Breast Augmentation

Most women looking to undergo breast enhancement mention this type of fear during the initial consultation.

In actuality prospective enhancement patients are more likely to state what they don't want their breasts to look like, than what they do want them to look like. This apprehension is probably because, we humans, notice extreme examples of Plastic Surgery more often than more subtle examples. As such, we begin to feel that these examples are the norm among enhancement patients, and we fear that by becoming a patient our Plastic Surgeon will want to make us too large.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The majority of mainstream Board Certified Plastic Surgeons aim to give patients a natural look, with the patients concerns at the forefront of their surgical planning. However because these post op patients aren't as easy to notice, even though they far outnumber the DD group, people tend to think breast enhancement equals large breasts.

Almost every Plastic Surgeon has a system to determine what the patient has in mind in terms of size. Steps are taken during the consultation, and any subsequent office visits, to size the patient to ensure a predictable surgical result that the patient will be happy with.

As always, make sure your breast enhancement surgery is being performed by a Diplomat of the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

This is a really common question, and one that Plastic Surgeons consider themselves when evaluating new patients. Essentially a droopy breast can be thought of as a bag that’s not filled to its capacity. Whether the patient does, or doesn’t, want breast implants will be the starting point for the surgeon to figure out what is the best surgical option for the patient.

If no implants are desired then a lift is offered, however if the patient is an A cup a small implant is still discussed to give some fullness to the upper part of the breast that isn’t really possible with A cup sized breast tissue.

If an implant is desired then its proposed size needs to be assessed. If the implant size the patient wants is too small to take up all of the excess breast skin (aka empty bag) then some type of lifting procedure needs to be done at the same time to give the new breast a full, anatomically correct look. Breast lifting techniques range from resulting scars being located just around the nipple areola complex (NAC) when a small amount of skin is in excess, to “lollipop” scars which extend down the middle of the breast from the bottom of the NAC.

Occasionally the amount of excess skin present is taken up by the size implant the patient desires and no additional lifting scars are necessary.

As with all Plastic Surgery the surgery needs to be customized to the patient’s anatomy and desired results.