How GLP-1 Weight Loss Is Altering Breast Surgical procedure

It’s not simply physique contouring or pores and skin tightening that’s having a second within the wake of GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide and tirzepatide. Breast surgical procedure is turning into a go-to subsequent step after weight reduction, too. With extra sufferers dropping weight shortly and at youthful ages, plastic surgeons are adapting their method to higher match what this new era of weight reduction appears like.

Featured Specialists

• Dr. Joseph Russo is a board-certified plastic surgeon in Newton Centre, MA
• Dr. David Turer is a board-certified plastic surgeon in Pittsburgh 
• Dr. Sean Arredondo is a board-eligible plastic surgeon in Austin, TX 

Newton Centre, MA plastic surgeon Joseph Russo, MD says that whereas the load loss is actual, it’s not at all times excessive. “Persons are shedding 10 to fifteen p.c of their physique weight, which is a reasonably good quantity, nevertheless it’s normally not sufficient that they arrive in needing surgical procedure,” he says. “If it’s a sluggish or gradual loss, the pores and skin has an opportunity to contract. That’s very completely different from what we see with post-bariatric sufferers.”

Slightly than requesting full physique lifts or main overhauls, lots of at present’s GLP-1 sufferers are strolling in with smaller, extra targeted issues. One space that’s seeing extra consideration? Lifts and revisions.

Extra Revisions and Lifts

Breast procedures are on the upswing. Since 2019, breast raise surgical procedures have elevated by 54 p.c, in line with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Breast reductions are additionally turning into extra widespread, and general, breast-related beauty procedures, together with lifts and revisions, have gone up by 15 p.c. One space getting extra consideration is revision surgical procedure. “I believe one of many issues I noticed rather a lot in New Jersey, and I proceed to see lots of now, is revision breast surgical procedure,” says Pittsburgh plastic surgeon David Turer, MD. For sufferers who’ve had implants previously or are noticing quantity shifts after weight reduction, it’s typically about refining or transforming what’s already there.

A Rise in Auto Augmentation

When the priority is deflation or unfastened pores and skin however the affected person doesn’t need implants, auto augmentation is turning into a go-to resolution. “Auto augmentation is a way that makes use of current breast tissue to reinforce the form and dimension of the breasts,” explains Austin, TX plastic surgeon Sean Arredondo, MD. “It’s superb for sufferers who’ve misplaced weight and need a lifted, fuller look with out including something international to their physique.”

A New Security Consideration

Dr. Russo provides that any affected person presently on a GLP-1 ought to be ready to pause the treatment earlier than surgical procedure. “If somebody is taken with doing surgical procedure they usually’re on GLPs, they need to cease for a few weeks beforehand,” he says. “These medication decelerate gastric emptying, which places sufferers in danger for vomiting whereas beneath anesthesia. That may result in aspiration, which is a harmful state of affairs.”

A Youthful Affected person Inhabitants with Totally different Wants

Not like the standard post-weight loss affected person of the previous, lots of at present’s sufferers are youthful and earlier of their physique journey. “What I’ve seen is that the folks coming in are youthful as a result of they’re not 40 or 50 after having bariatric surgical procedure,” says Dr. Arredondo. “They’re 20 or 30 after shedding 40 kilos. They may nonetheless wish to have children later, or they’re simply busy professionals who can’t take the downtime. So, we’re having completely different conversations about what’s price doing now versus later.”

Because the specialists are seeing, for a lot of GLP-1 sufferers it’s much less about dramatic makeovers and extra about restoring what’s modified, refining what’s left, and making selections that match their life now. That’s the place breast surgical procedure goes.