Alleviate Your Chronic Back Pain with a Breast Reduction

You've spent a lifetime accommodating disproportionately large breasts, and not only are you tired of the effort, you’re in considerable discomfort. The fact is that for women whose breasts are too large for their frames, back, neck, and shoulder pain are common and can make life fairly miserable.

The best way to combat this chronic pain, which tends to only get worse as you age, is through a breast reduction. While our name might be Cosmetic Surgery Center, Dr. Trent Fogleman and the team want you to ignore the word, “Cosmetic,” for a moment and concentrate instead on comfort.

Here’s a look at how we can improve your quality of life and relieve your chronic pain through breast reduction.

How large breasts cause pain

While it may seem obvious how disproportionately large breasts can cause pain, we still want to quickly review the problem. 

Your musculoskeletal structure, including your spine, is designed to carry a certain amount of weight. As important as the number of pounds you’re carrying may be, the distribution of the weight also matters.

In other words, disproportionately large breasts can affect women of all shapes and sizes if the overall weight is too much and/or the weight is imbalanced.

In either case, the result is strain on your spine, including your back and neck, as well as the surrounding muscles. More seriously, over time, the pressure on your spine can prematurely wear down certain structures, such as your intervertebral discs, making you more prone to problems like pinched nerves.

Outside of the obvious problems like back, neck, and shoulder pain, women with disproportionately large breasts also complain of headaches. The reason for this is that there is likely increased pressure on your occipital nerves.

Reducing your breasts for comfort

If any of the above sounds familiar, we assure you that a breast reduction is an incredibly effective remedy. In fact, one study found that the procedure delivered a satisfaction rate of 89%, which is why more than 46,000 women opted for the procedure in the United States in 2019 (we’re referencing pre-COVID stats).

As the name implies, during a breast reduction, we remove excess tissue from your breasts, taking great care to leave minimal scarring. We also reposition your nipple while keeping it attached to its blood and nerve supply.

After the healing process, you should find that the change in your center of gravity will allow your spine and other structures to come to a more neutral position, reducing the strain on the bones and surrounding tissues. As a result, the pain in your back, neck, and shoulders caused by disproportionately large breasts should be a thing of the past.

If you’d like to explore whether a breast reduction can help improve your quality of life and relieve your chronic pain, please contact our office in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to set up a consultation.