Please contact our Chicago-area breast reduction surgeon to schedule a consultation.

737 North Michigan Avenue
Suite 760
151 East Chicago Avenue (Entrance)
Chicago, Illinois 60611
312-751-2112
Map & Directions

118 Green Bay Road
Winnetka, Illinois 60093
847-446-7562
Map & Directions

Breast Reduction Surgery in the Chicago Area

Patients with disproportionately large breasts often experience pain, discomfort, and embarrassment.  Over time the physical mechanics of the back, neck, and shoulders are compromised.  Deep furrows may develop in the shoulders and the patient may assume a hunched posture.  For some women, the effects are so severe that comfort during day-to-day activity and the ability to exercise are compromised.  Breast reduction surgery offers the patient a double benefit – the improvement of body mechanics and the restoration of a pleasing and harmonious shape.  In our practice hundreds of patients have experience improvement in comfort, posture and self-confidence that accompany breast reduction surgery. Our Chicago centers also offer breast reduction for men who suffer from gynecomastia.

• Breast Reduction Overview
• Vertical Breast Reduction
• Classical Breast Reduction
• Periareolar Breast Reduction
• Breast Reduction Surgery Combined with Implants
• Breast Reduction for Men
• The Breast Reduction Procedure
• Recovery from Breast Reduction Surgery

Breast Reduction Overview

There are many factors that can cause the breasts to become disproportionately enlarged.  In some patients there is a strong family pattern of breast enlargement.  In other patients cycles of weight gain and weight loss or the hormonal stimulus of pregnancy can lead to a permanent increase in breast size.  Yet another group of patients will experience a significant gain in breast volume at the time of the menopause.  There are also many patients who experience undesirable breast enlargement without any known pattern or cause.

Patients with disproportionate breast enlargement experience symptoms that tend to become more severe with the passage of time.  The size and weight of enlarged breasts will overwhelm the natural internal support of the breast structure and cause the breasts to settle to an increasingly low position on the body.  This actually affects the center of gravity of the body and leads to undesirable changes in the body mechanics.  The weight of the breasts is transmitted through the brassiere to the shoulder straps and this in turn produces increasingly deep grooves in the shoulder area.  The shoulders are gradually pulled forward and the patient assumes an increasingly hunched posture in the shoulders.  With time this change in posture will affect the mechanics of the cervical spine, the portion of the spine in the neck and shoulder areas.  The result is chronic neck pain and spasm of the muscles in the neck, upper back, and shoulders.  Over longer periods of time patients may even experience pain in the lower back.

These mechanical effects are amplified in patients who have asymmetric breast enlargement.  With one breast heavier and lower than the other, unbalanced forces are applied to the spine, and this results in an even greater degree of discomfort that experienced by patients with an equal degree of breast enlargement.

Patients with significantly enlarged breasts often become self-conscious and adopt a pattern of habits and postures to camouflage the size of their breasts.  Patients may abandon certain sports and types of exercise that are pleasurable and healthy because they cannot hide their breast size.  As heavy breasts settle to an increasingly lower position on the body certain forms of exercise become difficult or impossible.  A vicious cycle may develop with a decrease in physical activity leading to weight gain, which in turn further increases the size of the breasts.

Many otherwise well-intentioned physicians are woefully unaware of the physical effects caused by markedly enlarged breasts.  At our Chicago center, we have seen many patients with massively enlarged breasts who visit their physicians with complaints of neck and back pain and are told they just need to lose some weight or do some neck exercises. Some of these patients suffer for decades before they finally encounter a friend who shares her experience with breast reduction surgery and puts them on the right path.

Even in the first few days after breast reduction surgery patients frequently experience a significant increase in physical comfort.  No longer are the heavy, settled breasts pulling the shoulders, neck, and back out of alignment.  As time progresses even further improvement occurs.  For many patients, the shoulders have settled into a resting position of misalignment; we will guide these patients with a series of gentle exercises that can help to restore normal shoulder mechanics.

One further benefit of breast reduction surgery is that it frees the patient to explore forms of exercise that she may not have been comfortable with for years.  With increased exercise comes weight loss, which provides additional health and well-being.

Not all patients who desire breast reduction do so because of physical symptoms.  Approximately one third of our breast reduction patients come to us for reasons of personal aesthetics.  For these patients it is often a matter of bringing the breasts into balance with the contours of the rest of the body.  For some there is a preference for a slender, athletic physique.

Regardless of the motivation for surgery, patients frequently tell us that breast reduction surgery provides them with a sense of well-being and increased confidence.  This desirable feedback cycle is similar to that experienced by patients with other forms of aesthetic surgery when their appearance is brought into balance with their internal sense of form.  Prior to breast reduction surgery some patients use words such as “matronly” or “heavy set” to describe the way enlarged breasts affect their body image.  Once their breasts are brought into proper balance with the body, these same patients use more positive words to describe their body image.

Dr. Cook offers his patients at his Chicago centers several techniques for breast reduction.  The specific technique selected is based on his detailed assessment of your goals as well as the physical dimensions and structure of your breasts.  There are important aspects of the operation that occur at the skin level as well as at the deeper structure of the breasts.  From the perspective of the external scar, the three main variants are the vertical reduction, the classical reduction, and the periareolar reduction.

With all breast reduction surgeries the three goals are an overall reduction of breast volume, an improvement in breast shape, and a correction of the settled breast position.

back to top

Vertical Breast Reduction

This is Dr. Cook’s favorite approach to breast reduction surgery.  Excess skin is resected in a way that produces a more limited scar than the classical reduction technique.  A relatively discrete scar is present around the areolar border and also extends from the bottom of the areola toward the fold under the breast.  The actual power of the lift comes from the internal sculpting of breast tissue and the bringing together of pillars of breast tissue to support the lower pole of the breast.  In some patients with excess hollowness in the upper portion of the breast, Dr. Cook will move some of the lower breast structure to a higher position, which partially corrects the hollowness.  This technique is well-suited to a wide range of breast sizes and shapes, but has some limitations in breasts that are very large and settled.

Classical Breast Reduction

Like the vertical reduction this technique produces a scar around the areola and from the areola to the fold under the breast.  There is also a scar that runs along the fold under the breast (the inframammary fold in the language of plastic surgery).  This technique is well-suited to very large breasts that have a large amount of settling.  Often this breast shape has a great amount of excess skin in the lower curvature of the breast which may not respond ideally to more limited scar techniques.  This technique allows for a precise sculpting of excess breast tissue from the areas of greatest concern to the patient.  It is also well-suited to patients with asymmetric hypertrophy, in which one breast is considerably larger than the other.

Periareolar Breast Reduction

This technique finds a greater range of applications for mastopexy or pure breast lift procedures than for breast reduction.  The only scar is one that follows the areolar border.  This technique can be helpful for patients who desire a modest degree of reduction and do not require an aggressive breast lift.

back to top

Breast Reduction Surgery Combined with Implants

At first glance this procedure might seem to be a contradiction.  There are some patients where a reduction of breast tissue is combined with the placement of a breast implant.  Particularly in patients who have lost significant weight, the breasts may be severely settled and completely emptied out in their upper portions.  Even the most powerful techniques of breast reduction may leave these breasts with an undesirable hollowness in their upper portions.  A properly placed saline or silicone gel implant can help to restore a pleasing balance to breast form.

Breast Reduction Surgery for Men

Enlarged breasts do not only afflict women – the condition also affects many men and can be the source of significant self-consciousness.  Dr. Cook offers male breast reduction surgery to help men who suffer from gynecomastia, the medical term for excess fatty or glandular tissue in the male chest area.  Often beginning in adolescence, gynecomastia is more common than most people realize.  In severe cases it can lead to a lack of self-confidence and cause the patient to avoid circumstances that would draw attention to his chest, such as going to the beach or swimming.

A variety of techniques are available.  Dr. Cook makes the specific selection based upon the degree of loose skin and the relative amounts of glandular and fatty enlargement.  In many cases, the surgery can be accomplished entirely with Vaser® lipoplasty, an advanced form of ultrasonic liposuction.  If this is the case, the only scars are tiny incisions in discreet locations.

back to top

The Breast Reduction Procedure

Breast reduction is well-suited to outpatient surgery.  Dr. Cook will carry out the surgery either at Rush University Medical Center or at a fully-accredited outpatient surgical facility near the North Michigan Avenue Office.  Depending on the technique of reduction the surgery takes from three to five hours to carry out.  Most patients are able to leave the surgical facility in less than an hour after the procedure is completed.  Patients from the Chicago metropolitan area usually choose to recover from breast reduction surgery at home.  Patients from out-of-state will recover at a fine hotel near our office. We can arrange to have one of our highly-experienced caregivers stay with you for one or several nights.

Recovery from Breast Reduction Surgery

Dr. Cook makes use of a long-acting local anesthetic, so for most patients pain is well-controlled with standard prescription pain medications.  The breasts are protected by a fluffy dressing that is covered by a gentle stretch bra.  Patients typically come for their first post operative visit three or four days after the surgery.  At that time the dressing is removed and the patient is fitted with a gentle support bra.

Most patients can return to normal light activity in leas that a week after the surgery, but heavy lifting and vigorous exercise should be avoided for four to six weeks.  Patients with young children should make arrangements for help with child care for the early weeks after surgery.  We provided each patient of our Chicago centers with specific recommendations that depend on the extent of her breast reduction procedure

Contact John Q. Cook, M.D. at the Whole Beauty Institute™

We hope that this overview has provided you with helpful information that can assist you in your choice regarding breast reduction.  We invite you to contact the Whole Beauty Institute™ for further information.  Our highly knowledgeable staff can answer your questions and schedule a consultation with Dr. Cook.

back to top