Does breast size affect back pain? What causes back pain in women with large breasts? Can breast reduction surgery help alleviate back pain? Explore the reasons behind big breast back pain and the treatment options available.

The Impact of Breast Size on Back Pain

Women with large breasts often experience a range of issues, including headaches, posture problems, neck pain, and upper and lower back pain. This condition, known as macromastia or breast hypertrophy, can be a significant source of discomfort and physical strain.

Biomechanical Factors Causing Back Pain

According to experts, the added weight and abnormal posture caused by heavy breasts can subject the spinal column and supporting structures to significant, non-physiologic forces. The stabilizing muscles in the back have to work overtime to keep the spine aligned, leading to increased stress and fatigue.

Gravitational Forces and Muscle Strain

Large breasts, which can weigh several pounds each, create a significant gravitational pull that the body must work to counteract. This pull causes the back muscles to work overtime to keep the body balanced, leading to muscular pain and strain.

Conservative Treatment Approaches

Doctors often start with non-operative treatments, such as physical therapy, ice/heat therapy, and aqua therapy, to help alleviate back pain associated with large breasts. However, in some cases, these conservative measures may not be sufficient.

Breast Reduction Surgery as a Solution

Breast reduction surgery, also known as reduction mammoplasty, is becoming an increasingly common and effective treatment for women seeking relief from back pain due to large breasts. This procedure can significantly reduce the weight and gravitational forces on the back, leading to a significant improvement in symptoms.

Considerations for Breast Reduction Surgery

When deciding on breast reduction surgery, it’s important to work closely with a plastic surgeon to ensure that the procedure is the most appropriate treatment for the individual. The surgeon can provide guidance on the expected outcomes and potential risks involved.

The Prevalence and Impact of Large Breasts

Macromastia, or excessively large breasts, is a common condition that affects many women. While some women do not experience significant issues, others find the condition to be physically and emotionally challenging, leading to a range of health problems, including back pain.

Do large breasts always cause back pain?
No, not all women with large breasts experience significant back pain. The impact of breast size on back pain can vary from individual to individual, depending on factors such as the specific size and weight of the breasts, the individual’s posture and muscle strength, and the presence of any underlying spinal or musculoskeletal conditions.

How can breast reduction surgery help alleviate back pain?
Breast reduction surgery, also known as reduction mammoplasty, can be an effective treatment for women experiencing back pain due to large breasts. By removing excess breast tissue, the procedure can significantly reduce the weight and gravitational forces on the back, leading to a reduction in muscle strain and pain.

What other non-surgical options are available for managing back pain caused by large breasts?
In addition to breast reduction surgery, there are several non-surgical options that can help manage back pain associated with large breasts, including physical therapy, posture correction exercises, the use of supportive bras, and weight management. These conservative treatments can be effective for some individuals, but may not provide sufficient relief in more severe cases.

How do the biomechanics of large breasts contribute to back pain?
The added weight and abnormal posture caused by large breasts can subject the spinal column and supporting structures to significant, non-physiologic forces. This places additional strain on the back muscles, which have to work overtime to keep the spine aligned, leading to increased stress, fatigue, and pain.

Are there any long-term health consequences associated with untreated back pain caused by large breasts?
Yes, if left untreated, the chronic strain and stress on the back muscles and spine caused by large breasts can lead to the development of more serious musculoskeletal conditions, such as degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, and chronic pain syndromes. Addressing the issue through conservative treatments or breast reduction surgery can help prevent these long-term complications.

Why Breast Size Can Affect Back Pain

Women know that gravity is cruel—maybe moreso to those with heavy breasts.

Large breasts can cause headaches; postural issues; neck pain; upper and lower back pain, nerve pain; and even physical abnormalities caused by overloaded bra straps.

Will a breast reduction help with back pain? Possibly, say our experts.

The condition known as macromastia or breast hypertrophy is frequently observed in women, and while many women don’t have issues with having large breasts, others find it to be difficult and even painful to their backs.

So what can be done?

How Pain Occurs

How Back Pain from Large Breasts Happens

According to Peter G. Whang, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.A.O.S., a board-certified orthopaedic spine surgeon and an associate professor in the department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation at the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT, heavy breasts must be considered as a back pain culprit.

“It certainly makes sense from a biomechanical point of view that women with large breasts may be predisposed to having increased pain in the thoracolumbar spine because of their abnormal posture,” he explains. “As a result of the added weight, [large breasts] can cause an individual to flex forward (i.e., become kyphotic), which subjects the spinal column and other supporting structures to significant, non-physiologic forces.”

“Additionally,” says Dr. Whang, “the stabilizing muscles in your back have to work overtime to keep your spine aligned, which results in increased stresses and fatigue.”

Sheri Dewan, M.D., a board-certified neurosurgeon at Northwestern Medicine Regional Medical Group in the Chicago suburbs, agrees: “Typically, hypertrophic breast tissue can cause a number of issues involving posture, muscular pain related to strain in the [shoulder area], and increased gravitational force that may all contribute to spinal discomfort or disorders.”

That’s right—gravity itself is part of the problem.

“Many women can actually have large breasts that weigh several pounds [each],” says Michael Howard, M.D., a board-certified plastic surgeon at Northwestern who specializes in microsurgical breast reconstruction. “In the course of a day with just the natural force of gravity, that pull and that gravity has to be displaced somewhere or supported somewhere.”

That somewhere is in the muscles of the back.

“If you think of the breast as a weight that is hanging out from the front of the body, the body has to counteract that weight to keep from tipping the woman over. It’s just a like a teeter-totter—there’s a balance,” says Dr. Howard. “So you’ve got to put force on the body in the opposite direction to counteract that several pounds of force pulling you forward. When you have that force puling you back, that’s your back muscles that are working overtime to really counterbalance the weight.”

Nonoperative Treatment

Conservative Treatment   

Most doctors agree that non-operative treatments are the first line of defense.

“The majority of individuals who present with pain associated with larger breasts will experience symptomatic relief with conservative treatments,” explains Dr. Whang.

Dr. Dewan also believes a conservative approach is the best place to begin.

“I typically start with conservative treatments including physical therapy for stability strengthening and other modalities including ice/heat/moist heat,” she says. “In addition, aquatherapies can be beneficial.”

But conservative treatment isn’t always the answer.

“I have certainly had to refer several individuals to plastic surgeons for consideration of breast reduction,” says Dr. Whang.

While Dr. Whang has seen success with breast reduction surgery, he advises seeking more professional advice first.

“The decision to proceed with breast reduction also requires the input of a plastic surgeon to ensure that this procedure is indeed the most appropriate treatment for a particular individual,” he says.

Surgery

Breast Reduction for Back Pain

Breast reduction surgery, also called reduction mammoplasty, is becoming more common—“one of the most commonly requested and most predictably successful plastic surgery procedures,” says Dr. Bethanne Snodgrass, M.D., on the website of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). In fact, according to the ASPS 2019 Plastic Surgery Statistics Report, more than 46,000 reduction mammoplasties were performed in 2019, an increase over 2018. And a great many of those surgeries were for back pain.

“Having seen several hundred breast reduction operations … overwhelmingly, every woman comes in with some degree of shoulder, neck, and back pain. It is universally common to women with large breasts,” says Dr. Howard.

When it comes to the decision to have breast reduction surgery, it’s important to know what is and isn’t possible.

“I think the most important part of breast reduction surgery starts from the very first moment that I am meeting the patient, and that is expectation setting from the outset,” Dr Howard says. “If a patient has the right expectations for the surgery, then success is almost guaranteed in this.”

Dr. Howard adds that the “vast majority of patients” see improvement of their symptoms.

“So when you set that expectation ahead of time, then they go into it with a realistic look,” he says.

The surgery itself is generally outpatient, done under general anesthesia. Your surgeon will meet with you before the surgery and mark on the skin where incisions will be made. The surgery takes around two to three hours in operating room, with a full recovery time of about three to four weeks on average.

Your surgeon will use techniques to decrease breast volume—the reduction—but also to ensure pleasing aesthetic results and good breast function after surgery. That includes sensation and circulation in the nipples and even the ability to breastfeed.

There is also something of a lift effect after surgery, which in and of itself helps reduce back pain and back issues. For most women, according to Dr. Howard, “the breast ends up narrower, tighter, and lifted, and then obviously smaller in volume … you’re going to have less strain on the back.”

Post-Surgical Outcome

Satisfied Patients and Post-Surgical Outcomes

Breast reduction surgery results in one of the most satisfied patient populations, says the ASPS: “Patient satisfaction rates after breast reduction are very high, and it is the rare patient who will not experience significant relief of her symptoms after surgery. ”

Published medical studies have found similar results. A 2019 study in the journal Plastic and Reconstruction Surgery – Global Open stated “Reduction mammaplasty [sic] produces an unmistakable improvement in signs, symptoms, and quantifiable measures [in spinal angles, posture, center of gravity, and back pain reduction].” A 2020 study in European Spine Journal said, “The evidence gleaned suggests that [reduction mammoplasty] reduces the prevalence of back pain in patients with large breasts.”

If you are a woman with large breasts who has back, neck, and shoulder pain, problems with posture, or similar concerns, talk with your doctor about whether speaking with a plastic surgeon may be right for you. Your doctor and your surgeon can also help you speak with your health insurance company to get them to cover the surgery. After all, in these kinds of cases, it’s not aesthetics. It’s treatment.

“The primary goal is functional improvement” reminds Dr. Howard. Surgeons make sure “that the symptoms of the patients do point to a reconstructive/functional improvement. I encourage women to” look into it.

• Aesthetic Surgery Techniques. Edited by James D. Frame, MD; Shahrokh C. Bagheri, MD; David J. Smith, Jr., MD; and Husain Ali Khan, MD. Part 4, Chapter 26: “Breast Reduction.” by Alexandre S.F. Fonseca, MD, PhD; Guilherme Flosi Stocchero, MD; and Gustavo Flosi Stocchero, MD.
• Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Summer 1993 . “Reduction mammoplasty for macromastia.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8213315/
• Canadian Journal of Plastic Surgery. Spring 2013. “Reduction mammoplasty improves body posture and decreases perception of pain.“ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24431933/
• Plastic Surgical Nursing. Jan/Mar 2020. “The Effect of Reduction Mammoplasty on Body Posture: A Preliminary Study.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32102077/
• The Mayo Clinic. “Breast Reduction Surgery.” https://www. mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/breast-reduction-surgery/about/pac-20385246
• The American Society of Plastic Surgeons. November 2012. “Large Breasts Causing Back Pain? Surgery Can Offer Relief.” by Dr. Bethanne Snodgrass, MD.

Our Review Process

Why Breast Size Can Affect Back Pain

Women know that gravity is cruel—maybe moreso to those with heavy breasts.

Large breasts can cause headaches; postural issues; neck pain; upper and lower back pain, nerve pain; and even physical abnormalities caused by overloaded bra straps.

Will a breast reduction help with back pain? Possibly, say our experts.

The condition known as macromastia or breast hypertrophy is frequently observed in women, and while many women don’t have issues with having large breasts, others find it to be difficult and even painful to their backs.

So what can be done?

How Pain Occurs

How Back Pain from Large Breasts Happens

According to Peter G. Whang, M. D., F.A.C.S., F.A.A.O.S., a board-certified orthopaedic spine surgeon and an associate professor in the department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation at the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT, heavy breasts must be considered as a back pain culprit.

“It certainly makes sense from a biomechanical point of view that women with large breasts may be predisposed to having increased pain in the thoracolumbar spine because of their abnormal posture,” he explains. “As a result of the added weight, [large breasts] can cause an individual to flex forward (i.e., become kyphotic), which subjects the spinal column and other supporting structures to significant, non-physiologic forces.”

“Additionally,” says Dr. Whang, “the stabilizing muscles in your back have to work overtime to keep your spine aligned, which results in increased stresses and fatigue.”

Sheri Dewan, M.D., a board-certified neurosurgeon at Northwestern Medicine Regional Medical Group in the Chicago suburbs, agrees: “Typically, hypertrophic breast tissue can cause a number of issues involving posture, muscular pain related to strain in the [shoulder area], and increased gravitational force that may all contribute to spinal discomfort or disorders. ”

That’s right—gravity itself is part of the problem.

“Many women can actually have large breasts that weigh several pounds [each],” says Michael Howard, M.D., a board-certified plastic surgeon at Northwestern who specializes in microsurgical breast reconstruction. “In the course of a day with just the natural force of gravity, that pull and that gravity has to be displaced somewhere or supported somewhere.”

That somewhere is in the muscles of the back.

“If you think of the breast as a weight that is hanging out from the front of the body, the body has to counteract that weight to keep from tipping the woman over. It’s just a like a teeter-totter—there’s a balance,” says Dr. Howard. “So you’ve got to put force on the body in the opposite direction to counteract that several pounds of force pulling you forward. When you have that force puling you back, that’s your back muscles that are working overtime to really counterbalance the weight.”

Nonoperative Treatment

Conservative Treatment   

Most doctors agree that non-operative treatments are the first line of defense.

“The majority of individuals who present with pain associated with larger breasts will experience symptomatic relief with conservative treatments,” explains Dr. Whang.

Dr. Dewan also believes a conservative approach is the best place to begin.

“I typically start with conservative treatments including physical therapy for stability strengthening and other modalities including ice/heat/moist heat,” she says. “In addition, aquatherapies can be beneficial.”

But conservative treatment isn’t always the answer.

“I have certainly had to refer several individuals to plastic surgeons for consideration of breast reduction,” says Dr. Whang.

While Dr. Whang has seen success with breast reduction surgery, he advises seeking more professional advice first.

“The decision to proceed with breast reduction also requires the input of a plastic surgeon to ensure that this procedure is indeed the most appropriate treatment for a particular individual,” he says.

Surgery

Breast Reduction for Back Pain

Breast reduction surgery, also called reduction mammoplasty, is becoming more common—“one of the most commonly requested and most predictably successful plastic surgery procedures,” says Dr. Bethanne Snodgrass, M.D., on the website of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). In fact, according to the ASPS 2019 Plastic Surgery Statistics Report, more than 46,000 reduction mammoplasties were performed in 2019, an increase over 2018. And a great many of those surgeries were for back pain.

“Having seen several hundred breast reduction operations … overwhelmingly, every woman comes in with some degree of shoulder, neck, and back pain. It is universally common to women with large breasts,” says Dr. Howard.

When it comes to the decision to have breast reduction surgery, it’s important to know what is and isn’t possible.

“I think the most important part of breast reduction surgery starts from the very first moment that I am meeting the patient, and that is expectation setting from the outset,” Dr Howard says. “If a patient has the right expectations for the surgery, then success is almost guaranteed in this.”

Dr. Howard adds that the “vast majority of patients” see improvement of their symptoms.

“So when you set that expectation ahead of time, then they go into it with a realistic look,” he says.

The surgery itself is generally outpatient, done under general anesthesia. Your surgeon will meet with you before the surgery and mark on the skin where incisions will be made. The surgery takes around two to three hours in operating room, with a full recovery time of about three to four weeks on average.

Your surgeon will use techniques to decrease breast volume—the reduction—but also to ensure pleasing aesthetic results and good breast function after surgery. That includes sensation and circulation in the nipples and even the ability to breastfeed.

There is also something of a lift effect after surgery, which in and of itself helps reduce back pain and back issues. For most women, according to Dr. Howard, “the breast ends up narrower, tighter, and lifted, and then obviously smaller in volume … you’re going to have less strain on the back.”

Post-Surgical Outcome

Satisfied Patients and Post-Surgical Outcomes

Breast reduction surgery results in one of the most satisfied patient populations, says the ASPS: “Patient satisfaction rates after breast reduction are very high, and it is the rare patient who will not experience significant relief of her symptoms after surgery. ”

Published medical studies have found similar results. A 2019 study in the journal Plastic and Reconstruction Surgery – Global Open stated “Reduction mammaplasty [sic] produces an unmistakable improvement in signs, symptoms, and quantifiable measures [in spinal angles, posture, center of gravity, and back pain reduction].” A 2020 study in European Spine Journal said, “The evidence gleaned suggests that [reduction mammoplasty] reduces the prevalence of back pain in patients with large breasts.”

If you are a woman with large breasts who has back, neck, and shoulder pain, problems with posture, or similar concerns, talk with your doctor about whether speaking with a plastic surgeon may be right for you. Your doctor and your surgeon can also help you speak with your health insurance company to get them to cover the surgery. After all, in these kinds of cases, it’s not aesthetics. It’s treatment.

“The primary goal is functional improvement” reminds Dr. Howard. Surgeons make sure “that the symptoms of the patients do point to a reconstructive/functional improvement. I encourage women to” look into it.

• Aesthetic Surgery Techniques. Edited by James D. Frame, MD; Shahrokh C. Bagheri, MD; David J. Smith, Jr., MD; and Husain Ali Khan, MD. Part 4, Chapter 26: “Breast Reduction.” by Alexandre S.F. Fonseca, MD, PhD; Guilherme Flosi Stocchero, MD; and Gustavo Flosi Stocchero, MD.
• Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Summer 1993 . “Reduction mammoplasty for macromastia.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8213315/
• Canadian Journal of Plastic Surgery. Spring 2013. “Reduction mammoplasty improves body posture and decreases perception of pain.“ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24431933/
• Plastic Surgical Nursing. Jan/Mar 2020. “The Effect of Reduction Mammoplasty on Body Posture: A Preliminary Study.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32102077/
• The Mayo Clinic. “Breast Reduction Surgery.” https://www. mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/breast-reduction-surgery/about/pac-20385246
• The American Society of Plastic Surgeons. November 2012. “Large Breasts Causing Back Pain? Surgery Can Offer Relief.” by Dr. Bethanne Snodgrass, MD.

Our Review Process

How to live with big breasts. The hardships of magnificent forms – ZdorovyeInfo

It would seem that big breasts are the dignity and pride of any woman. However, this dignity is also a source of great problems.

Constant pain in the back
Large female breasts constantly pull down, because of this, the muscles of the spine are in constant tension – this leads to back pain.
Large breasts create asymmetrical pressure on the upper body. In this case, the center of gravity is high and moved forward, in order to maintain balance, you have to tilt the pelvis back, because of this, the load falls on the muscles of the lower back. The result is poor posture and muscle pain.
As a result, women with large breasts often develop scoliosis and osteochondrosis.
In some countries (for example, the USA), large breasts are considered a medical problem and women are offered breast reduction surgery at the expense of the insurance company. The optimal breast size is 3 (C).
Most often, a large breast size is associated with obesity, so a woman needs to lose weight so as not to overload the spine.

Watch the Living Well video on this topic

Rash under the breast

Bedsores and diaper rash may form in the submammary fold of heavy breasts. Also, it could be a fungal infection. With a fungal infection, red spots appear under the breasts and itching.
Under the bra, the chest sweats, which creates good conditions for the development of a fungal infection – sebum and sweat are released, which feed on fungi. In addition, women with large breasts sweat more.
To treat the fungus, you need to use antifungal drugs that your doctor will prescribe. At a late stage of the disease, the infection can penetrate the body, then special preparations are prescribed for oral administration. If you are overweight, then you need to lose weight.

Visiting a mammologist

According to statistics, breast cancer is more common in women with a breast size of 4 or more.

Causes:

• Mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes that lead to uncontrolled division of tumor cells
• Long-term exposure to female hormones – early menstruation, late menopause
• O obesity also leads to an increased amount of female sex hormones and the development of cancer

Symptoms:

• Change in size, shape, or appearance of the breast
• Palpable nodule in the breast or armpit
• Bloody discharge from the nipple, nipple inversion not previously observed

9 0048 Redness or skin change similar to on a lemon peel

Mammography is used to diagnose breast cancer. A mammogram is an x-ray of the chest. Under the influence of electricity inside the x-ray machine, x-rays are formed inside a special tube. The cathode shoots out electrons that rush to the anode, collide with it, as a result of which energy is released in the form of x-rays.
Large breasts are a serious obstacle to the timely diagnosis of a tumor. Overgrown tissues reduce the sensitivity of research instruments by at least 35%. In particular, mammography, ultrasound and CT of the mammary glands become very difficult. Due to the high density of breast tissue, the diagnostic capabilities of mammography are reduced, and a specialist may miss a small neoplasm. The process of self-control is also violated: the owner of an overly large breast cannot find suspicious nodules and bumps in her.
Owners of curvaceous forms need to additionally undergo an MRI of the breast, as well as be tested for mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes if you have had relatives with breast cancer.

Myasnikov gave advice to women with large breasts

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• Myasnikov gave advice to owners of large breasts

Big breasts seem like the ultimate dream to many. But sometimes a chic bust is a symbol of big health problems. A magnificent bust – a reason for envy or for sympathy? On the air of the Russia 1 TV channel, Dr. Alexander Myasnikov expressed his opinion.

Under the heading “Easier than easy” within the framework of his author’s program Alexander Myasnikov noted that a chic bust is, first of all, a reason for joy for some and an unattainable dream for others.

“It is necessary to find positive aspects in everything. A huge number of women envy you, I just keep quiet about men. These advantages are visible in you,” the expert specified.

However, there are many reasons to complain about large breasts. The most common of these are complaints of back and neck pain. Large breasts put a lot of stress on the spine, which can lead to bad posture and other health problems. Girls with large breasts are more likely than others to face diagnoses such as osteochondrosis and curvature of the spine.