To Dolly Parton and Jessica Simpson: To Reduce Back Pain, Consider Breast Reduction Surgery
By Robert Latkany, MDNovember 05, 2009
I had a recent episode of unbearable lower back pain that resulted in me having to lie down on my office floor, temporarily unable to move. After the motrin kicked in, I spent the rest of the day rolling around on a stool to evaluate patients. It was no fun at all.
So I can't really understand why the singing stars Dolly Parton and Jessica Simpson put up with the chronic back pain that they get from having large breasts. Both women were recently tweeting about the back pain they experience with their large sized breasts. Yes, I know there are advantages to having large breasts, especially if one is a celebrity. But the disadvantages are rarely discussed.
Freire et al compared 50 women with large breasts who underwent breast reduction surgery to 50 women with large breasts who did not undergo breast reduction surgery and (guess what!) found that those who underwent surgery had a significant reduction in pain in the lower back, shoulders and neck region. In addition, they were better able to get dressed, reach for objects, walk, get up, and had better personal hygiene.
Sabino Neto et al found that those women who underwent breast reduction surgery had improvemnets in their self esteem scores compared to women with large breasts who were still awaiting breast reduction surgery.
Another added benefit to breast reduction surgery was noted by Thoma et al: greater quality-adjusted-life-years (QUALYs). They estimated that those women with large breasts who underwent breast reduction surgery would be able to have an additional 5.32 years of good quality life compared to those who did not.
Collins et al also found significant improvement post breast reduction surgery and found that conservative measures like weight loss, physical therapy, special brassieres, and medications did not provide permanent relief of symptoms. With such convincing data, women with large breasts that cause reductions in quality of life and reduced functional capacities, may want to consider surgical reduction.
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