What is a revision breast lift?
Revision mastopexy, the medical term for a revision breast lift, is a second operation on a breast that has already been lifted. A first breast lift removes stretched skin, reshapes the tissue and moves the nipple and areola up; planned and closed well, it holds for 10 to 15 years or more. A revision is for the lift that did not: too little skin removed, the skin alone asked to hold the weight, the nipple set in the wrong place, or a good result undone by pregnancy, weight changes or time. Dr. Cat redoes the whole lift or only the part that failed.
What a revision breast lift corrects
- Recurrent sagging, or bottoming out: the breast tissue has settled below the nipple, so the nipple points upward and the lower breast looks long
- A nipple that sits too high, or still too low, or two nipples at different heights
- An areola that stretched wide again after a periareolar lift, or was left large
- Scars that healed wide, thick, dark or in the wrong place
- Uneven breasts after a lift: one lower, fuller or differently shaped than the other
- A boxy or flat shape, or a lift that removed too little skin
- A previous lift that now needs implants, an implant exchange, or the removal of implants
What it is not
A problem with the implants themselves, a capsular contracture, an implant that has dropped or shifted, or a rupture, is a breast revision; our page on breast implant problems describes the signs. A swap of old implants for new ones in the same pocket, without a lift, is a breast implant exchange. A reduction and lift that both need redoing is a revision breast reduction.
Who is a good candidate for a revision breast lift?
The first question is time. Dr. Cat's general rule is at least six to twelve months after the first surgery before a revision, so the swelling is gone, the scars have matured and the tissue has settled where it is going to settle; a lift judged at three months is often judged too early. The second question is what failed, because that decides whether the whole anchor is redone or one part of it.
You may be a good candidate if
- It is at least six to twelve months since your breast lift and the shape, the nipple position or the scars did not turn out as planned
- The sag came back, the tissue has settled below the nipple, or the areola stretched wide again
- One breast sits lower or looks different from the other after the lift
- Your weight is stable, you are a non-smoker, and at least three months have passed since you finished breastfeeding
- You understand that a revision works through scar tissue and that the goal is improvement
Not yet, or a different plan, if
- Less than six months since the first lift: swelling and immature scars can look like a poor result and then settle
- The complaint is the implant, not the lift: contracture, malposition or rupture is a breast revision
- Your breasts are large and heavy as well as low: that is a revision breast reduction
- You are pregnant, breastfeeding, or planning a pregnancy soon, which would stretch the revision again
- You use nicotine and cannot stop; the nipple's blood supply has already been rearranged once
- You want the revision on the same day as a tummy tuck; Dr. Cat stages the two
Full, partial or scar revision: which one do you need?
Dr. Cat measures before she names the operation: the nipple against the fold, the width of the areola, how much skin the first lift removed, where the tissue sits and where the scars run decide which of these it is.
Full revision breast lift
The whole lift redone through the full anchor pattern: around the areola, down to the crease and along it. The tissue is re-tightened and repositioned, the nipple and areola moved to the center of the new breast, the extra skin removed and the old scars excised with it. This is the operation for recurrent sagging, bottoming out, a boxy shape or a nipple in the wrong place, followed by the first night in a plastic surgery aftercare center.
Partial revision breast lift
When the shape holds and one part failed, only that part is redone: the areola re-cut and reduced, the vertical scar revised and the lower breast tightened, or the crease scar redone, not the whole anchor. A partial revision breast lift is shorter surgery with less scar and a shorter recovery.
Breast scar revision alone
When the shape and the nipple position are right and only the scars are wide, raised, dark or misplaced, Dr. Cat excises the scar and closes the skin again in layers without tension, with no re-tightening of the breast: the smallest revision, for the patient who likes her breasts and not her scars.
Areola reduction alone
An areola that stretched after a periareolar lift, or was left wide, is reduced on its own through an incision at the border of the pigmented skin.
Revision breast lift with implants added, exchanged or removed
Many revision breast lifts are combined with implant surgery: implants added to a lift that left the upper breast empty, old implants exchanged (Dr. Cat recommends exchanging silicone implants on a schedule, about every 8 to 10 years, to reduce the chance of a leak), or implants removed and the breast lifted in the same surgery. A lift after breast implant removal can be done in the same surgery or staged a few months later. For volume without implants, our comparison of implants vs fat transfer explains what fat can do: about one cup size, and it does not move a nipple, so it follows the lift as a second surgery.
How Dr. Cat does it
Dr. Cat is a board-certified plastic surgeon, trained in both head and neck surgery and plastic and reconstructive surgery, Harvard-educated and UCLA trained, and she has had breast surgery herself, including a revision of her own augmentation. Breast revisions, in her words, are incredibly challenging and demand detailed analysis of the breast anatomy, extensive experience and technical skill, and she performs every step of every revision breast lift herself.
The examination decides the plan
Before any incision is chosen, Dr. Cat measures each nipple against the fold and grades the sag, measures the areolas, maps the scars, assesses how much skin the first lift removed and how much tissue is left, and checks whether the two sides differ. From that she chooses the smallest revision that will hold: never a bigger scar than the breast needs, never a smaller operation that will drop again.
Through the scars you already have
Wherever she can, Dr. Cat places the revision incisions in the existing scars, so no new scar is added. A wide or thick scar is excised entirely and the fresh edges are brought together in meticulous layers without tension, because tension is what stretched it the first time; the incision around the areola returns to the border of the pigmented skin.
The tissue does the holding, not the skin
A lift that relies on skin alone to hold the breast up drops again, because skin stretches. In a full revision Dr. Cat reshapes and re-tightens the breast tissue itself so it supports the new shape from inside, then removes the surplus skin; the nipple and areola move to the center of the new breast on the tissue they are attached to.
The nipple and its blood supply, the second time
In a first lift the nipple and areola stay attached to the breast tissue and the vessels beneath them. A revision has to respect what the first surgeon did, because that blood supply has already been rearranged once: the pattern of the first lift is worked out from the scars, and from the operative notes when you have them, and the nipple is kept on the tissue that feeds it.
Surgery day
Surgery is under general anesthesia with a board-certified physician anesthesiologist, with a numbing solution in the breast, in Dr. Cat's QUAD A accredited surgery center on Rodeo Drive, one major surgery per surgical day. The operating time depends on how much of the lift is redone and is set at your consultation. You wake in a supportive surgical bra; after a full revision you spend the first night in a plastic surgery aftercare center, and after a smaller revision Dr. Cat tells you at the consultation whether you go home the same day.
Revision breast lift recovery timeline
Recovery after a revision breast lift follows a first lift, with the arms kept quiet for two weeks and the scars watched more closely. Our breast lift recovery guide has the week-by-week version.
- The night of surgeryYou wake in your surgical bra and are walking within a few hours. After a full revision the aftercare center takes over for the first night; after a smaller revision cleared to go home the same day, someone stays with you.
- Day oneDr. Cat sees you the day after surgery. Most patients have tightness rather than pain and manage with Tylenol. The bra stays on around the clock and the arms below shoulder height.
- One weekMost patients take five to seven days off work. Nothing over 10 pounds is lifted, toddlers included, and there is no exercise.
- Two weeksMost patients are back at a desk. Dr. Cat checks the incisions and starts silicone scar care, and the arm and lifting restriction ends.
- Three to four weeksModerate activity returns; strenuous exercise and heavy lifting still wait. Dr. Cat sees you at one month.
- Six to twelve weeksStrenuous exercise waits at least six weeks, and most patients are cleared for full activity between six and twelve weeks.
- Three to six monthsDr. Cat sees you at three months, when the shape is close to final. The result emerges as the tissue settles, and the revised scars keep fading for about a year.
Revision breast lift before and after photos
Each of the six cases below is a breast lift performed as part of a breast revision by Dr. Cat, on a breast that had already been operated on. BRV-0736 is the closest to a pure revision breast lift: a periareolar lift and augmentation elsewhere had left the areolas large and the shape lost, and Dr. Cat removed the saline implants and the capsules and redid the lift. BRL-5491 and BRL-5499 had implants removed with a capsulectomy and a lift; BRL-3716 is a periareolar lift with areola reduction and new implants; BRV-0479 and BRV-0411 are implant exchanges with a lift, the second for bottoming out. Open each case for every angle in the breast lift before and after photos.
Risks and safety
A revision breast lift carries the risks of a first lift, and two are larger the second time: the blood supply to the nipple and the scars.
What can go wrong
- A fluid collection (seroma) or a blood collection (hematoma) in the first days, or infection at an incision
- Loss of blood supply to part of the nipple or areola: rare, more likely than in a first lift because that supply has been rearranged once, and the risk rises sharply in smokers
- Changes in nipple or breast sensation, usually temporary; rarely, partial or total loss
- Slower healing through scar tissue, or a small opening of the incision where the tension is highest
- A scar that heals wide, raised or dark again, including keloids in patients prone to them
- Asymmetry, a shape that needs a touch-up, and sag that returns with weight swings, pregnancy or time
- A blood clot in the leg, rare and serious, and anesthesia risks
How Dr. Cat reduces these risks
- Waiting six to twelve months after the first surgery, so the plan is made on the settled result
- The smallest revision that will hold, planned on measurements and on the pattern of the first surgery, with the nipple kept on the tissue that feeds it
- The tissue re-tightened rather than the skin alone, and every incision closed in meticulous layers without tension
- Careful patient selection: a non-smoker, a stable weight, three months since breastfeeding, and medical clearance and lab work
- A QUAD A accredited facility, a board-certified physician anesthesiologist, and one major surgery that day
- A surgical bra, two weeks of arm and lifting restrictions, silicone scar care, and follow-up visits at one day, one week, two weeks, one month and three months
Call us right away for a fever over 101°F, chills, or spreading redness, warmth or foul-smelling drainage at an incision; one breast suddenly larger, tighter or more painful than the other; a nipple or areola that turns dark; any opening of an incision; or bleeding that soaks a dressing.
Call 911 first, then us, for calf pain or swelling in one leg, chest pain, or shortness of breath. For anything else that worries you, Dr. Cat and our staff are available throughout your recovery.
How much does a revision breast lift cost in Beverly Hills?
A full revision breast lift with Dr. Cat, the full anchor incision with the tissue re-tightened and repositioned, is about $50,000 to $52,000, with the first night in a plastic surgery aftercare center. A partial revision, the areola, the vertical or the horizontal scar redone rather than the whole anchor, is about $36,000 to $46,000. A breast scar revision alone, with no re-tightening, is about $27,000 to $32,000, and areola reduction alone about $17,500. A revision of a previous breast reduction and lift is about $86,000 to $90,000. A revision lift with implants added or exchanged is quoted from the lift-with-implants rows, about $65,000 to $75,000 for a full lift and about $39,000 to $44,000 for a periareolar lift, plus the implants, their own line on the quote. Every figure is all in, her surgeon's fee, the operating room and the board-certified physician anesthesiologist, quoted in writing at your consultation.
A revision breast lift costs more than a first lift because the nipple's blood supply has already been rearranged once, the tissue is scarred and less predictable, and the surgery takes longer. The price reflects one surgeon who performs every step herself, one major surgery per surgical day, a physician anesthesiologist and an accredited facility. Please do not fall for cheap or fast breast surgery a second time: tissue scarred twice does not come back. Our breast revision cost guide explains what a revision quote is made of.
Consultation fee and financing
A revision consultation with Dr. Cat is $1,500, credited in full toward your surgery. To pay over time, the practice partners with Cherry, its primary financing partner, and also accepts CareCredit and Alphaeon Credit; see financing and payment plans. A revision of a cosmetic breast lift is cosmetic and not covered by insurance.
Your consultation with Dr. Cat
It starts with a free 15-minute discovery call with our Patient Concierge. At the consultation, in person on Rodeo Drive or, for out-of-town patients, by private video consultation through OnPatient, the HIPAA-secure patient portal, Dr. Cat examines both breasts and tells you what she would do and what she would not: she measures the nipples against the fold, the areolas and the scars, and grades what the first lift left. Bring your implant card if you have implants, and the notes from your first surgery if you have them. You leave with an itemized written quote for a full or partial revision breast lift, or a scar revision.
