Exercise for Sagging Breasts: Fact or Fiction?

There are innumerable benefits that stem from a good exercise regimen to complement a healthy diet. Whether your preference is to run a marathon or to spend a bit of time each day on your yoga mat, your commitment to physical health will reward you in many ways. Can your choice of exercise be tailored to achieve a particular goal, though? Specifically, is it possible to tighten up sagging breast tissue by reaching a healthy weight and toning muscles? If you read through a few internet websites, you may feel hopeful that this could be the case. If you look into basic anatomy, though, you will see that there may be more fiction to this idea than fact.

Muscle and Tissue and Aging, oh My!
The tissue that gives volume to breasts lies not far beneath the skin. Deeper beneath the surface, under fat and glandular tissue, are the pectoral muscles. Sagging does not occur at this depth; it occurs in breast tissue and in the skin. We see this age-related concern in the face, so it would make sense that decreased amounts of collagen and elastin, and the natural loss of volume, would occur elsewhere, too. This change may be exaggerated in the breasts because, unlike the face, certain circumstances, such as weight gain, pregnancy, and breastfeeding, cause fat cell and glandular tissue to expand. When weight decreases and fat cells in the breasts shrink, the volume loss is often accompanied by sagging. Again, this has nothing to do with changes to muscle tone; it has more to do with stretching of the skin.

Lift Breasts the Right Way
Other than the general benefits of exercise, there is very little value in trying to reposition breast tissue by tightening and toning the pectoral muscles. To achieve this, it is necessary to create a greater degree of support outside of the breast. We do this with mastopexy, or breast lift surgery. The procedure lifts the breasts to the appropriate position on the chest wall by tightening the skin that holds them in place. Depending on the nature of sagging, mastopexy can also reposition the nipples and areolas to achieve a beautiful, natural aesthetic.

Are you in the Nashville, Franklin, or Mount Juliet area? Schedule your visit with us to explore what is possible with breast lift surgery.