Breast Reduction: Stopping Scarring in Darker Skin
While many women of color want to lift their self esteem (and stop a few health problems) by having a breast reduction, some are stopped in their tracks due to the possibility of scarring. Why? The procedure requires long scars on the breasts. (A breast lift will also produce long scars.)
Over time, the scarring lightens but as skin color becomes darker – as with American Indians, some Latinas and African-Americans — special problems can develop.
Fifty percent of women with darker skin are prone to a type of scarring known as Keloid; these scars appear as wide, heightened and thick and grow outside the boundary of the incision, often like a large, flat tumor.
Moreover, Keloids are often painfully itchy. Those scars are often found on various parts of the body, including the breasts. Keloids are very difficult to treat. Surgeons can treat the scars with drugs that act on the immune system, can surgically remove the scar or use a combination of the two. Lasers are sometimes used but, like in surgical treatments, patients often see a recurrence of about 50 percent. (Read more about Keloids and darker skin in plastic surgery.)
Some plastic surgeons eschew the knife and use liposuction instead to reduce the size of very large breasts, thereby avoiding longer incisions altogether.
Because the average breast is usually more than half fat, an average liposuction reduction makes a breast about two sizes smaller while making sure future problems with Keloid scarring does not happen.
Breast reduction surgery may be necessary because extremely large and heavy breasts:
- Cause back and shoulder problems and other medical problems
- Create grooves in shoulder bones due to the weight placed on bra straps
- Make finding clothing difficult
- May be covered by medical health insurance
Some health insurance companies cover breast reduction because the woman’s health is better with smaller breasts.
Do you have scars? How did they heal?
California Surgical Institute @ January 8, 2009