page_title: Ptosis (breasts)
section_title: Ptosis scale
hierarchical_section_title: Ptosis (breasts) / Signs and symptoms / Ptosis scale
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Les trois stades de l'affaissement des seins.
context_page_description: Ptosis or sagging of the female breast is a natural consequence of aging. The rate at which a woman's breasts drop and the degree of ptosis depends on many factors. The key factors influencing breast ptosis over a woman's lifetime are cigarette smoking, her number of pregnancies, gravity, higher body mass index, larger bra cup size, and significant weight change.
  Post-menopausal women or people with collagen deficiencies may experience increased ptosis due to a loss of skin elasticity. Many women and medical professionals mistakenly believe that breastfeeding increases sagging. It is also commonly believed that the breast itself offers insufficient support and that wearing a bra prevents sagging, which has not been found to be true.
  Plastic surgeons categorize the degree of ptosis by evaluating the position of the nipple relative to the infra-mammary fold, the point at which the underside of the breasts attach to the chest wall. In the most advanced stage, the nipples are below the fold and point toward the ground.
context_section_description: Plastic surgeons describe the degree of breast sagging using a ptosis scale like the modified Regnault ptosis scale below:
  Grade I: Mild ptosis—The nipple is at the level of the infra-mammary fold and above most of the lower breast tissue.
  Grade II: Moderate ptosis—The nipple is located below the infra-mammary fold but higher than most of the breast tissue hangs.
  Grade III: Advanced ptosis—The nipple is below the inframammary fold and at the level of maximum breast projection.
  Pseudoptosis—The nipple is located either at or above the infra-mammary fold, while the lower half of the breast sags below the fold. This is most often seen when a woman stops nursing, as her milk glands atrophy, causing her breast tissue to sag.
  Parenchymal Maldistribution—The lower breast tissue is lacking fullness, the inframammary fold is very high, and the nipple and areola are relatively close to the fold. This is usually a developmental deformity.
caption: Stages of ptosis
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