As women age, they will notice changes to their body- especially their breasts. While it is normal for breasts to sag a bit over time, it is certainly something women don’t want. The good news is that there are several things ladies can do to prevent breast ptosis (the fancy medical term for breast sagging). Dr. Manish Shah, MD a board-certified South Denver plastic surgeon, and Vince Sant, a Certified Fitness Trainer and Co-Founder of V Shred.com, an incredibly popular online fitness portal share tips and insights with some uplifting solutions for breast sagging.
Understanding sagging.
“Forget about the old beliefs of poor-quality bras, going bra-less, or breastfeeding being the cause to sagging breasts,” says Dr. Manish Shah. “There are ligaments in the breasts that stretch out over time. Gravity is certainly a culprit but there are others such as multiple pregnancies, menopause, breast motion from exercise, high body mass index, deficiencies in collagen, estrogen, rapid weight fluctuations, and of course smoking,” he explains.
Beware of the expensive hype.
When women are unhappy with breast sagging and want to lift their breasts; they want to do it quickly, painlessly and affordably. Dr. Shah says that while advancements are being made with procedures involving things such as stem cell therapies, radiofrequency, and fat transfer; right now, the science just isn’t there when it comes to delivering ideal lift, shape and significant restoration to warrant the investment. “The last thing you want to do is get sold on a $4000, procedure done over the course of several visits spread out over several months that does very little. People want visible improvement. It’s important to ask questions about anything seeming too good to be true,” cautions Dr. Shah. Clearly, there are a lot of factors that can explain away breast sagging in your 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and beyond. What options do we have in this very tough battle with gravity?
Quit smoking.
“We know that smoking accelerates aging in the face due to oxygen deprivation to your skin. When it comes to the breasts, smoking destroys elastin which is what maintains suppleness,” says Dr. Shah.
Manage menopause.
When perimenopause begins usually in the mid-’40s, you really want to revamp your diet and have a look at organ function and get a hormone test. “Drops in estrogen, a natural occurrence during menopause reduces collagen in skin tissue. Some supplements or phytoestrogens that boost estrogen levels naturally can have a positive effect on breast shape. However, this is certainly something to discuss with a specialist,” explains Dr. Shah.
Pump Up with weights or resistance training.
“A lot of women focus on their lower body when exercising. While this is great to blast cellulite and keep the thighs, legs, and butt shapely and strong, the upper body can’t be neglected. Doing various exercises using 5 -10-pound weights that strengthen and tone pectoral muscles (the muscles under the breasts) shoulders and back are key for preventing breast sagging,” says Vince Sant. Many women fear losing their breast size or looking bulky or masculine. When you use less weight and do more repetitions, you get a nice lean, strong upper body. This raises everything up. According to Sant, who created a workout specifically targeting women’s trouble zones, it takes a lot of weight and many hours of training to get that thicker bulky look. “Doing combinations of exercises such as, plank rotations, shoulder presses, dumbbell pullovers, chest fly’s and standing raises are easy and can be done right in your living room,” the expert trainer with over 700,000 Instagram followers suggests.
Update your sports bra.
“While exercise is great, exercising with an old stretched out sports bra can lead to sagging especially for you Cardio Queens,” out there says Vince.
Quicker solutions…
What if you’re working out, not smoking and despite being tight and toned your actual breasts still sag? “Then you may want to consider a breast lift that factors in your frame, current breast size and desired shape, says Dr. Shah. “Nothing delivers a result as significant and long-lasting as the breast lift. The procedure does require 6 to 8-weeks of full recovery time and, depending on region and doctor, can be anywhere from $6000 to $25,000,” says Dr. Shah.
* All information subject to change. Images may contain models. Individual results are not guaranteed and may vary.
