Breast surgery is not a single procedure; it serves two vastly different, yet equally important, purposes: cosmetic enhancement and critical cancer treatment. Understanding this distinction is key to discussing the topic.
- Cosmetic and Reconstructive Surgery
These procedures focus on changing the breast's size, shape, or position for aesthetic preference or to restore form after trauma or illness.
Breast Augmentation: Increasing size and volume, usually with implants or fat transfer.
Breast Reduction: Removing excess tissue, fat, and skin to alleviate physical discomfort and achieve better body proportion.
Breast Lift (Mastopexy): Reshaping the breast and lifting the nipple/areola to correct sagging.
Reconstruction: Rebuilding the breast mound following a mastectomy, often using implants or the patient's own tissue (flap surgery).
2. Surgery for Breast Cancer
These surgeries are performed to remove cancerous or pre-cancerous tissue and are a cornerstone of treatment.
Lumpectomy (Breast-Conserving Surgery): Removing only the tumour and a small margin of surrounding healthy tissue, preserving most of the breast. This is often followed by radiation therapy.
Mastectomy: Removing the entire breast. Types vary based on how much skin, nipple, and underlying muscle is removed (e.g., total, skin-sparing, nipple-sparing).