Breast Reduction Before or After Weight Loss: Which Is Recommended?

Breast reduction, also known as reduction mammoplasty, is an elective surgery that helps women with overly large breasts to overcome their discomforts. One of the essential requirements for this surgery is being at or close to your ideal body weight, as it can highly affect the appearance of your breasts.

Read more: What Happens in a Breast Reduction Procedure?

If you wonder about the benefits of losing weight before breast reduction surgery or whether this operation will help you lose weight in the future, read the following article and questions. 

What Are the Benefits of Breast Reduction?

Breast tissues usually outgrow due to genetic and environmental factors such as hormonal imbalance, genetic problems, pregnancy, breastfeeding, certain medications, weight gain, etc. They may cause several physical issues, including neck and shoulder pain, numbness of breasts, chronic headaches, rash and infection under the breasts, indentation on the breast, and limitation in physical activities.

Also, overly large breasts (in both genders) can draw unwanted attention from others, which is unpleasant to many people. Fortunately, breast reduction surgery can relieve chronic pains, improve your appearance and self-esteem, enhance athletic performance, and eliminate skin problems caused by large breasts. Moreover, you can renew your wardrobe after this operation as you can easily fit into your favorite clothes. 

Why Losing Weight Before Breast Reduction?

Breast reduction involves removing excess fat, tissue, and skin from the breasts to make them proportionate to other body features. During this operation, the surgeon chooses the best cup size based on your current weight and your expectation; therefore, your weight can affect how your boobs will look.

Read more: How Many Sizes Can You Lose with a Breast Reduction?

But why should you lose weight before breast reduction and not after it? Because whenever you lose weight, some of it comes from your breasts, which lose firmness and elasticity. Thus, to prevent saggy boobs, you should start losing weight for breast reduction surgery as soon as you have decided to get it. 

How to Lose Weight Before Breast Reduction?

The most reliable indicator of whether you are a good candidate for breast reduction surgery is your body mass index (BMI). To get a reduction in mammoplasty, your BMI must be between 19 and 30, meaning you shouldn't be underweight or obese. Before undergoing breast reduction surgery, consider the following points to lose a few pounds and reach your ideal weight:

Improve your diet

A balanced, low-calorie diet is the key to losing weight before breast reduction. From months before the surgery, you need to add more leafy vegetables, fresh fruits and juices, low-carb foods, and healthy fats to your diet and avoid having foods that cause you to gain weight (such as fast foods and sugary drinks). If you don't have a specific food regimen, seek help from a dietitian.

Stay hydrated 

Water can greatly help you lose weight before breast reduction by increasing your metabolism, suppressing your appetite, improving your digestive function, reducing your need for sugary drinks, etc. Therefore, you should drink at least six glasses of water daily for a couple of months before the operation. 

Exercise regularly

Losing extra calories is only achievable through exercising regularly. In addition to reducing the calories you eat, you need to burn the ones in your body. You should work out 30 to 60 minutes a day at home or the gym to do so. 

See a doctor 

Sometimes, the cause of obesity is a health problem such as diabetes, Prader-Willi syndrome, Cushing syndrome, anxiety, and mental distress, etc.; therefore, if you cannot lose weight by going on a diet or exercising, you probably have an underlying health issue that must be fixed. After resolving all your health problems, you can easily lose weight before breast reduction.

Get enough sleep

Sleeping 7-9 hours a day can also increase your metabolism, control your appetite, provide the energy needed for exercise, lower blood pressure and insulin level, etc. So, make sure to get enough sleep at night to have a stable BMI and lose weight before breast reduction.

Change your lifestyle

You can quickly lose weight before breast reduction if you modify your lifestyle. Drinking plenty of water daily, not skipping breakfast, using a smaller plate, and reducing alcohol intake can help you lose fat and calorie quickly.

Will I Lose Weight After Breast Reduction Surgery?

Although breast reduction is not a weight-loss procedure, you will lose 2 to 8 pounds after the operation. Depending on how much tissue and fat are removed, the effects of this surgery on your appearance can be mild to dramatic.

Also, if you maintain a healthy diet and exercise before and after the surgery, you can lose 10 to 20 pounds. Remember that even if you lose just a few pounds, you will look slimmer because your breasts will be more petite and proportioned.

What Surgeries Can Be Done Along with Breast Reduction?

You can ask your plastic surgeon to combine breast reduction with a tummy tuck, liposuction, or body lift operations to have a perfect body. Usually, reduction mammoplasty is done along with stomach liposuction, butt and thigh lift, or neck lift to improve the overall look. Also, in cases where the amount of saggy skin is more than usual, plastic surgeons perform different operations to remove excess skin on the chest and neck.

Read more: What’s The Difference Between Liposuction and Tummy Tuck Surgery?

Can You Still Get Breast Reduction if You’re Overweight?

If you have only a few extra pounds and your BMI is still in the normal range, breast reduction is safe for you, and its results will be outstanding. However, suppose you are over 10 pounds above your ideal weight or your BMI is over 30. In that case, you need to reconsider getting this cosmetic procedure because there is a high chance that you face serious postoperative complications from this surgery. The other option is to lose weight before breast reduction a couple of months before this operation to be assured that its outcomes will be permanent and outstanding. 

FAQs about Breast Reduction Surgery

1) What if I lose weight after breast reduction surgery?

Losing weight after reducing mammoplasty may affect your operation's results and cause your boobs to sag. Therefore, reaching your ideal weight before undergoing this procedure is suggested.

2) Will I look slimmer after breast reduction surgery?

Breast reduction surgery will trim your upper body and proportionate your breasts with other body parts. As a result, you will look skinnier and more attractive after this operation.

3) Will my breasts look normal after the reduction of mammoplasty?

You can discuss your expectation regarding the size and shape of your breasts with your surgeon in the consultation session. Usually, the breasts are swollen for a couple of weeks following the surgery, but when the swelling subsides, the definite cup size will be revealed. 

Read more: Breast Reduction Surgery Recovery Tips

4) Does my stomach look bigger after breast reduction?

For a couple of weeks after breast reduction surgery, you may notice that your abdomen looks larger than usual. This is mostly because of constipation or swelling of the upper body. Once the early complications of the surgery go away, your stomach will look much smaller. On the other hand, if your abdomen is naturally bulgy, you should get a tummy tuck along with breast reduction to have a flatter belly.

5) How much weight do you lose to get a breast reduction?

There is no exact scale for how much weight you should lose before breast reduction, but having a BMI lower than 30 at the time of surgery is important. Also, having a stable BMI six months before the operation is preferable.