Breast surgery is a broad category, and the right entry point is knowing what you want to change: more fullness, less weight, a lifted position, or a rebuilt shape after mastectomy. It also covers implant removal and surgery for enlarged male breast tissue. Dr. Virginia Bailey, a fellowship-trained plastic surgeon in Austin, builds each surgical plan around the patient’s anatomy, medical history, and goals. Outcomes differ from one patient to the next.
Start with what’s bothering you most, and your goal usually points to the procedure.
A breast augmentation builds size and shape with saline or silicone implants. If you’d rather avoid an implant, fat transfer uses your own fat for a more modest increase, refining the surrounding shape as it adds volume.
A breast lift removes stretched skin and repositions the breasts higher on the chest. It can be paired with an implant or a reduction if you also want a change in size. The nipple and areola move with the tissue to a higher position.
A breast reduction removes glandular tissue, fat, and skin to ease the neck, shoulder, and back strain that heavy breasts can cause, and to restore proportion. Many patients find it eases daily activity, exercise, and posture over the long term.
After a mastectomy, breast reconstruction rebuilds the breast with implants, your own tissue, or both. Breast implant removal returns you to a more natural size or resolves a complication. And for men, gynecomastia surgery flattens excess breast tissue.
Not sure which fits? Dr. Bailey reviews your anatomy, skin, and overall goals at consultation, and every result is a little different.
Treating several concerns in one operation is common, and it means a single course of anesthesia and one recovery instead of several. Implant removal often goes together with a lift once skin has stretched, and a lift pairs naturally with augmentation or reduction because the incision patterns overlap. Reconstruction may be staged, using tissue expanders before a permanent implant. Whether a combination is safe comes down to operative time, overall health, and the specific areas involved, and Dr. Bailey makes that call with you at consultation. Recovery shifts with the plan.
Dr. Virginia Bailey completed fellowship training in plastic surgery and practices in Austin across aesthetic and reconstructive breast work. Rather than apply a set formula, she designs each operation from the patient’s own anatomy, history, and goals, with attention to natural-looking shape and where the incisions fall. Her clinical team stays involved through the full recovery. Results differ between patients.
The practice performs augmentation, fat transfer augmentation, breast lift, breast reduction, reconstruction after mastectomy, implant removal, and gynecomastia surgery. Some add or reduce size, others reposition or rebuild the breast. Which one fits depends on your anatomy and goals, reviewed at consultation.
It depends heavily on which procedure and how extensive it is. A return to desk work commonly falls around one to two weeks, with strenuous exercise held back roughly four to six weeks. Augmentation tends to involve less downtime than reduction or reconstruction, which are more extensive. Dr. Bailey sets an exact timeline for your plan. Your healing pace is very individualized.
Often, yes. Doing so means one round of anesthesia and a single recovery window. A lift is the procedure most frequently combined, with augmentation, reduction, or implant removal. Whether it suits you depends on operative time, health, and the areas treated, which Dr. Bailey confirms at consultation.
Good general health, a stable weight, not smoking, and realistic expectations all help. Because each breast procedure targets a different concern, Dr. Bailey weighs your anatomy, skin elasticity, and medical history before recommending a procedure or its timing.
Every surgical breast procedure leaves some scarring. Incisions are set as discreetly as the technique allows (around the areola, in the breast crease, or along the natural fold), and most soften over the year that follows. How a scar settles differs from person to person.
