BOCA RATON, Fla. – Abby Brodtman struggled with her weight her entire life. When she hit 335 pounds, she reached her breaking point.
"I just couldn't continue. I knew I had to do something," Brodtman said.
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Weight loss surgery helped her drop 140 pounds but left her with less than appealing breasts.
"It was just pretty much skin. It was like there was no breast tissue left," she said.
Plastic surgeon Hilton Becker said correcting the problem can be tricky.
"A lot of people come in and say, 'Can you just lift my breast by tightening up the skin?' and you can't do that because you've got to give the breast some support," Becker said.
Creating the proper support often left women with noticeable scars, but Becker has perfected a way to make those scars almost invisible.
"We can hide the scar and prevent the scar from stretching to the degree that it's almost not noticeable," he said.
Becker makes an incision around the areola, then tightens the skin with internal sutures.
"The internal sutures provide better support without tugging on the skin like an external suture," he said.
Becker also adds more support to the breast with dermal mesh.
"You have more control over the breast. You can elevate it more and rely on the skin less," he said.
Brodtman said the only evidence that she had a breast lift is the improvement in her appearance, and the improvement in her confidence.
"I was very self-conscious of myself before, so I wasn't getting that much enjoyment out of them anyway," she said. "I'm getting a lot more enjoyment out of them now."
Many lifts involve the use of an implant to restore volume. Becker pioneered the adjustable implant, which can be slowly filled in the weeks after surgery, which limits pressure on the wound and further reduces the possibility of scarring.