease.
A big benefit of combining your areola reduction with a breast lift is that you’ll only need one surgery rather than two, and the areola reduction won’t add any additional scars. The scar from your areola reduction will be incorporated into the breast lift scar.
Understand that your initial results are not your final results. After surgery, your lifted breasts may look too high or asymmetrical, while the areola looks puckered. This admittedly isn’t a great look, but it’s also not a permanent one. As you heal and the swelling eases, your breast tissue and areolas will both settle into a much more natural look and feel. This can easily take six months or more depending on your body, so be patient.
When you do see your final results, understand that your breasts and areolas can both change again in the future. The breasts may sag again, and the areolas stretch once more. Although many patients enjoy the results of their combined breast lift and areola reduction for many years, the following can all alter your surgical results:
To help maintain your results as long as possible, wait to have your procedure until you’re done growing your family. Eat a healthy diet, stay hydrated, and try to maintain a stable weight.
We’ve shared the benefits of a combination procedure, but you also need to understand the risks. Surgical risks are small when you work with experienced surgeons like those at Mia Aesthetics, but every surgery still carries some possibility of complications. When combining procedures, you assume the risks of both. In this case, that means a possibility of:
Whether your areolas have stretched along with your breasts or if you never liked them, adding an areola reduction to a breast lift is a big help to many patients. It helps correct existing irregularities in the areolas while ensuring that your areolas look natural and proportionate after your breasts are lifted. But the combination procedure isn’t right for everyone, and you may only need one surgery and not the other. We can help you find the best surgery for you during a free virtual consultation.
Yes. Areola reduction surgery addresses the size of the areola, or dark area of skin around your nipple. It does not affect nipple size or projection. The size of your nipples can be altered if desired, but this is a completely different procedure.
A breast lift can improve the overall proportions of your breast, making the areolas look a bit different. But areola reduction is necessary if you want to change the actual diameter of your areolas. A breast lift will give your areolas a boost along with your breasts, allowing them to sit higher on your chest, but it will not change their size.
Absolutely. While making your areolas smaller, areola reduction can also correct size differences between your areolas. Perfect symmetry isn’t always possible, but even Mother Nature very rarely provides that. But large size differences between areolas can be corrected.
Yes, it can. Areola reduction can be added to breast lifts with implants. It can also be added to breast augmentation and breast reduction procedures.
Yes, and it often is. Changes caused by pregnancy and breastfeeding are common reasons women seek out both breast lifts and areola reductions. You shouldn’t have either surgery immediately after pregnancy or breastfeeding, however. Your breasts need time to resettle and adjust after these events, so we generally recommend that you wait until at least six months after pregnancy or ending breastfeeding before having an areola reduction, breast lift, or combination of the two.
Although rare, areola reduction and breast lift procedures can both create a loss of nipple sensation. Typically, sensation changes after this surgery are temporary, but permanent changes are possible.
Breastfeeding after areola reduction and/or breast lift surgery is typically still possible. Plastic surgeons utilize surgical techniques that attempt to preserve underlying nerves and milk ducts, but no surgeon can 100% guarantee that breastfeeding ability will be preserved after surgery. Every patient’s anatomy and healing process is slightly different. If this is a major concern for you, we suggest waiting until you’re done having babies to get breast surgery.
This is a rare outcome when working with a skilled and experienced plastic surgeon, but it’s not an impossible one. Your plastic surgeon will plan your areola reduction to match the new breast width, size, and nipple position achieved by the breast lift. They will also take into account your skin quality so as not to place more tension on the area than your skin can handle.
Adding an areola reduction to your breast lift will increase the cost. This is a separate procedure that requires altering your surgical plan. It’s not just a “Hey, while you’re here…” add-on. How much an areola reduction adds to your cost depends on the complexity it adds to your surgery, anesthesia fees and duration, facility fees, and other factors.