Robert Frank, MD Plastic Surgery offers breast reduction to patients in Munster, Hobart, Crown Point, and Frankfort to resolve a variety of concerns. For women with large breasts, a reduction can help with:
- Physical discomfort. Breast reduction surgery can alleviate chronic back, neck, and shoulder pain.*
- Social issues. Patients sometimes seek treatment when they have difficulty finding the right clothing or feel uncomfortable with the attention their breasts draw.
- Challenges in daily life. Large breasts can often limit physical activity, make sleeping and exercise uncomfortable, and inhibit quality mammograms.
Patients may be able to cover some or all of the cost of surgery with insurance. Our office can help women explore their options.
Dr. Frank’s Approach to Breast Reduction
During the initial consultation, breast reduction patients from the communities of Munster, Hobart, Crown Point, and Frankfort meet directly with Dr. Frank to talk about their goals. They discuss both the concerns that have led them to surgery as well as the physical changes they want to see.
While some patients target a specific bra cup size, it’s important to remember that these sizes can vary from brand to brand. With years of experience in plastic surgery, Dr. Frank understands how to achieve the results that patients prefer without using an arbitrary measure. Taking the time to listen to their preferences and showing photos of comparable outcomes helps in this process.
*Individual results may vary
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About the Procedure
After preoperative testing, further consultation, and scheduling, surgery takes place at one of several accredited facilities in Munster and Hobart. In a breast reduction:
- Patients receive general anesthesia to stay comfortable throughout surgery.
- Frank prioritizes aesthetic and functional improvement as well as preserving sensation and the ability to breastfeed in the future.
- He makes incisions in areas that are less noticeable except to intimate partners.
The surgery reduces excess breast tissue and skin and reshapes the breast into a smaller size appropriate for the patient’s frame.*
Recovery from Breast Reduction
Typically, Munster and Hobart patients are away from work for about two weeks.* They can resume most normal activities after that time. It’s not unusual to have a period of numbness, tingling, or hypersensitivity, but these sensations should go away within a few weeks.*
The women who have breast reduction surgery are some of Dr. Frank’s most satisfied patients. Almost immediately, they realize the difference that the procedure has made in their lives, and as they recover fully, they enjoy the change in their appearance and the improvement in their physical symptoms.
Dr. Frank’s Advice on Recovery
We all have our own ideas of how long recovery should take. Unfortunately, this means many patients try to rush their recovery and go back to normal activities. This trend is especially true among young mothers who want to spend every moment with their children. They may attempt to play with or pick up their children before their bodies are ready to handle that strain.
Dr. Frank sees rushed recoveries in several ways, with one of the most common being pain. Patients who try to be too active too early in the recovery process often find themselves running through their pain medication too soon and have to ask for an early refill. Rather than increase the amount of medication you take, you will feel better sooner and end the period wherein you need the medication faster if you allow your body to rest. Do not force your body to undergo more physical strain than it is ready to handle. It is okay to take 30-minute breaks on the couch.
Another way Dr. Frank sees patients push themselves too hard is an increased risk of both swelling and dangerous hematomas.
For example, after liposuction, your body needs time to move fluid out of your skin. Patients who have had liposuction will have skin that feels firmer than untreated areas because of this fluid buildup. Getting that fluid out of your skin is one of your recovery goals during the weeks after surgery. But if you activate your muscles near the treated area, that activity draws fluid into the area, which increases swelling and often pain. In the case of a tummy tuck, too much activity early in your recovery can increase blood pressure, which then causes more oozing into the space created during surgery. While a little fluid is normal, it’s easy to overwhelm your body’s ability to absorb this fluid. A hematoma is the result.
To minimize these concerns, Dr. Frank encourages all patients to clear their schedules of everything except the most essential duties for the two weeks after surgery. You should minimize the amount of childcare, job responsibilities, meetings, social activities, and home chores in which you partake so your body can rest. You will feel better and recover faster if you plan ahead so that your body, not your calendar, determines when you are ready for your physical activities.
If you have been living with discomfort due to large breasts, talk with Dr. Frank about your breast reduction options. Robert Frank MD, Plastic Surgery in Munster and Hobart can serve clients across Crown Point and Frankfort. Schedule your initial consultation online or by calling our office at (219) 513-2011.
*Individual results may vary