The technical term is ptotic breasts, according to WebMD.com,  and in this case, women aren’t looking for implants, they are looking for a breast lift, or mastopexy – a procedure that removes excess skin in order to lift up sagging or drooping breasts.  Whereas breast augmentation increases your cup size, the breast lift brings them back up toward your chest and away from your knees.

The problem is simple:  there is too much skin, the tissue is too low and the nipple is pointing southward. To get them back where they should be, a plastic surgeon removes the excess tissue and skin, sutures them into a new new position and moves the nipple up to its new location. There are two types of breast lifts: the concentric (doughnut) lift that is used with smaller, less droopy breasts; and the more common anchor-shaped lift. There are different techniques, too, and the surgery can even be done without moving the nipple in milder cases.

The two biggest drawbacks of the surgery are scarring, and losing sensation in the nipple for some period of time.  Scars usually run from the nipple down, in an inverted “T”,  so are not dramatic, but definitely noticeable.  When the nipple areolar complex is severed and moved, it will be sore and then numb for some period of time, depending on individual healing time.

The breast lift was the seventh most popular cosmetic surgery in 2009 and 19th most sought procedure overall, according to American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. It is sometimes done in conjunction with breast augmentation surgery. Lift surgery alone is done on an outpatient basis and takes from 1-3 hours. Gauze is removed after a couple of days and stitches are removed after about two weeks.  A surgical bra is worn for support, sometimes for several months after the surgery. Bruising, swelling and pain should be gone after 4-6 weeks, but it can take up to a year to completely recover.

Lastly, this surgery will not keep breasts perky as long as implants. Age, weight changes and additional will stretch them out again. Cost for the procedure averages $7,000-$9,000, depending on where you live and the extent of the surgery.

• iEnhance.com offers a list of 13 questions to ask a prospective surgeon before undergoing this procedure. If you’re not good at talking with a doctor, print the list and take it with you.

• Before and after pictures on LocateADoc.com give an idea of the results and also of the scarring you will see afterward.

• This short, minimally graphic video of a surgery by Greek surgeon Dr. Nodas Kapositas is a great example the process.  It shows just enough of the actual surgery to give an understanding without being difficult to watch. Bonus: funky music!

I exaggerate of course, but hand rejuvenation is a new specialty among esthetic professionals for good reason.  While the skin of the face and neck may get all the attention in the fight against aging, the condition of our hands are, as my husband pointed out – a dead giveaway.  No matter how fat your butt is, older hands lose their fatty tissue and look bony and wrinkled.   Hands are often the first thing damaged by the sun, which results in freckles and age spots.  Because they are always in water and being wiped off, skin on your hands is often dry and itchy.  Even the veins stick out more as we age.  Remember the hands of the Wicked Witch of the East?

You get my point.  If hands are your issue, you are not alone.

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The solutions for regaining youthful hands are many.  Product-wise, Retin-A and glycolic acid can be applied to the hands topically, which cause age spots to fade over time, just like they do on the face.  Chemical peels and microdermabrasion are also prescribed for faster results, but will definitely keep you from doing dishes for a few days while your hands heal.  Retin-A products usually run about $60-$100 a tube; the skin resurfacing procedures cost $200-$500.

Processes like laser skin resurfacing for the hands are very popular in medical spas using Fraxel, Thermage, Refirme or IPL, which can remove spots and broken capillaries.  For larger blood vessels, physicians use the same technique they use for spider veins – sclerotherapy – during which a chemical is injected into the veins that causes them to shrink. Dermatologists are even using injectable fillers to temporarily plump bony hands.  Depending on the services you receive, expect to pay $1,500 to $5,000 for these types of treatments.

If you are VERY serious about your hands, you can also go in for soft tissue augmentation where fat cells are taken from other parts of your body and transplanted to your hands. Hand rejuvenation procedures like those usually take place under outpatient anesthesia and are upwards of $1,500-$5,000 as well.

Doctors can bundle the procedures to save you money, but hands down, cosmetic hand rejuvenation could turn into some serious ‘high fives’.

Face it, whether you are male or female, aging’s a bitch and gravity is oh, so unkind. We gain weight, then start to sag. It’s unsettling for women,  but it’s even more awkward for men.  At least women have a number of options to counter the effects of sagging bosoms, including cornucopia of bras and other undergarments that offer support, and surgery is fairly commonplace.

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For men, not so much.  In a 1995 episode of “Seinfeld” Kramer and Frank Costanza tried to market the “Manssiere” or “Bro,” but that was TV satire from nearly 15 years ago and there are few men’s foundation garments on the market outside of some slimming T-shirts and a bra for men sold in Japan.

Gynecomastia is breast reduction surgery for men. It is not cutting or lifting, but actually the liposuctioning of excess tissue from the chest, magically turning those man boobs back into the shapely pectorals they once were. The surgery itself lasts about two hours and you’ll need a week of downtime before you can get back to work and your other regular activities.  It’s the fourth most popular plastic surgery among men (behind regular lipo, rhinoplasty and eyelid/brow lift), and ranks 12^th overall among cosmetic surgeries performed in 2008 (2009 results are not in yet.)

Of the 800,000 cosmetic surgery procedures performed on men that year, 19,124 were breast reductions, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (surgery.org), which was down significantly from 23,670 in 2007.  The decrease in demand for gynecomastia could be an effect of the poor economy.

At the same time, not quite half (47 percent) of the reviewers who shared their experience were satisfied with the procedure.  The average cost for the surgery hovers in the neighborhood of $5,000, depending on where you live, and it has come down slightly in recent years.

Before thinking about surgery, however, men who are experiencing enlarging breasts need to find out why. It could be age or weight gain, but it could also be due to hormonal changes (a side effect of aging in all of us) or a reaction to a medication. Once you know the cause, it is easier to weigh your options.

But we’re not talking about a pair of jeans here.  Sure, you can strap on the falsies and check yourself out in the doctor’s mirror, but you’re going to have to LIVE with these things.  Any new chassis, whether it’s boobs or a Buick, should be taken for a test drive.  After all, we really need to know if they’re going to be in the way when we slam the tailgate or bend over to rinse our face in the sink.

Of course, we’re not the first to think of this.

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Natrelle offers a “Pre-Consultation Kit,” ($40) which includes four different sizing implants, all mineral-oil filled silicone shells that resembles the shape and size of the implants.  They also include a sizing bra to place them in and a booklet and DVD to explain it all.

We love saving money, though, so another suggestion that caught our eye is a Do It Yourself method we found at DailyBeauty, the blog from New Beauty Magazine.   DailyBeauty suggests making your own faux implants to test out different sizes at home.  All it takes is a couple of nylon stockings or knee highs, filling the toe portions with rice, then placing them in your sports bra.  (We’ve told you before: We can’t make this stuff up.)

The good folks at DailyBeauty have calculated that it takes 150-200 ccs of rice to equal an increase of one bra cup size – that’s approximately 2/3rd of a measuring cup of rice.   A full measuring cup of rice is equivalent to about 236 cc’s …. or a cup-and-a-quarter of boob.  Don’t cook the rice and make sure there’s no run in your stockings, by the way.

We know it sounds silly, but if you are considering breast augmentation, size matters! After choosing a surgeon, it’s the single biggest decision you’ll make, no pun intended. So there’s something to be said for trying out the new set of knockers before you actually go under the knife.

We lean toward the Natrelle kit, though.  There are better things to do with rice and pantyhose are expensive.  In the pictures we’ve seen of Natrelle, they look very much like the actual implants themselves, so for 40 bucks, we may just consider wearing these around for awhile and forgetting the surgery all together.  It beats these socks we’ve been using all these years.

Breast augmentation: A surgical procedure done to increase breast size.

Not only is this the No. 1 plastic surgery performed, it’s probably the most talked about in our often celebrity-crazed society. But whether you just want a fuller figure or are an aspiring actress, it’s not cheap or easy. The cost runs anywhere from $6,000-$12,000 depending on size, silicone vs. saline, and so on. And face it, you’re not going to have them done one at a time. The surgery itself takes an hour or two as the implant is inserted into a pocket above or below the chest muscle. Your breasts will be covered in gauze and there may be drainage tubes for a few days. You won’t be able to do any heavy lifting or anything excessively physical for six weeks. The implants aren’t designed to be permanent, and they can rupture. With saline implants, you’ll notice the deflation, but women with silicone implants may have to have an MRI every couple of years to check for a “silent rupture,” according to WebMD. Implants can make mammograms more difficult and hinder breast feeding, but there is no link to breast cancer. And just in case you’re curious, most women opting for breast augmentation went from a B cup to a C cup.

Resources:

• LoveYourlook.com allows you to see before-and-after pictures of women in your state based on desired augmentation (i.e. B cup to C cup). You can also see a difference depending on which type of implant was used.
• This YouTube bit is just plain silly, but it does give an idea of what an implant looks like, how durable they are and the cost. And we never pass up a chance to chuckle.
• The site justbreastimplants.com is just for breast implants, as the name implies, and has information, insight and feedback from women who are considering or have had breast augmentation – lots of traffic on this site, with a wide variety of give-and-take.

There are basically two reasons women choose to have a mastectomy: to rid themselves of breast cancer or as a preventative measure if they are at a high risk of developing the disease. The American Cancer Society says more than 182,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year and 43 percent will opt for a mastectomy, according to a National Cancer Institute study. Traditional mastectomies remove the entire breast, including the nipple/areola area. Three variations — skin-sparing, nipple-sparing, and total-skin sparing — make breast reconstruction easier and it is usually done immediately after the tissue is removed.

In a radical mastectomy, the surgeon will remove all the breast tissue, lymph nodes in the arm pit and chest muscle.  Once common, this surgery is now rarely performed.  A much easier, modified procedure still involves removing the breast tissue and lymph nodes, but also giving the patient the option of  immediate or delayed breast reconstruction. The surgery generally takes 2-3 hours and afterward, the patient is usually hospitalized for 1-7 days.

After-effects of the surgery include phantom sensations in the area as the nerves regrow, as well as itching and pressure. The area may also be sensitive to the touch for several months. Regular arm exercises are key to speeding the recovery and to lessening the effects of scarring.

• Both breastcancer.org and the American Cancer Society are vital resources for women facing breast cancer themselves or who have a family history. Both sites also offer information to help women decide on whether or not to have breast reconstruction surgery. ACS also has trained staff available around the clock to talk via its toll-free number 800-ACS-2345.

• Reuters reports that the rate of preventive mastectomy is rising.

Mammoplasty is primarily the term used for breast reduction surgery, although it can be used for any alteration (larger or smaller) of the breast.  Unlike breast augmentation, reduction surgery is often done for medical reasons.  The surgery makes overly large breasts more proportionate to a women’s body and helps to alleviate back, neck and shoulder pain, avoid skeletal deformities and in some cases, can improve breathing.

The cost range is $5,000-$10,000 and is sometimes even performed on a single breast. The surgery can take from 90 minutes to 4 hours and is done under general anesthesia. Excess fat, glandular tissue and skin are removed and the nipple repositioned.  Afterward, the breasts are wrapped in gauze, there may be drainage tubes for a couple of days, and the patient will wear a support bra — even while sleeping — for 4-6 weeks until the swelling and bruising subside, much the same as if the patient had breast enhancement. Discomfort will last for about a week, and there may be random shooting pains or a recurrence of pain if the breasts swell during menstruation. Scars will fade over several months. Also be aware that changes in sensation are common — the breast and/or nipple can become more or less sensitive. This is more likely if the position of the nipples has been moved during surgery. Numbness can be permanent. Depending on the surgery, you may not be able to breast feed after the operation.

• This British website provides an easy to read fact sheet.
• Mayo Clinic features a woman who opted for the surgery and had terrific results.