Using diet and exercise, we can do the body a lot of good. Exercise helps us feel more energetic, and may even help us live longer. But to the important question at hand: can exercise be used to lift the breasts? If you look around online, you would think so. You may commit to a gym membership so you can hit the weights for bench presses and fly’s. You may do a gazillion pushups every week, or spend multiple hours each month moving from plank to downward dog to work the pectoral muscles. If you have been doing this and not seeing results, there is a reason why – and it certainly isn’t your commitment!
The fact of the matter is that there is rarely a woman who can say wholeheartedly that exercise and healthy eating have led to higher-positioned breasts. It’s just not likely, and here’s why: the pectoral muscles sit beneath breast tissue. In this location, the pecs do not – and cannot – act in much of a supportive role in terms of where the breasts fall on the chest wall. Toning up the pectoral muscles may have a bit of a positive impact on overall physique, but there’s more going on here, and exercise alone cannot address it.
Why Breasts Change over Time
You know the normal culprits of breast sagging; pregnancy, nursing, aging, weight loss. Each of these experiences causes and expansion and subsequent deflation of breast tissue. When the breasts enlarge during pregnancy and breastfeeding, the overlying skin stretches. Often, it does not fully bounce back. And even if it does, it has lost some of its resiliency, so when aging depletes skin-supporting collagen from every part of the body, the fragile skin on the breasts gives in to gravity.
Get Help for Sagging Breasts
More women are turning to breast lift surgery to regain the good feelings they once had about their body. This procedure is performed with the intent of taking what is there and restructuring the natural tissues so they sit higher and present a curvier profile.
Schedule A Consultation
You don’t have to accept changes in your body as a new norm. Learn how breast lift surgery can give you back the curves you love. Call our Bryn Mawr office at 610-527-4833. Dr. Claytor serves Main Line, Bryn Mawr, Philadelphia and surrounding areas.
This is a great reason to use Zwivel for a getting information before you go in for a consultation. At the consultation in our office you first watch a video which answers many of your questions and goes over all of the basic information. Then you will meet with me, the plastic surgeon. I go over your medical history and medication as well as any prior surgery.
Then we get into the specifics of the operation and I go over all aspects of analysis and types of implant and location of incisions.
Then we proceed to the physical exam portion of the consultation. My assistant I and go over a detailed exam with measurements of the anatomic landmarks of your breasts. The sternal notch to nipple distance, the thickness of the skin over the breast and the base diameter of the breast. These measurements of breast size provide a basic guidelines for size of implant selection. Then imaging software called Crisalix takes a 3-D image of your breast. Crisalix program allows for “trying on” implants of different sizes. The software allows for 3-D visualizing your breast with implants in place. 
There is much debate over the optimal location for breast implants in regard to the pectoralis muscle, when used to augment small breasts. Most plastic surgeons recommend placing the implants under the muscle for the following reasons:
1) Less incidence of capsular contracture
2) More natural look with a better transition from upper chest to breast. Less “fake” augmented look. Many people equate implants on top of the muscle has the Pam Anderson fake look.
3) Radiologists prefer visualizing the breast tissue with the implant behind the muscle.
However, there are some patients who are better suited for placement in FRONT of the muscle. These include but are not limited to very muscular and body builder type patients. For them the animation of their breasts with implants under the muscle would not be acceptable. The other category of patients are women who have constricted breasts or tuberous deformities. These patients need to have the breast tissue radially scored and recontoured to achieve a more aesthetic shape.
Before & After Gallery
Dr. Brannon Claytor uses advanced techniques to provide natural-looking outcomes. See the results for yourself in our patient gallery.
Breast size is a very personal and intimate decision. First it is important to have a good understanding about what size you “truly” are. Many bra companies confuse women with the non-standard bra sizing system. Getting sized by your plastic surgeon gives you a better idea of what cup size you are starting with. It is not uncommon for women to come in for a consultation thinking they are a “B” cup when in fact they are a AA. In this case there is a mismatch right from the start which can lead to dissatisfaction after surgery.
While it is not always correct due to variations in patient size and body frame, a benchmark for sizing is that each 100 to 200 cc of implant volume translates into increasing by 1 cup size.
The other very important variable is the base diameter of your breast. This measurement helps apply mathematics to the art of breast augmentation. The base diameter dictates the maximum size of the width of the implant. Based on these variables a trial size implant can be selected and “tried on” digitally thru a 3-D imaging software. We use Crisalix software which involves taking a 3-D image and digitally adding any size breast implant to see wha the post operative result would look like.
While this is a “Pixar” like visual appearance it does give the patient a very good idea of what she would look like.
Before & After Gallery
Dr. Brannon Claytor uses advanced techniques to provide natural-looking outcomes. See the results for yourself in our patient gallery.
Facial aging has become a hot topic in the past few decades. Men and women wanting to look younger no longer have to sneak off to rendezvous with their plastic surgeon. No. Today, we just schedule an office visit for some injectables and we’re on our way! Non-surgical treatments have taken on a life of their own in the aesthetic world, and they have blown up the whole idea of aging gracefully. Tune in to just a few minutes of a Real Housewives show (pick one, any one!) and you will see that we pretty much aren’t aging. At all. We just keep looking plump and radiant as far as our skin is concerned.
Taking care of your skin
You may have taken great care of your facial skin by wearing sunscreen and applying the right moisturizing products. Botox and dermal fillers may be on your calendar every six months or so. And yet, you’re feeling the tug of age. Where could it be coming from? Your neck, that’s where!
What causes our neck to age?
Aging neck skin could be even more telling than facial aging. This area of the body is small and localized, and yet it can develop several problems, all in a few inches of space. The skin here is ultra-thin, just like the skin around your eyes. This sets the stage for crepiness to creep in overnight. One day you’re fine, then next, there is the telltale looseness front and center. While the lack of collagen is letting your skin fall, the platysmal band that runs horizontally across the neck is simultaneously unraveling, also falling downward. All this falling lets the fat cells beneath the chin let loose, giving you a lovely double chin which no turtleneck can hide.
It’s a Revival for your Neck!
If your neck is not in line with what your face is saying, you will look older than you’d like. When it is time to put effort into your neck (and when isn’t it), we can help you. Patients of our Bryn Mawr plastic surgery practice may be well served by our non-surgical laser neck tightening treatment, Precision TxTM. Depending on the desired outcome, neck lift surgery may be the ideal solution.
Schedule a consultation
Revive your appearance by focusing on the area just below your face. Call Claytor Noone Plastic Surgery for your consultation.
There are 3 kinds of tummy tucks and each type is indicated for a different body type.
A patient who has excess skin and even stretch marks from pregnancy with excess fat on her abdomen will do very well with a full tummy tuck.
A patient who has only a small amount of excess loose skin below her belly button with a flat abdomen above her belly button will do very well with a mini-tummy tuck.
Patients who have loose skin above and below their belly button with and a minimal amount of fat to remove and who are highly motivated to have their incisions very low to be fully hidden from sight when wearing a low bikini are better served with a modified float tummy tuck. This procedure requires releasing the belly button from the abdominal wall and floating in inferiorly. This means that unlike a full tummy tuck where the belly button stays attached to the original location and a scar is made at the site where the belly button is re-inserted, in the modified float tummy tuck there is NO belly button scar. This is very desirable for patients who do not want anyone to know they had surgery. The scar can be placed VERY low and be hidden even with a very skimpy bathing suit bikini. Make sure you ask for a plastic surgeon who has experience with the kind of procedure to at least hear all of your options.
The recovery from all of the procedures is about the same. By one month you should be able to perform most activities
. 
Actually most women are asymmetric at some level with regard to their breast size and shape. The common refrain at national meetings by the plastic surgeons lecturing on the topic is that breast are sisters and not twins. This however does not mean that minor differences seen in the early post operative period will not resolve with breast massage and tincture of time. So continue to follow up with you plastic surgeon and massage as directed.
Fat grafting sounds like a technically advanced form of treatment. It is, but don’t let this fool you into thinking that this procedure is new. Due to its widespread use in buttocks augmentation, fat grafting is getting a lot more attention today. More than a great way to add contours to the body, this technique is very promising when it comes to facial rejuvenation. In fact, there aren’t many Philadelphia facelift procedures performed today without at least a full discussion of the value of fat injections.
Fat injections? From what?
To inject fat into the face, we must obtain it from someplace, right? This is one of the beautiful things about fat grafting: we take it from another part of your body. Because fat is harvested in this way, you can feel comfortable with its organic nature; that no adverse reaction could occur as it could with, say an implant or other foreign substance. Also, there’s something to be said for the benefits of removing extra fat from a place like the buttocks, hips, thighs, or stomach!
Why would we do this?
Why, when there is a full armament of dermal fillers at our disposal today, would anyone consider putting their hard-earned dollars into fat grafting? Besides the whole organic thing, that is. The capabilities of fat may surprise you.
The very nature of fat makes it uniquely suited to facial rejuvenation. When inserted into the receiving tissue, fat will grow right along with what’s already there. It will fully integrate; no separation. Here, it will also expand and contract naturally, as your facial fat should. If that isn’t enough to peak your interest, you may also want to know about the longevity of results from fat grafting.
Many people assume that fat grafting is less advantageous than synthetic fillers because a certain amount of fat will be absorbed. In fact, this painstaking process is quite successful at restoring contours, and at creating lasting results. Many patients enjoy a younger-looking face for up to 7 years, without having to schedule periodic touchups, as is necessary with dermal fillers.
The natural effect of aging is volume loss in the face. See how Philadelphia fat grafting could change the way you view your aging process. Call our Bryn Mawr office at 610-527-4833.
GALTOX education
Muscle hypertrophy from repeat grinding of teeth when patients are sleeping may result in overly prominent masseter muscles. This can be examined by clenching ones jaw and looking at the contours of the jaw line. If the jaw line looks more pronounced and a palpable firm area is noted indicating flexed muscle then this would warrant an evaluation by a physician hopefully a plastic surgeon with expert command of the anatomy of the face and consideration for botox treatment of this area.
Buccal lipectomy is an extreme intervention. Consideration for this should be undertaken only after exhaustive evaluation of non surgical and conservative care.
Chin hypoplasia may be amenable to filler and would be a temporary treatment. 
Micromastia (small breasts) with breast ptosis (droop) can be one of the most challenging aesthetic procedures for plastic surgeons. Often the footprint of the breast needs to be lowered to accommodate the implant and then the breast tissue and nipple position are shifted based on the new breast mound. As most breasts are not identical minor asymmetries can be amplified following breast augmentation mastopexy.
Before & After Gallery
Dr. Brannon Claytor uses advanced techniques to provide natural-looking outcomes. See the results for yourself in our patient gallery.
Careful follow up with your plastic surgeon is strongly recommended as well as the breast massage techniques.