Your choice of breast implant will have a direct impact on the look and feel of your breast augmentation procedure. During your initial consultation at our Scottsdale office, board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. John Corey will discuss all of your breast implant options to help ensure you are provided the information you need to make the decision that is best for your body.
To schedule your breast augmentation consultation, please contact John J. Corey, MD online or by calling our Scottsdale office at 480-767-7700 today. Dr. Corey welcomes breast augmentation patients from Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler, and all other areas of Arizona.
Breast Implant Incisions and Placement
Dr. Corey offers three primary breast implant incision options. These are:
- Periariolar – around the nipple in the darker skin of the areola
- Inframammary – along the crease where breast tissue and chest meet
- Transaxillary – in the natural folds of the armpit
These incisions all offer unique benefits, making each better suited to different individuals. During your breast augmentation consultation, Dr. Corey will carefully listen to your aesthetic desires and discuss all incision options to help you decide on the one you feel will best meet your needs.
All three incision options allow for implant placement either directly under the breast tissue (subglandular) or behind the pectoral muscle wall (submuscular). The main difference between these placement options is where the implant is positioned relative to the breast tissue and the pectoral muscle. While this difference may seem minor, each placement option offers different advantages and yields different results.
Subglandular benefits may include:
- More dramatic results, such as sharply defined cleavage and the ability to accommodate larger implants
- Easier procedural placement which can lead to a shorter and less painful recovery
- Elimination of pectoral distortion when muscles are flexed, particularly beneficial to body-builders
Submuscular benefits may include:
- More natural looking breasts with implant edges and ripples that tend to be less visible or not visible at all
- Reduced likelihood of breasts sagging over time as a result of increased implant support
- Reduced risk of capsular contracture (a natural bodily response to foreign objects)
- Mammogram images that are easier to obtain and read
- Less risk of interference with breastfeeding
When considering the advantages to each of these options, it is important to remember that there are also other factors that will influence the overall results of your breast augmentation. These include:
- Your original breast size and your desired implant size
- The thickness of your pectoral muscles
- The type of implant you prefer
- Your cosmetic and physical expectations
All of these decisions will be discussed in detail during your initial consultation with our board-certified Arizona plastic surgeon.
Silicone and Saline Breast Implants
Both silicone gel and saline breast implants are great devices that have been used for decades. While there is not one “best” implant in all situations, each offers specific benefits that may be more attractive to individal women.
Similarities between saline and silicone breast implants include:
- Safety – Both types of breast implant have a long history of safe and effective use. After years of research there has been no evidence to correlate breast implants and the development of autoimmune diseases such as thyroid disease, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. Most recently researchers and physicians are looking into a very small number of patients developing a rare and somewhat less aggressive lymphoma reaction (BIA-ALCL) believed at present to be a response, not to the silicone gel or saline in an implant but rather the textured or fuzzy type of covering around the implant. There is much being studied at present and Dr. Corey will have the most up to date information for you.
- Outer Shell – The outer shell in both types of implants is a silicone rubber.
- Longevity of Shell – Breast implants have a life-expectancy of 10 to 12 years, though some variance is possible. Should the need arise to replace your breast implants, Dr. Corey would be happy to discuss breast implant revision with you.
- Warranty – All breast implants are covered by a lifetime warranty on the implants themselves, meaning if they develop a crack or a leak in them, the patient receives free replacement implants for the rest of the patients life. There is usually a money portion of the warranty as well, that means that for the first 10 years you have the implants, if they were to develop a crack or a leak, in addition to your free implants, which is for life, the first 10 years you also would get some money to help cover the additional expenses of surgery center and anesthesia. The specifics of these warranties varies from manufacturer to manufacturer and can be discussed in greater detail during your breast augmentation consultation.
Differences between silicone and saline breast implants include:
- Cost – Silicone implants are typically more expensive than saline alternatives.
- Incision and Adjustability – Saline implants are filled after they are placed, providing the dual benefit of a smaller incision and the ability to adjust the volume of each breast following implant placement. Silicone implants come prefilled at a fixed volume and will require a larger incision.
- Rupture and How You Will Know – Saline implants empty when ruptured – typically in as little as 48 hours. Silicone implants, particularly form stable options, may not show signs of rupture at all. This means it may require an MRI to detect ruptures in silicone breast implants, but also means that ruptures are unlikely to impact aesthetic results.
- Ripples or wrinkles – Saline usually has more of a tendency to wrinkle or ripple and in very lean women, this may not be the ideal choice.
The bottom line is, there are both psychosocial and physical reasons to pick one implant over the other and neither is ideally suited for each body-type. During your initial consultation, Dr. Corey will assess your frame and natural contours, discuss the benefits and limitations of your breast implant options, and help you decide on the one that will best accomplish your aesthetic goals.
Simple, Painless Saline Breast Implant Removal
If your saline breast implants must be removed, Dr. Corey can perform the procedure at our office, without general anesthesia or the operating room. Once the saline fluid is drained, Dr. Corey can easily and painlessly remove the breast implants. This local procedure is not only minimally invasive, but also saves you the expense of undergoing surgery.
A Third Option: The Gummy Bear Breast Implant
Form stable breast implants, more commonly known as “gummy bear implants,” offer an alternative to traditional saline and silicone options. But it also depends on which "Gummy Bear" we are talking about! The newest version comes in round and tear-dropped shapes, both smooth and textured outer coverings and are the implants that I refer to as "Gummy II" !!! They are slightly more firm but wrinkle less, a bit more expensive, can require an incision on the breast in the case of the tear-drop shape, and are more implant than is needed in most cases. The first version of Gummy Bear (Gummy I), which we have been using for probably the last 15 plus years or so and is still the most common, is more like a softer type gelatin. In a sense you can now think of implants as saline, jello and gummy bear/gummy worm!! Dr. Corey is pleased to offer the teardrop shaped Natrelle® 410 Silicone Breast Implants – an advanced form stable option – allowing him to produce highly natural looking and feeling breast augmentation results.
And there is now currently available from Allergan, the newest Natrelle Inspira Cohesive, which fits somewhere between the Gummy Bear/Gummy Worm and Jello type of silicone gel implants.
The cohesive gel filling is at once supple and firm, giving these implants a completely natural look and feel. This enables them to be placed above the muscles in the chest without producing a highly enhanced or artificial look. In addition to looking and feeling almost exactly like natural breast tissue, these form stable breast implants:
- May ripple, wrinkle, or bubble less
- May reduce risks for capsular contracture
- Hold a natural breast shape
- Do not leak when ruptured
While rupture or breakage most likely will occur with all modern breast implant options, Gummy bear breast implants maintain their shape, look, and feel following rupture, allowing them to outlast most other options by several years.
Ultimately, it is a woman’s choice as to which implant she receives. By offering many breast implant options, Dr. Corey is able to ensure each of our breast enlargement patients is provided with the solution most suitable for her individual needs.
To schedule your breast augmentation consultation with Dr. Corey, please call 480-767-7700 today. Our plastic surgery facility is located in Scottsdale and equipped with modern amenities and comforts. We welcome patients from all areas of Arizona including Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler, and Gilbert.
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