Breast Reconstruction
Breast reconstruction is performed at our Torrance practice to rebuild a natural looking breast after a mastectomy procedure (removal of the breast). Breast reconstruction can be done at the time of the mastectomy or it can be done any time after a mastectomy, even many years later. Health insurance companies are legally obligated to pay for breast reconstruction surgery in most cases. This even includes procedures on the opposite breast to make the breasts look more symmetrical.
Women visit us for breast reconstruction from Long Beach, Manhattan Beach, and other cities in the South Bay. To meet with one of our compassionate breast reconstruction specialists request a consultation using our online form. Or call South Bay Plastic Surgeons at
(310) 784-0644
and one of our helpful staff members will schedule your appointment.
Breast Reconstruction Before & After Photos
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Breast Reconstruction
Before & After Photos
Keep in mind that each patient is unique and your results may vary.
Case: 1 of 62

Before & After
Case: 2 of 61
Case #265
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49 year old with a history of breast cancer underwent a bilateral mastectomy and staged reconstruction. Her reconstructive surgery involved a DIEP flap procedure in which abdominal tissue was used to construct breasts.
![Breast Reconstruction Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 3 of 61
Case #78
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This patient is a 54 year old who inherited the BRCA gene making her very susceptible to breast cancer. In order to minimize her chance of developing breast cancer in the future, she decided to have bilateral prophylactic mastectomies. At the same time as her skin sparing mastectomy, both breasts were reconstructed with free deep inferior...
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Before & After
Case: 4 of 61
Case #77
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This patient is a 43 year old who developed cancer in her right breast. She decided to have an areola sparing mastectomy. At the time of her mastectomy, her right breast was reconstructed with an expander.
Three months later, she returned to have her right expander replaced with an implant and right nipple reconstruction. This...
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![Breast Reconstruction Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 5 of 61
Case #75
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This patient is a 72 year old who developed cancer in both of her breasts. The cancer in her right breast was small so she had a lumpectomy on that side. However, the cancer in her left breast was large so she had to have a mastectomy on her left side. At the time of her mastectomy, her breast reconstruction was performed with an expander. The...
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Before & After
Case: 6 of 61
Case #73
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This patient is a 61 year old female with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in her right breast. She had undergone lumpectomy with positive margins so she decided to proceed with a right mastectomy. At the same time as her mastectomy, she underwent reconstruction of her right breast with a free deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap...
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![Nipple Reconstruction Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 7 of 61
Case #61
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This is a 54 year old female who had left breast cancer. She came to our office to discuss reconstructive options. After extensive discussion of the reconstructive options with her surgeon, she decided that implant reconstruction would be the best choice for her.
A left mastectomy was performed by her general surgeon to remove the...
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![Breast Reconstruction Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 37 of 61
Case #275
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This 50 year old patient underwent a breast reconstruction with a fat transfer from abdomen to chest.
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Before & After
Case: 39 of 61
Case #254
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22 year old female patient, breast reconstruction with implants and fat grafting, Allergan smooth cohesive implants 445 cc on left and right side.
![Nipple Reconstruction Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 40 of 61
Case #235
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This is a 60 year-old female patient diagnosed with right breast cancer. At the time of her mastectomy, she had right breast reconstruction with a TRAM flap. Her next surgery was scheduled seven months later for nipple reconstruction with fat grafting to right breast. Photos were taken seven months post op from second surgery.
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Before & After
Case: 41 of 61
Case #215
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This is a 41 year-old female patient with left breast cancer. First stage reconstruction she had bilateral mastectomies with tissue expanders. Second stage her tissue expanders were removed and replaced with Allergan Style 410, 450cc implants. Fat transfer from thighs to her chest was performed at the time of implant placement. Third stage reconstruction...
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Before & After
Case: 42 of 61
Case #209
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This is a 47 year-old female with BRCA genetic mutation who had bilateral, prophylactic, nipple areolar sparing mastectomies and immediate reconstruction with Allergan 133FV-14-T 600cc tissue expanders and Alloderm grafts. Three months later, her tissue expanders were removed and replaced with Allergan Style 410, 470cc implants. Fat grafting...
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Before & After
Case: 43 of 61
Case #192
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This is a 51 year-old female who had bilateral nipple sparing mastectomies and immediate reconstruction with Allergan 133FX-14-T 650cc tissue expanders. Three months later, her tissue expanders were removed and replaced with Mentor 350-5800 BC 800cc implants. Photos were taken six months after second surgery.
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![Nipple Reconstruction Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 44 of 61
Case #180
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This is a 35 year old female patient with left breast cancer and BRCA positive. Patient had left therapeutic and right prophylactic mastectomies with immediate bilateral DIEP flaps. She had NAC reconstruction and two rounds of fat grafting. Photos show results 7 months after last procedure.
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![Breast Reconstruction Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 45 of 61
Case #179
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This is a 47 year-old female patient with left breast cancer. First stage reconstruction she had left therapeutic and right prophylactic mastectomies and immediate reconstruction with tissue expanders. Second stage reconstruction her tissue expanders were removed and replaced with Allergan Style 10 390cc implants including fat grafting. Third...
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Before & After
Case: 46 of 61
Case #178
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This is a 41 year-old female patient with left breast DCIS. First stage patient had bilateral skin sparing mastectomies and immediate reconstruction with tissue expanders. Second stage tissue expanders were removed and patient had breast reconstruction with DIEP flaps. Third stage patient had NAC reconstruction with fat grafting. Photo is two years...
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![Breast Reconstruction Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 47 of 61
Case #176
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This is a 35 year-old female patient with carcinoma of the right breast. She underwent a bilateral nipple and areola sparing mastectomy with right axillary dissection prior to immediate reconstruction with expanders. Three months later, she returned for implant insertion using Allergan Style 410 MF 375cc silicone gel implants. The patient is...
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![Breast Reconstruction Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 48 of 61
Case #175
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This is a 58 year-old female who was diagnosed with DCIS in the right breast. She opted for a right breast nipple-sparing mastectomy with expander reconstruction. Her surgeon decided to completely deflate her expander at the end of surgery in order to minimize the stress on her mastectomy scar due to the patient's history with tobacco. Upon healing,...
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![Breast Reconstruction Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 49 of 61
Case #173
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This is a 49 year-old female who was diagnosed with multifocal left breast DCIS. The patient opted for a left nipple-areolar sparing total mastectomy immediately followed by a left DIEP flap. Her first surgery went extremely well, and the patient returned three months later for her final stage surgery: to improve the symmetry between the two breasts...
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![Areolar Tattoo Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 50 of 61
Case #162
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This is a 45 year old female patient underwent a left periareolar lumpectomy with her general surgeon in the past for what was thought to be a benign mass. Soon after, her pathology revealed DCIS with positive margins, and further work up revealed LCIS in right breast. The patient decided to proceed with bilateral skin-sparing (the nipple had to...
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![Breast Reconstruction Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 51 of 61
Case #161
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This is a 49 year old female who was diagnosed with atypical ductal hyperplaisa, a precancerous condition, in her left breast. She has a very strong family history of breast cancer, which led to her decision to have bilateral nipple-areolar sparing mastectomies. Following her mastectomies, her plastic surgeon inserted tissue expanders that helped...
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![Breast Reconstruction Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 52 of 61
Case #160
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This is a 60 year old female patient who presented to our office for a bilateral breast reduction. The size of her breasts prevented her from physical activity due to the severity of her neck and back pain. She was once an active horseback rider but avoided her favorite pastime due to the discomfort the size of her breasts caused her. She went from...
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![Breast Reconstruction Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 53 of 61
Case #159
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This is a 46 year old female patient who was diagnosed with a 10cm right breast cancer with multiple positive lymph nodes. She elected to have bilateral mastectomies. After an in-depth discussion of her reconstruction options, the patient decided to proceed with bilateral DIEP flaps using her abdominal tissue; leaving her with a smaller but symmetrical...
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![Nipple/Areolar Revision Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 54 of 61
Case #158
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This is a 59 year old female patient diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma of right breast. During her consultation, she voiced she was only interested in reconstruction of her right breast and wanted to stay around the same size 38DD. She underwent a right skin sparing mastectomy followed by right breast reconstruction with tissue expander.
Six...
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![Breast Reconstruction Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 55 of 61
Case #157
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This is a 48 year old female diagnosed with left breast invasive ductal carcinoma with metastasis to one axillary lymph node. She had a left nipple areolar sparing mastectomy with tissue expander placement. She returned one year later for removal of left tissue expander and continued with reconstruction using autologous abdominal tissue, also referred...
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![Nipple/Areolar Revision Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 56 of 61
Case #156
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This is a 45 year old patient diagnosed with left breast cancer and tested positive for BRCA 2 gene. She has a history of breast cancer in her family, which led her to the decision of bilateral reconstruction with tissue expanders. After her first stage of reconstruction was complete, patient underwent chemotherapy treatment before returning to our...
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![Breast Reconstruction Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 57 of 61
Case #114
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This 50-year-old Torrance breast reconstruction revision patient is 5'4" tall and 152 lb. She underwent revision of her reconstructed left breast with fat grafting to achieve a more pleasing result.
![Breast Reconstruction Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 58 of 61
Case #105
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This is a 30 year old female patient who was diagnosed with left breast cancer. After meeting with her Surgeon, she decided to proceed with immediate bilateral breast reconstruction with a free deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap from her abdomen. During this type of breast reconstruction, the tissue from the abdomen...
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![Breast Reconstruction Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 59 of 61
Case #74
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This patient is a 60 year old who developed breast cancer in both of her breasts at the same time. She decided to have bilateral mastectomies. Immediately after her skin sparing mastectomy surgery, her breast reconstruction was performed with expanders. A dermal allograft was used to support her expanders allowing the expanders...
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![Nipple Reconstruction Before & After Photo | Torrance, CA | Plastic Surgery Source]()
Before & After
Case: 60 of 61
Case #59
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This is a 47 year old female who had ductal carcinoma in situ of both of her breasts diagnosed at the same time. She decided to have both breasts and nipples removed with a bilateral mastectomy procedure. She had small breasts (32A cup) and she wanted to end up larger after her reconstruction. The patient underwent Breast Reconstruction...
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Before & After
Case: 61 of 61
Case #53
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Breast reconstruction surgery using an immediate tissue expander with Alloderm graft. During the first stage, patient had 450cc mentour contour profile breast tissue expanders.
Keep in mind that each patient is unique and your results may vary.
Mastectomy
The mastectomy procedure is performed by a general surgeon, and often includes removal of some of the lymph nodes in the armpit. In some cases, a nipple sparing mastectomy can be performed where the nipple is left intact as part of the breast skin. However, in most cases, the nipple is removed along with the underlying breast tissue. Our plastic surgeons typically work with your breast surgeon to come up with an ideal mastectomy and reconstruction plan for you. Together, this team of doctors can optimize the outcome of your reconstruction.
Our surgical team frequently treats patients with existing breast cancer as well as patients with genetic susceptibility to cancer such as those with BRCA positive gene testing. Our surgeons give BRCA gene positive patients the option of prophylactic (preventive) mastectomy procedures in order to minimize their chance of developing breast cancer. Fortunately, these patients are often eligible for nipple sparing mastectomy procedures leading to very satisfying cosmetic results from their breast reconstruction.
About Breast Reconstruction
Breast reconstruction can be a complicated topic and process. However, our highly trained surgeons will help guide you through breast reconstruction and help you to select the best approach for your unique needs. Breast reconstruction involves replacing the breast tissue to recreate the breast shape. Reconstruction can be performed using either a breast implant or your own tissue. Occasionally, some patients need to have a combination of both an implant and their own tissue.
It is important to keep in mind that breast reconstruction typically requires several surgical stages separated over 3 to 12 months, depending on whether you need other treatments in the meantime such as radiation and chemotherapy. Occasionally, breast reconstruction can be performed in one stage, but this often can lead to a less than optimal result.
Meet Our Surgeons
Our team of plastic surgeons provides an unmatched combination of training, experience and specialization for optimal care.
Implant Reconstruction of the Breast
Implant reconstruction involves placement of an expander under the skin and pectoralis major muscle. This is usually done at the time of your mastectomy surgery, and serves to stretch the tissue to make room for the breast implant. Your surgeon will create an internal support system that holds the expander in place, allowing it to be filled almost all the way during the surgery. This minimizes the number of expansions that are required in the office and it decreases post-operative pain. Recovery from breast reconstruction with an expander is approximately 3 to 4 weeks.
Once healing and expansion are complete (typically 2 months), the second stage of breast reconstruction can be performed. This involves removal of the expander and placement of an implant. At South Bay Plastic Surgeons, we usually use silicone gel filled implants, but saline filled implants are also available. Nipple reconstruction (see below) and surgery to the opposite breast to improve symmetry can also be done at this time in some patients. Other patients may require these procedures to be performed during a separate stage.
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DIEP Flap Reconstruction of the Breast
There are many options when using your own tissue to reconstruct your breast. The most common option is to use tissue from your lower abdomen since most people have some extra fat and skin in that area of the body. Traditional methods of using abdominal tissue to reconstruct the breast involved removal of some of the underlying muscles as well. This procedure is referred to as a pedicled TRAM flap or a free TRAM flap. More recent techniques allow our plastic surgeons to remove the skin and fat from your abdomen while preserving the underlying muscles. This procedure is referred to as a DIEP flap.
The acronym DIEP stands for Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator, and it names the blood vessel which connects the skin and fat from your lower abdomen to the rest of the body. DIEP flap breast reconstruction is a modern technique of reconstructing the breast with your own tissue from your midsection without removing any of the underlying muscles from your abdomen. It requires a high level of skill and training, and it is performed by a limited number of plastic surgeons across the country, including surgeons at our practice. DIEP flap breast reconstruction can be performed at the time of your mastectomy or it can be done at any time after a mastectomy, even years later. It can be used to reconstruct one or both breasts. Recovery from DIEP flap breast reconstruction is typically 4 to 6 weeks.
Other Types of Tissue Reconstruction of the Breast
In patients who do not have enough excess abdominal tissue, other areas of the body can be used to reconstruct the breast with your own tissue. For instance, the skin, fat, and muscle from the back can be used. This is referred to as a latissimus flap. Another option is to use the skin and fat from the buttock. This is referred to as a SGAP flap.
Nipple Reconstruction
Reconstruction of the nipple is usually performed by folding the existing tissue on the breast into a raised structure, similar to the ancient technique of origami which folds a flat piece of paper into a three dimensional shape. In some patients with a large nipple on the opposite breast, a portion of this nipple can be used instead. Sometimes a skin graft is taken from elsewhere on the body to reconstruct the areola. Medical tattooing of the nipple and areola is then performed to match the color to the opposite side.
Many of our patients who have had or are facing mastectomy feel overwhelmed by the number of decisions they face. Our experienced, empathetic plastic surgeons will help you navigate your choices and choose the breast reconstruction option that is right for you.
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