How and why do breasts shape change with age?
Three major factors accounting for significant shape and size changes within the breast need to be considered within each patient. A patient may have one or all three of the components acting to produce undesirable changes in the breasts. The factors are: • Weight fluctuations, such as large weight-gain followed by a significant loss, stretching out the skin envelope, and then removing the contents (fat). • Multiple pregnancies acting to increase the volume of breast tissue that pushes on the overlying skin envelope, and atrophies between periods of pregnancy. • Loss of elasticity in the connective tissue scaffolding that keeps the skin from stretching too far. This may be related to aging, genetics, or both.
