Breast Lift or Mastopexy is a type of plastic surgery to help correct breast sagging. Breast sagging or breast ptosis can be caused by a number of factors, including pregnancy and breast feeding, weight loss, and aging. The sagging can be mild and only involve a "deflation" of tissues, which is corrected with breast augmentation. The sagging can be more severe, with actual hanging of the breast tissue and nipple, which would need a true mastopexy or breast lift to correct.

A breast lift does not actually lift the entire breast higher on the chest. The surgery lifts or rotates the nipple back up to the correct level, which is to the height of the fold beneath the breast. Some excess skin is also removed. The upper chest, which is typically flat in a woman with breast sagging, will remain flat.

The incisions for a standard mastopexy are in an anchor pattern, going around the nipple, then straight down to the fold beneath the breast, and then across the base of the breast. In a woman who has breast sagging and also desires an increase in size, a special type of breast surgery is done along with the placement of a breast implant. This breast lift is called a periareolar mastopexy, because the only incision that is used is an incision that goes completely around the areola or the pigmented area around the nipple. This type of lift is not for every patient, and an examination is needed to determine if you are a candidate for it.

Breast lift and similar cosmetic surgery is done under general anesthesia. You will be off of exercise and strenuous activity for six weeks after surgery. If you smoke or use any form of nicotine, you must be completely nicotine free for at least two months before, until one month after surgery to minimize the risk of skin or nipple loss and severe scarring.

Mastopexy can provide a needed improvement in a woman's self esteem when sagging of the breasts creates self-consciousness.