Millions of people suffer from neck and back pain and there are nearly as many causes for the pain. For some the neck and back pain is caused by repeatedly lifting heavy objections, sitting for prolonged periods of time or improper posture. For others back and neck pain is due to an underlying cause such as sciatica or injury to the middle or upper back.
For many women however, neck and back pain can be caused by having large breasts. Specifically if your breasts are disproportionately large for your body, they can place a heavy burden on the back and neck. Many women think they are simply doomed to this fate of chronic neck and back pain, but that is not the case. A mammoplasty can relieve the pain placed on the neck and back.
What Is A Mammaplasty?
A mammoplasty is simply a breast reduction surgery. Sometimes referred to as a ‘mammoplasty’ involved reshaping the breasts in order to lift sagging or over-large breasts so they relieve the stress placed on the back and neck. Excess tissue is removed from underneath the breast to lighten the load your back and neck carries.
Women with large natural breasts often have poor posture, which can also cause pain in the neck and back. Whether the poor posture is a subconscious effort to hide the breasts or that it is a comfortable way to sit, a mammoplasty is sometimes recommended to improve posture thereby alleviating neck and back pain.
How Can A Mammaplasty Cure Pain?
Using a mammoplasty is an effective method for alleviating back and neck pain associated with having large breast. The main reason is that a mammoplasty will reduce the size of the breasts, which will reduce the amount of strain and pressure on the neck and back. The middle and upper portions of the back and the neck support the chest, and big breasts pull the chest and diaphragm due to poor posture and pressure on the muscles and spine in the back and neck.
Once the surgery has been completed there will still be some pain as part of the healing process. However once the recovery is complete there will be little, if any, neck or back pain remaining.
Not all mammoplasties work to cure neck and back pain. In fact the most common form of mammoplasty involved enlarging the breasts—sometimes referred to as breast augmentation surgery—and reshaping them to sit higher and look more appealing. This type of mammoplasty does nothing to cure back pain, but neither does it do anything to worsen back pain. Because breast implants don’t carry the same weight as natural breasts, women with implants rarely complain of breast-related back and neck pain.
If however you elect to have your breasts enlarged, you should know that unusually large implants may increase your risk of experiencing back pain. While breast implants do weigh differently, abnormally large implants will still put too much pressure and stress on the neck and back.
Before You Go Under The Knife
Having surgery, even a relatively risk-free surgery such as a mammoplasty is a big decision to make. Before you even approach your physician about surgery you should make sure you have exhausted all other options to relieve neck and back pain. Are you certain your breasts are the source of your back pain? How often do you experience this pain? Is the pain worse after periods of activity such as running, jumping or bouncing?
If you have had large breasts for a long time and you notice that your posture is hunched over or sagging, you may be a candidate for a mammoplasty. Long term bad posture can exacerbate neck and back pain due to the pressure of large breasts and a mammoplasty would be worth the discomfort associated with post-surgery recovery.
Before you make the decision to undergo a mammoplasty be sure that your physician can confirm that your breasts are the cause of your neck and back pain. A diagnosis from your physician can be the difference between paying for the surgery out of pocket and having your health insurance cover the cost. Because a mammoplasty is an elective surgery, not all insurance policies will cover it.
See if traditional methods of neck and back pain relief such as pain medication, physical therapy or massage therapy, work first.
