Now, new research shows breast feeding is more important than anyone ever thought to mom’s health, too.

But what about nursing and cosmetic surgery on the breasts like:

• Breast augmentation
• Breast lift
• Breast reduction

Will any cosmetic plastic surgery procedure on the breasts affect a woman’s nursing ability?

Its’ an important question because the research has revealed that breast feeding may even lower a woman’s risk of the big C.

The August issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, a professional publication for doctors, carries an article about 60,000 women in their 60’s and their health conditions compared to whether or not they breast fed their infants.

Results? Women who breast feed their babies – even for small amounts of time – may lower their risk of developing premenopausal breast cancer – even if they have a family history of the ailment.

The study group who nursed their infants for a year were found to be:

• Nearly 10 percent less likely to have cardiovascular disease
• Very less likely to have heart disease risk factors
• Less likely to have high blood pressure
• Less likely to have diabetes
• Less likely to have high cholesterol

(Read more about the breast nursing study.)

In the vast majority of cases, breast augmentation patients will be able to nurse normally.

Note: If you have nursed in the year before your surgery, a slim possibility exists that you may produce milk after your operation. Your surgeon can prescribe a medication to treat the condition.

For a breast lift or mastopexy, your surgeon will ask if you plan on having more children.

Due to the rigors of pregnancy and nursing, the lifting effect of mastopexy can be undone. If you think you may nurse again, tell your surgeon; a breast lift does not automatically destroy the ability to nurse.

In breast reduction, excess fat and glandular tissue is removed from the breasts while the nipple and areola, the colored areas around the nipples, are moved upwards.

While all that is great for the mother — the weight of abnormally large breasts causes other health woes – some women may be unable to nurse afterwards. Be sure and talk to your surgeon about breast feeding.

Read the story of one mom who had breast reduction and did nurse.

Women with smaller breasts who find they have some sagging after breast feeding, normal aging or a large weight loss may be candidates for the Crescent breast lift which leaves the smallest scar of any the breast lift procedures.

In many breast lifts, the plastic surgeon removes wedges of excess skin and then sutures together the two edges to create a smaller breast envelope. That’s what removes the sagging to bring the breasts back up to a higher position and create what many call “more perky” breasts.

The procedure leaves a long scar on the underside of each breast but the scars fade over time. In any case, the scarring is hidden by bras and swim wear.

But if there is only slight sagging, and the patient does not have large breasts, she may be right for the Crescent lift which is also known as a “nipple lift.”

Of course, it takes an experienced, trained plastic surgeon with an artistic eye to decide which breasts are “smaller” and which have “slight sagging.”

(HINT: Before going ahead with the procedure, ask to see the surgeon’s crescent breast lift before and after pictures. He or she should have many such pictures.)

To perform the surgery, a crescent or quarter moon shaped wedge of skin above the areola (the dark ring of skin around the nipple) is removed. When the two edges are sewn together, the breast is lifted anywhere from one to two inches, depending on the patient.

Combining that lift with a breast implant brings the breast back to a more youthful look. Plus, scarring is minimal. The scar is well concealed because the sutures are placed on the edge of the areola.

The crescent lift is sometimes used in a larger breast augmentations when the surgeon starts the procedure with an incision in the areola and places the implant under the chest muscle.

Medically known as breast asymmetry,  Dr. Matas cautions new patients that surgical correction sometimes offers only a 60 percent improvement.

Asymmetry may occur during the teen years  while developing or through:

• Trauma
• Infections
• Burns
• After breast feeding

Plastic surgeons say the asymmetry can be visible in several different ways, including:

• A missing breast
• Different sizes
• Various shapes

The unbalanced bust line can cause extreme worry for teens who often become withdrawn. For younger patients, buying a bra or a prom dress is a terrible experience.

Adults may be inclined to back away from intimate situations because of embarrassment. Both groups suffer a loss of self-esteem and confidence with some becoming depressed over their physiology. They also shy away from anything to do with pool or beach wear.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons studied 35 patients who had surgical breast asymmetry procedures. After six months, the researchers found all the study subjects had “statistically significant”  improvements in:

• Vitality
• Mental health
• Self-esteem

But what does a surgeon actually do to correct the appearance of unbalanced breasts? Plastic surgeons have three surgical procedures at their disposal, including:

• Breast lift
• Breast augmentation
• Breast reduction

“Even if breasts are different by less than a half-cup size, it can be very noticeable,” said plastic surgeon Walter Erhardt, M.D.

Do you have trouble buying tops that fit well?

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?

Until now, when a woman requests a breast lift, the surgeon usually explained the drooping of her breasts to one of three things:

• Breast feeding
• Loss of massive amounts of weight (MWL)
• Older age

Consequently, many women concerned about their figures choose not to breastfeed, even though the practice is known to transfer certain health benefits to babies.

But now, several plastic surgeons have studied women with one pregnancy behind them and who later asked for aesthetic breast surgery. (Many moms request breast lift with breast augmentation.)

Plastic surgeon Brian Rinker, M.D., from Lexington, Kentucky, took a close look at the records of 93 women who had at least one pregnancy and some form of breast surgery. Dr. Rinker and his colleagues then assigned to each patient the degree of pre-surgical sagging – technically known as ptosis (pie-toe-sis) –from zero to three.

Dr. Rinker and his colleagues then interviewed each patient and collected information on:

• Age
• Number of pregnancies
• History of breastfeeding
• Duration of breastfeeding
• Body mass index (BMI)
• Pre-pregnancy bra size
• Weight gain during pregnancy
• History of smoking

But when the doctors crunched all the numbers, they found the following factors were more serious risks for drooping breasts:

• Higher age
• Greater BMI
• More pregnancies
• Larger pre-pregnancy cup size
• Smoking

Notably absent from leading risk factors: breastfeeding, even when the woman nursed for longer periods of time. (Read more about the study on sagging breasts.)

Says Alan H. Gold, M.D., president of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS): “Patients need to be armed with objective data….when making important health decisions.”

Dr. Gold also said the study should be repeated with larger numbers of patients to really nail down breast feeding’s effect on the breasts.

Have you ever nursed? What happened to your bust line?