When considering breast augmentation surgery, the most common subject that women focus on, and for obvious reasons, is size. After all, there is very good reason that this is called a “breast augmentation”.
Most women want to make sure that if they are going to have their breasts enlarged, they want to make absolutely sure that there will be a noticeable difference.
Why do it if there will be little change?
Right?
Of course, the desired size and resulting appearance will typically be qualified with such subjective requests as “Make me look big but natural”, “I don’t want to look big and fake”, “I don’t want anyone to know that I had this done” or “Make sure that you go big enough because my friend told me that later on I will probably want to go even bigger”.
There are plenty variations on this theme.
Women also have questions or curiosities about other implant related issues, such as when will they need to be replaced, though they are not nearly as common as those related to size. This is for obvious reasons. Most of the questions that they might have had coming into their consultation will have been thoroughly discussed or mentioned during their thorough consultation with me.
One question that is rarely or ever asked about their breasts is: “What will they look like in 5 years?”
In many ways, this is understandable.
The answer to this question is not necessarily straightforward and there are many reasons for this. Numerous factors can impact the results over time – some patient related and others breast implant related. The plastic surgeon’s recommendations and decision making can also influence the long term outcome.
Some of these factors include implant size, implant shape, implant profile, silicone versus saline, above the muscle (pre-pectoral) versus below the muscle (subpectoral or submuscular), smooth versus textured surface implant, BMI (body mass index), weight fluctuations, pregnancies, skin elasticity, medical issues, smoking, genetics, age, sun exposure and tanning booth usage.
Whew!
As you can see, there can be quite a variability of results at any point in time based on a constellation of factors.
Nevertheless, the following is a fairly representative long term result from a patient of mine now more than five and a half years following her breast augmentation surgery. In her late thirties and after a few pregnancies, she wanted her breasts to look relatively natural and proportionate but still see a substantial difference.
Her procedure involved the placement of high profile, smooth surface silicone breast implants through an inframammary incision in a submuscular pocket. These were in the low 200 cc range, enlarging her from an “A” cup to a “C” cup (photos).
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
She has had no problems since the time of her surgery and has been very happy with her results.
If her implants had been much larger or even placed above her muscle, the long term appearance and changes over time would have been far different from the ones that you see here.
For information on breast augmentation surgery or to schedule your complimentary consultation, you can contact my office either by phone at (480) 451-3000 or by sending an email.
Steven H. Turkeltaub, M.D. P.C.
Scottsdale and Phoenix, Arizona