Breast hypertrophy is a condition in which there is an increase in the size of the breasts out of proportion with the rest of the female body.
Women with increased breast size experience symptoms such as neck / back / shoulder pain, headache, intertrigo in the inframammary fold, difficulty exercising and performing daily activities alongside, low self-esteem and body dissatisfaction.
A breast reduction or reduction mammoplasty can provide women symptomatic relief while also improving quality of life.
Recently a study from Brazil has looked at how breast reductive surgery can have a positive impact on productivity and health in the workplace.
The authors used a similar technique to Mr Ross utilizing a superior / superomedial pedicle with inverted T scar without the need for drains. Mr Ross believes that this technique allows a better long term result by maximizing the tissue higher up the chest wall while preserving as much tissue in the upper pole of the breast as possible. This method can produce an aesthetic result while removing sufficient volume to give a functional improvement.
The authors evaluated 60 patients with breast reduction resection weights median, 617.5 g and mean, 465g which is similar to Mr Ross’s practice. They subsequently showed that breast reduction surgery led to a decrease in working hours lost, impairment at work, overall productivity loss and also in daily activity impairment outside of work.
The authors concluded that reduction mammaplasty improved the work capacity and productivity of women with breast hypertrophy. Thus, its implementation, in addition to providing physical and psychological benefits for women can result in direct quality of life gains for patients and indirect economic gains for the production sector.
Reference
Cabral IV, Garcia ED, Sobrinho RN, Pinto NL, Juliano Y, Veiga-Filho J, Ferreira LM, Veiga DF. Increased Capacity for Work and Productivity After Breast Reduction. Aesthet Surg J. 2017 Jan;37(1):57-62.
