Recent research has shown that about 70% of women are unhappy with their breasts, regardless of age. The actual percentage ranged from 67% to 74%, but overall remained relatively constant. What did change was the particular complaints women had about their breasts. While younger women were more likely to complain their breasts were too small, older women were more likely to complain their breasts were too droopy.

Thus, it is not surprising that surgical breast enhancement is popular among women of all ages. Nor is it surprising that younger women would be more likely to have breast augmentation, which enlarges breasts, while older women would be more likely to have a breast lift, which targets breast sagginess.

No Clear Age Distinction

But in reality there is no clear distinction between when women have breast augmentation and when they have breast lifts. About 63% of breast augmentations are performed on women aged 30-54, along with about 70% of breast lifts. For most ages that a woman might be seeking a breast lift, she might also be looking for breast augmentation, and she has to make a decision about which procedure will best serve her needs.

Number Disparity

Although the percentages for breast augmentation and breast lift are roughly equal during these age groups, the numbers are vastly different. Women in this age group received about 194,000 breast augmentations and only about 65,000 breast lifts, despite the fact that the majority of women in this age group who are unhappy with their breasts complain about sagginess, by a ratio of 2-1. So what accounts for this 3-1 disparity in favor of breast augmentation?

Procedure Advantages

Breast augmentation has a number of advantages, namely that it gives women larger breasts, results in less scarring, and may give some women's breasts a slight lift. In contrast, breast lift has a lower complication rate, provides significantly more correction for sagging breasts, and does not utilize implants that will have to be either removed or replaced at least once in these women's lifetimes.

Procedure Disadvantages

The main disadvantages of breast augmentation are that it results in significantly higher complication rates (as much as 40% according to informed consent documents compared to less than 10% for breast lifts), and that breast implants will need to be removed or replaced within 11-15 years. For a 30-year-old woman, this may easily mean four operations to maintain her appearance. On the other hand, breast lifts often result in significant scarring on more visible parts of the breast, namely a so-called lollipop scar that runs around the nipple and down to the breast crease.

Conclusions

Based on these facts, there are several possible reasons why women choose breast augmentation over breast lifts:
Small breasts are more stigmatized than droopy breastsDroopy breasts are more readily concealed under clothingVisible scars are a more visible disadvantage than possible riskPlastic surgeons promote breast augmentation over breast lift
At this point, there is not enough research to suggest which of these explanations best accounts for women's choice of breast augmentation over breast lift.

But research does suggest that no matter what procedure they choose, women are satisfied with the results of their procedure. According to an American Society of Plastic Surgeons study, about ninety-nine out of a hundred women would have their breast surgery again. Complications, scarring, and cost aside, most women feel that breast surgery is a positive experience.