Key Takeaways
- Excessively large breasts can lead to numerous physical problems including back, neck, and shoulder pain, as well as skin rashes.
- Breast reduction surgery is a procedure that removes excess breast tissue, fat, and skin to alleviate discomfort and improve physical health.
- Common issues associated with heavy breasts include rashes, difficulty exercising, and challenges with daily activities due to discomfort.
- Breast reduction can improve breathing by reducing breast weight, which often compresses the lungs, leading to shortness of breath.
- The recovery from breast reduction surgery generally takes about 2 weeks, with minimal pain reported post-operation and potential Medicare coverage available.
Having excessively large and heavy breasts has been linked to numerous physical concerns in women. About 1 million females worldwide suffer from problems caused by large breasts. As heavy breasts can cause pain and discomfort, there are many medical benefits of breast reduction surgery.
Many women have quite significant symptoms associated with heavy breasts (breast hypertrophy). These include sore necks, divots in the shoulders, rashes underneath the breasts, inability to exercise or pain in the breasts. Breast reduction is a surgical procedure that reduces the breasts in size and shape. As this reduces the weight of the breasts, these symptoms can often improve.
Most Common Big Boob (Breast) Problems
The most common physical complaints of women having excessively heavy breasts include:
Back Pain
Back pain from the breasts is caused by changes in the centre of gravity or normal body alignment. Though the breasts are present in the front part of your body. Having heavy breasts will cause various degrees of back pain. The female back muscles are responsible for helping stabilise the whole upper body. Heavy boobs (breasts) have been shown to cause continuous pressure in the female back muscles, called the trapezius. The larger the breasts, the more pressure the muscles are under to keep the breasts in position, especially while you work or exercise. Also, having large breasts adds a few more kilos to your upper body, which can cause your back to droop forward. Long-term postural abnormality is shown to cause back pain from the breasts.
Neck and Shoulder Pain
Your spine helps keep the neck and shoulders properly aligned. Having large, heavy breasts causes the spine to droop forward, which leads the neck to be extended in an abnormal posture. This abnormal posturing causes soreness in your neck muscles. Poor posture of the neck then puts extra pressure on the muscles and tendons of your shoulder, giving rise to shoulder pain and back pain from the breasts.
Rashes
Heavy boobs (breasts), sometimes cause under boob (breasts) rash or a rash between breasts. Large breasts can cause the skin around them to fold and rub on ,themselves and as if these areas are difficult to access, infections and rashes may develop here. As well as rashes, you may also experience cysts in the folds of skin underneath your boobs (breasts).
Comfortability
In addition to causing physical difficulties like lower back pain from large breasts, having heavy breasts may also hamper the quality of your life and may affect your day-to-day activities. Issues may include having difficulty in doing certain tasks, clothes not fitting properly and back, shoulder or neck pain.
What Are the Solutions for Heavy Breast Problems?
Diet
Eating a low-calorie, balanced diet may help indirectly shrink the adipose tissue (fat), the tissue that makes most parts of your breast, thus reducing its size and reducing complications related to heavy breasts.
Exercise
Exercises can strengthen a woman’s back muscles, help maintain proper posture and prevent associated complications. It helps reduce pain but doesn’t actually cure it. Also, there are concerns regarding the compliance of women with these exercises. Exercising also helps reduce weight from the breasts and reduces complications associated with it.
Breast Reduction Surgery
Breast Reduction is a surgical procedure that removes excess fat, breast tissue, and skin from the breast to achieve the preferred breast size proportional to your body. It helps ease discomfort associated with large, heavy boobs (breasts).
The procedure often combines liposuction to remove fat, and the breasts are reduced in size, giving women a reduced yet firmer and more in proportion breast size.
If a woman is in a state of good physical health and would prefer to reduce their breast size may seek consultation to undergo the surgery.
Benefits of Breast Reduction Surgery
- Relieve pain caused by having large boobs (breasts)
- Give a firmer shape to your breasts
- Improve mobility and comfortability
- Reduce the incidence of under boob (breasts) rash
- Reduced breast size opens a wide range of wardrobe options for you
Can Large Breasts Cause Breathing Problems?
Large breasts can also cause breathing problems for women. This is because the weight of the breasts compresses the lungs and prevents them from expanding all the way. This often leads to shortness of breath and difficulty breathing. After breast reduction surgery, many women find that their breathing ability improves. This is because breast reduction reduces their breasts so their lungs are less compressed. In fact, many women find that they can breathe easier after surgery.
Breast Reduction with Dr Mark Doyle
Recovery
The procedure is most commonly a one day procedure. You will go home wearing a compression garment, and Dr Doyle may order you mild pain medication and antibiotics. Please note, that Dr Doyle does not generally use drains. You are seen at 10 days, 3 weeks and 6 weeks following the procedure for dressing changes. Your dressings are waterproof and you will be able to shower the day after the operation. Breast reduction recovery takes approximately 2 weeks, and you can generally go back to work after that if your work does not involve heavy lifting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a Breast Reduction Painful?
The procedure is performed using general anesthesia,a so you won’t feel pain during the surgery. The pain following a breast reduction is generally considered minimal. During and at the end of the procedure, Dr Doyle uses long-acting local anaesthetic into the breasts. A compression bra is always used and fitted at the end of the procedure. Only mild painkillers are usually required for the first week following the procedure.
Does Medicare Cover Breast Reduction?
Yes, Breast reduction Medicare rebate is available, because the procedure can benefit your health. You may get money back from Medicare and from your health insurance. You don’t have to have specific symptoms to qualify. Please keep in mind that you will still have out-of-pocket costs for your surgery. Regardless, the amount of money you get back will help to offset some of the cost of your surgery.
About Dr Mark Doyle FRACS (Plas) – Queensland Plastic Surgeon
Servicing patients in Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Cairns and New South Wales NSW – Northern Rivers, Byron Bay, Ballina, Lismore and more.
Dr Mark Doyle is a fully qualified Specialist Plastic Surgeon with over 30 years of experience performing breast, body, face and nose surgery. He has completed all required training and only carries out approved surgical practices. There are NO undertrained doctors or cosmetic doctors acting as surgeons at Gold Coast Plastic Surgery.
