Not Seeing Results From Natural Breast Lift Exercises? You’re Not Alone

As we age, our bodies change and skin begins to sag. Pregnancy, hormones, and major weight changes all affect the shape and size of your breasts. Many women seek out nonsurgical ways to lift and tone droopy breasts. However, natural breast lift exercises often fall short of the results traditional plastic surgery—such as breast augmentation—creates.

We tell our Brooklyn and Staten Island patients that there’s nothing wrong with a bit of exercise, but no special routine will change the shape of your breasts. Breast lift surgery is the best way to remove sagging skin, lift and reshape the breasts, and create beautiful, long-lasting results. In many cases, we add breast implants for women who want augmentation along with their lift.

Natural Breast Lift Exercises: Do They Work?

Many blogs and YouTube videos claim different exercises can nonsurgically elevate the breasts. Push-ups, planks, and dumbbell workouts are often the top recommendations.

It’s true that the breasts can—at least somewhat—improve with proper diet and exercise. But in the end, breast lift exercises fail for one reason: They target your muscles, not your breast tissue, ligaments, or skin.

The breasts are composed of glandular, fat, and fibrous tissue. Ligaments are fibrous tissue, and cannot be shortened once they have been stretched, and exercise only targets the muscles beneath your breasts. Having larger pectorals can make your chest firmer, but the skin and fatty tissue of your breasts are unaffected. Natural breast lift exercises don’t work because they’re not treating the real problem. 

Why Is Breast Lift Surgery a Better Option?

Surgery is the best way to truly firm and lift the breasts. It directly addresses loose skin and ligaments and places the breasts higher along the chest wall. You may be a good candidate for breast lift surgery if you want to:

• Lift sagging breasts
• Restore a firm, rounded shape
• Raise nipples that point downwards
• Provide balance between the breasts 

Many women choose breast lift surgery after major body changes such as pregnancy or significant weight loss. 

Your Breast Lift Procedure

Breast lift surgery is an outpatient procedure that uses oral sedation, intravenous sedation, or general anesthesia. Incisions are made around the areola, down the underside of the breast, and in the breast fold, depending on the extent of your sagging. Excess tissue and stretched skin are removed and the doctor reshapes the breasts. The nipple and areola can also be repositioned if necessary.

The surgery usually takes 1 to 4 hours based on the complexity of the lift. The breasts will be lightly wrapped in bandages to minimize any discomfort. Discomfort during recovery can usually be controlled with prescription pain medication. Patients can return to non-strenuous daily activities after about a week.

How To Maintain Your Breast Lift Results

Breast lift surgery is an excellent way to raise the breasts and create a more youthful silhouette. However, like any surgery, the results don’t last forever. Our skin continues to stretch while we age and the breasts gradually begin to sag—but that doesn’t mean you can’t slow the process. Here are a few ways you can slow the signs of aging and maintain your breast lift results for as long as possible.

• Sleep on your back: When you sleep on your side your front, your breasts are pulled down by gravity throughout the night. Try sleeping on your back to prevent your breasts from sagging. 
• Wear properly fitting bras: Push-up bras can put a strain on ligaments and looser bras provide not enough lift. Softer, medium support bras are a good option for giving your breasts the support they need. 
• Keep good posture: If you hunch your shoulders or lean forward too often, your breasts will sag forward with the rest of your body. Stand up straight when walking and avoid hunching over in a chair when at work or at home.
• Protect your skin: Sun exposure damages the skin and causes it to lose elasticity. Protect your skin by wearing good sunscreen and avoiding excessive sunbathing or tanning.
• Maintain a healthy lifestyle: “Yo-yo dieting” and other extreme weight changes affect your skin’s elasticity. Eat nutritious foods and exercise often to prevent unnecessary stress on your body. 

Exercise routines can build chest muscle, but they cannot raise sagging breasts as well as breast lift surgery. Browse our before-and-after gallery to see examples of real plastic surgery results. If you’re in the Brooklyn or Staten Island area and would like to learn more about breast enhancement, please request a consultation online. You can also contact our practice office by phone at (718) 720-9400.