The dismissive nickname ‘boob job’ sounds good around the water cooler but does not do justice to a surgical procedure that has changed many women’s lives. Start with the fact that this society, like most, worships the physical characteristics of youth – it’s just that we’re a lot more crass about it than most.

Millions of women believe that their principal qualities of attraction are physical, and that those characteristics approach ideal as they get closer to the proportions of a ‘precocious’ fifteen-year-old. After a couple of kids, meeting that goal is all but impossible. Many women resort to the tools of technology to try and regain some of that youthful look. Once you break away from the water cooler and return to your desk, a little research will reveal that there are a lot of options to a ‘boob job’ and that a breast lift is only one of them.

The largest segment of the population that seeks out breast surgery is women in their thirties or older who are married and/or have children. Rather than seeking some fictional ‘ideal’ as defined by Cosmo, these women are seeking to restore their figure to something approaching those single days, or to change a physical shortcoming that has bothered them for years. With a specific goal in mind, it’s easier to explore the specific opportunities that cosmetic breast surgery offers. Here are some suggestions.

1. If your breasts are sagging as the result of a couple of pregnancies and nursing cycles, a breast lift is going to help. Many surgeons will suggest that an implant is an important part of restoring and maintaining the lifted breast. As the tissues settle following surgery, the “upper pole” portion of the breast will settle as well. An implant in that area will maintain the fullness of the breast after the initial period following the lift.

2. Asymmetrical breasts are just another physical reality to some women, and for others it’s a malformation that drives them crazy. Breasts can be brought into a symmetrical match without augmentation – or at least, without increasing the size of both breasts and creating an altered profile. It is perhaps the most subtle of breast augmentation choices, but important to someone who has felt oddly one-sided for years.

3. Breast augmentation is a surgical procedure that is designed in large part to execute a psychological change. Women who are seeking a larger bust have generally felt inferior due to the flat chest that they have lived with every day since puberty. It’s important to talk with your surgeon and – most important – with other women who have sought the same remedy.

4. You must understand that physical change has limits. Like contact lenses, your new shape will soon become a standard fixture. Your surgeon can give you a new outer shell but the new self confidence that should go with it must come from within.

5. Sometimes when you think a breast lift is in order, the more effective option is a breast reduction. Reduction of large breasts after they are well into adulthood (and parenthood) can often have a dual effect. Reduction combined with lift will give you a new and perhaps more comfortable silhouette as it is more proportional. Breast reductions can also provide relief from back pain and perhaps open up some options for athletic activity that you had previously avoided.

For more information about plastic surgery procedures and information, contact DCBreast.com. They specialize in Breast Surgeon for Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC