BL or BA?!?!

I am now very confuseled.  The surgeon who I have consulted and liked / trusted the most is now saying that he would recommend BL instead of augmentation.  I don't know -- they seem pretty saggy to me, and rather flat, but he is saying that there is plenty of breast tissue to leave me with a 32C.  

I've been carrying around Ds as long as I can remember.  C just does not seem like very much to me.

Can some of you please discuss the relative merits of augmentation vs just plain lifts?  

Also, what is this I'm reading about self-augmentation?

Thank you!

I am looking at just a plain lift--I have enough breast tissue that I will not need implants.

Are you planning to get your lower body done as well? If so, size C cup breasts might be just fine in proportion to your new lower body. This is what I was told as I had been thinking the same thing as you.

Dr. Agha is the PS whom I plan to use--he's in Newport Beach. He does auto-augmentation using your own fat. He's having a seminar through OH on June 6 -- it might be worth checking out. I know he's in Vegas presenting at a plastic surgery conference right now, but I can send him an email with a link to this thread--he sometimes pops onto this board and could probably help answer your question.

Curious--which PS did you like the most and whom have you met with?

Thank you for responding ...

I am planning to get my lower body done first.  The surgeon whose name has been recommended the most, and whose work I've seen and appreciated the most, is Aboolian in Beverly Hills.  

I'm just a little aghast -- I don't think I've been a C-cup since I was maybe fourteen so it's a little hard for me to gauge.  I'm currently wearing a size 32DD ... even if I get there by folding my boobies over five or six times over just to stuff them in the bra.  He said what YOU said ... after hte LBL a C will look proportionate -- it's just difficult for me to imagine.

I have not consulted with Dr. Agha ... His name came up when I was thinking of consulting with the Hurwitz group up in LA.  I just haven't met him yet.  Like Dr. Hurwitz, does he does all of the procedures for body lift simultaneously?

I might be interested in seeing his seminar on June 6, and would like more information if that's possible.  I have great confidence in Dr. Aboolian, but I'm trying very hard to get plenty of good information.

Hi there Charming! (I love your username and avatar, by the way!)

My pleasure to reply. I saw that no one else had replied and I had wanted to reply when you first posted, but since I'm pre-op I didn't reply at first. But then I saw no one else had commented and so I thought I would chime in!

I am familiar w/Aboolian and I think he does great work. Had I not met Agha, I would have gone w/him. He does beautiful work.

LOL that Aboolian said something similar to what I said about C cups looking proportionate after your LBL is done. I wonder if I got that idea from him when I consulted w/him!

One thought that comes to mind--if you are also doing your arms at the same time? If so, you could do the arms and the lift, and then see how your breasts look. You could always have implants done at a later time. That seems better to me than having implants at first and feeling to big.

Agha doesn't do a lower and upper body lift at the same time, but he does do 6-7 hours worth of surgery at once and in that time he can do a total lower body or a total upper body. My surgery with him is planned in 2 stages -- lower to be done first, then upper a few months after that (with any revisions on the lower body to be done when the upper is being done).

I've personally found Dr. Agha to be very available for questions, etc, so I would encourage you to either contact his office or to attend his seminar next month. I've seen him present a few times--once to a bunch of plastic surgeons at UCLA, and his presentations are extremely informative. (I promise, I'm not on Agha's payroll!)

Hopefully I can meet you in June if you decide to go, so if you do, please let me know!

Best,

Hi!
I had a breast reduction and breast lift with NO augmentation.  Before losing weight I was a 46/48DDD.  After losing the weight I had very deflated boobs...lots of excess skin.  I didn't need much tissue taken out, mostly the skin removed but definitely needed/wanted the lift.
I'm now a 36C and LOVE my girls.

Not sure if that helps or not.........feel free to ask questions if you want to know more.
Ruth

PS - I think self-augmentation is when the Dr uses your own tissue instead of an implant to augment the breast....I'm not a surgeon but I kind of remember reading about this.

I feel that I already know everyone on this page? Cute.

Ok the best procedure for the breast lift for weight loss patients is the "Dermal Suspension Mastopexy" that was described by Peter Rubin and Myself in 2005.  This is a method of reshaping the breast tissue and anchoring it to the chest muscle beofre draping the skin over it.  It is different than the standard Wise-pattern mastopexy that most PSs use. 

Regarding auto-augmentation, there are several variable techniques.  The one that Dennis Hurwitz and I descried in 2006 is called the Spiral flap and it uses your own upper abdominal and upper back tissue to augment your own breasts.  This is a complex procedure and NOT offered by most PSs.  Since then we have described a few modifications.

Again, these are techniques that are at the forefront of Plastic Surgery after Weight Loss.  I willl be reviewing these and other techniques to other plastic surgeons in a teaching course  this week at Vegas at the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.  This is the biggest international meeting of cosemtic PSs annually.

Plz visit my websites for more informaton on these techniques:

http://www.plasticsurgerybodycontouring.com/index.php/plastic-surgery/post-bariatric-body-contouring/breast-reshaping/

See my gallery for examples of these techniques at:
http://www.plasticsurgerybodycontouring.com/index.php/gallery/post-bariatric/