Women interested in breast plastic surgery procedures should be well-informed about all of their available options. With a full knowledge of your choices, patients can make a decision that’s best suited to their body and their needs.

On the other hand, the wide range of options – breast lifts, breast reductions, breast augmentations, etc. – can be quite confusing.

Here’s a quick guide to the big differences of lifts and reductions, as well as why patients choose one or the other.

Breast lifts and breast reductions are performed with different goals in mind. Before choosing any type of plastic surgery, a patient has to ask themselves what they would like to accomplish with the procedure.

Of course, everyone wants to look great and feel good about themselves. However, it’s important that you have a clear idea of how you would like your breasts to look at the end of the day. At a consultation, a plastic surgeon can help you define these goals. Oftentimes, a surgeon can show you pictures of patients who have received various procedures, which can help you visualize the results.

If you’re looking to dramatically reduce the size of your breasts, then a breast reduction procedure may be your best choice. This procedure helps with reducing the volume and weight of your breasts, but largely maintains their shape.

Many assume that women undergo these procedures out of self-consciousness, but there are a variety of other motivating factors, as well. For example, many women seek breast reduction surgery to alleviate neck and back pain as a result of large, heavy breasts. These can feel like a burden, and make it difficult to maintain good posture. In some cases, large breasts can interfere with daily activities.

If you’re hoping to change the silhouette of your breasts, you will want to look at a breast lift. Typically, breast lifts are used to alleviate breast sag and achieve a perky, high appearance. Although breast lifts are generally not focused on removing tissue, breasts sometimes appear smaller due to the higher position.

Oftentimes, women seek out breast lifts to restore the look/feel of their breasts before or during pregnancy. Additionally, some women combine breast lifts with breast augmentation procedures to achieve the results they have in mind and alleviate the appearance of reduction.

The good news is that both procedures are fairly straightforward surgeries with very high patient satisfaction rates. Still, the most important thing you can do to ensure your satisfaction with the end result is to carefully consider your goals and make an informed decision.