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04 Cosmetic surgery
Breast.
Breast augmentation · Breast uplift · Breast reduction
Three procedures with three different aims. Augmentation adds volume with an implant. An uplift reshapes and raises without adding volume. A reduction removes tissue and weight. Each page explains what the operation changes, what it leaves as it is, and what UK rules require before any of them.
Vertex Medic coordinates the practical side of a breast procedure: understanding it, the consultation, the paperwork. The surgeon who would operate examines you, decides whether it is suitable, explains the alternatives and takes your consent personally.
Free to ask · No obligation · Never a clinical assessment
How Vertex Medic fits in
Vertex Medic is a booking, marketing, administration and coordination platform. It is not a clinic and does not employ surgeons. Your surgeon, an independent registered clinician working from registered premises, decides whether a procedure is suitable, takes your consent and carries it out. Vertex helps you understand your options, arranges the consultation and keeps the practical side in one place.
§01 Which page is for you
Start with what you notice.
Ordinary editorial signposting, not a diagnosis. Only the surgeon who would operate can say what is suitable, and the honest answer may be a different procedure, a smaller one, or none.
- If what you want is more volume, or more fullness at the topRead about breast augmentation
- If it is the position and shape rather than the sizeRead about breast uplift
- If it is the size and weight, or the strain that comes with itRead about breast reduction
- If you are not sure whether it is size or positionAsk. Surgeons often combine or choose between an uplift and other procedures after examining you, and the honest answer may differ from what you expected
§02 The procedures
Three procedures, in full.
Each page covers what the operation involves, what it cannot do, the options, the recovery week by week, the risks, the questions worth asking, how to check the surgeon, and what moves the price.
- 01
Breast augmentation.
Breast augmentation is an operation that enlarges or reshapes the breasts, most often by placing a silicone gel implant behind the breast tissue or the chest muscle.
- 02
Breast uplift.
A breast uplift, or mastopexy, is an operation in which a surgeon removes loose skin, reshapes the breast tissue and moves the nipple to a higher position on breasts that have dropped.
- 03
Breast reduction.
Breast reduction is an operation, carried out under general anaesthetic, that removes breast tissue, fat and skin to make the breasts smaller and lighter and moves the nipple to a higher position.
§03 Choosing a surgeon
What to check before you choose anyone.
The Vertex Standard: the checks Vertex Medic applies before an independent clinician or registered provider can be listed, and the same checks you can make yourself. The first four, in brief.
01The GMC specialist register
Your surgeon holds a licence to practise and appears on the GMC specialist register in a specialty relevant to your procedure. A GMC number is the minimum; the specialist register shows completed specialist training.
Walk away if a surgeon cannot give you a GMC number.
Check a doctor on the GMC register02RCS cosmetic surgery certification
Where the Royal College of Surgeons certifies the procedure area, your surgeon holds it. Certification is voluntary, so its absence is a question to ask rather than a verdict.
Ask why not, and listen to the answer.
The RCS cosmetic surgery pages03Professional association membership
BAAPS or BAPRAS for aesthetic plastic surgery, BAHRS for hair restoration. Membership is not a licence, but it shows peer standards the surgeon has agreed to work to.
Membership is a signal, never a substitute for the register.
BAAPS member directory04Registration of the premises
The place where surgery happens is registered with the Care Quality Commission, and its entry lists surgical procedures under regulated activities. Outside England: Healthcare Improvement Scotland, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales or the RQIA.
Read the entry, not the badge on the wall.
Find a service on the CQC register
§04 Before you book
What UK rules require.
- ConsentThe doctor who will operate must discuss the procedure with you and take your consent personally; this cannot be delegated (GMC, Guidance for doctors who offer cosmetic interventions, 2016, paragraph 16).
- TimeYou must be given the time and information you need to decide, and told you can change your mind at any point (paragraphs 24 to 26). The Royal College of Surgeons sets at least two weeks between consultation and consent.
- PremisesAny procedure that involves a cut or an implant must take place in premises registered with the Care Quality Commission, or the equivalent regulator in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- MarketingMarketing must not claim a procedure is without risk, must not use promotional tactics that encourage an ill-considered decision, and must not offer surgery as a prize (paragraphs 49 to 53). The CAP Code adds that cosmetic advertising must not be aimed at people under 18 (rule 12.25).
- AftercareThe surgeon must make arrangements for aftercare and continuity of care, including out-of-hours contact, and explain charges clearly, including any charges for revision or routine follow-up.
Sources: GMC: Guidance for doctors who offer cosmetic interventions (2016) · Royal College of Surgeons: cosmetic surgery · CQC: choosing cosmetic surgery · CAP Code, section 12: medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products. Vertex Medic follows the same rules on this site.
§05 Also considered
Often read alongside.
Ordinary editorial navigation: nothing here is inferred from anything you have told us.
§06 Common questions
The things people actually ask.
Do breast implants need replacing?
Implants are not lifetime devices. The NHS advises that they may need replacing at some point, and that people with implants should expect further surgery in the future, at their own cost. Your surgeon should explain what to look out for and how implants are followed up.
Uplift or augmentation, which do I need?
They answer different questions: an uplift changes position and shape, an implant adds volume. Some people have both in one operation and some are advised to have neither. Only the surgeon who would operate can say which applies after examining you.
Can I breastfeed after breast surgery?
It depends on the procedure and the technique. Many people can, and some cannot, and a surgeon cannot promise either way in advance. If breastfeeding matters to you, say so at the consultation, because it can change the technique the surgeon proposes.
What does the law require before breast surgery?
The surgeon who will operate must discuss the procedure with you and take your consent personally, the premises must be registered with the CQC or the equivalent regulator, and you should have at least two weeks to reflect after the consultation. The full list is on the cosmetic surgery overview.
Sources and review
Written by the Vertex Medic editorial team from published UK guidance (NHS cosmetic procedures pages, GMC cosmetic interventions guidance, Royal College of Surgeons and BAAPS patient information), checked 5 September 2026. General information, not medical advice.
§07 When you are ready
A consultation is a conversation, not a decision.
Tell the Vertex Medic booking concierge what you are considering. A real person calls you back within one working day. No deposit, no deadline.
Free to ask · No obligation · Never a clinical assessment