Breast Augmentation Shapes Before And After

Breast augmentation is one of the most popular cosmetic surgeries performed to enhance a woman’s appearance and boost her self-confidence. An implant can be placed above or below the muscle, but there are differences in shape, size, and feel.

The most common breast augmentation shapes are round, teardrop, and anatomical. A round breast shape is also referred to as symmetrical because it is both full and firm at the same time. The teardrop shape has a fuller upper pole with a slightly smaller lower pole. The anatomical shape has a fuller upper pole with a smaller lower pole too because it is shaped like an upside down pear.

All three shapes can be used during breast surgery which makes it difficult to choose an ideal option for each person’s body type. If you’re thinking about getting breast implants then talk with your doctor about all three options so they can help guide you through this important decision making process!

Breast Augmentation Shapes Before And After

The two basic breast implant shapes are round and tear drop, also known as anatomical or contoured. Both come in many different sizes and profiles. The reasons for choosing one breast implant shape over another include a woman’s unique aesthetic goals, preferred incision location, and implant placement. Her individual anatomy — including body type, sternum width, chest-wall contour, and existing breast tissue — also influences the decision.

At West County Plastic Surgeons, board-certified plastic surgeons Dr. Terry Myckatyn and Dr. Marissa Tenenbaum understand that breast implant selection can be a complicated process, so they work closely and take plenty of time with their patients to help them choose the best breast implant shape to help create beautiful, natural-looking breasts.

Breast Implant Shapes for St. Louis Patients

If you are considering breast enhancement surgery or have already scheduled your initial consultation, you can get a head start now by thinking about the basic benefits and drawbacks of round and teardrop implants. The two basic breast implant shapes are explained below.

Round Breast Implants

At West County Plastic Surgeons, most of our patients prefer round implants, the original breast implant shape, reflecting a worldwide trend. Many women prefer the smooth, round implant because of the added fullness, lift, and cleavage it gives them.

Round implants resemble a compressed ball. They can be filled with saline or silicone gel, creating a soft, round, well-proportioned appearance. Patients can choose either a textured or a smooth surface. Because they are circular, flat and uniform in appearance, patients experience minimal variation in fullness or projection between the top and bottom of the implant. A round breast implant can be the ideal choice for women who prefer a full upper pole, or upper portion of the breast. In addition, high-profile round implants stick out, or project, farther from the body, accentuating the silhouette and giving many women the results they desire.

Compared to a teardrop implant, a round implant is less likely to wrinkle, and if it rotates or shifts out of position, it is less noticeable and causes fewer difficulties. In terms of safety, round implants have caused fewer complications than teardrop implants, and they typically cost less.

Teardrop-Shaped Breast Implants

Patients who choose teardrop-shaped implants often do so because they want the most natural look and feel, and they find that round implants often look or feel artificial—like an obvious “boob job.” Like most natural breasts, teardrop-shaped implants are thinner at the top than they are at the bottom, gradually sloping to a fuller and more projected fullness below the nipple. Teardrop implants often have a textured surface to prevent shifting or rotation within the chest. They can be filled only with silicone gel, not saline, and the newer products, often referred to as “gummy bear implants,” offer the option of a highly cohesive, form-stable gel that retains its breast implant shape, looks natural, and is soft to the touch.

The tear drop implant can be an ideal choice for women who want to correct mild sagging, or ptosis, because the breast implant shape and material alone can sufficiently elevate the breasts, eliminating the need for breast lift surgery. Patients with significant sagging, however, will require a combined breast lift and breast augmentation for the youthful, lifted appearance they desire.

Breast Implant Profiles

Both breast implant shapes, round and tear drop, come in a variety of sizes and profiles, a term that refers to how far the breast projects forward from the chest wall. A high-profile breast implant has the smallest base width and produces the most pronounced silhouette. At the opposite end of the spectrum, a moderate-profile implant features a wider base width and a more natural-looking forward projection from the chest.

Which Breast Implants Look the Most Natural?

Breast augmentation isn’t just for celebrities and Hollywood stars. The procedure helps hundreds of thousands of women each year achieve a beautiful, shapely chest. After years of fine-tuning his approach to breast augmentation, Dr. Farris has the expertise needed to help his patients achieve natural-looking results each time.

If natural results are your main goal, it’s important to understand how your breast implant options can affect your surgical outcomes. Call Farris Plastic Surgery at 214-363-1073 to schedule an appointment with Dr. Farris and begin discussing what options would be best for you.

Choosing the Right Breast Implant Type

Silicone or saline breast implants? This is one of the first questions you’ll need to answer before breast enlargement surgery.

Silicone breast implants are pre-filled with silicone gel. Compared to saline implants, they more closely mimic the look and feel of your natural breasts.

Gummy bear implants are a type of silicone implant made from a form-stable, cohesive gel. Their unique filling material and teardrop shape provide the most natural-looking results of all breast implant options. While they are more expensive than standard silicone and saline breast implants, they are also the least prone to:

• Ripples
• Implant folds
• Leaks

Placing Your Breast Implants

There are two different ways Dr. Farris can place your breast implants:

• Subglandular: Your implants are placed over your chest muscle and under your breast tissue.
• Submuscular: Your implants are placed under your chest muscle and under your breast tissue.

The amount of breast tissue you have will affect how noticeable your implants are. Dr. Farris prefers submuscular placement since it provides more implant coverage and is ideal for most patients, including thin women with minimal breast tissue.

Sizing Your Implants Appropriately

Every patient has different proportions. For the most natural results, you should base your implant size on what will look best on you.

When advising you on an implant size, Dr. Farris will consider your:

• Body type
• Weight and height
• Chest dimensions
• Skin elasticity and breast tissue
• Lifestyle and physical activity levels

To help you make the right decision, Dr. Farris will give you implant sizers. They can be placed inside your bra and will let you see how different implant sizes will look against your body and under various clothing options.

Breast Augmentation With Fat Transfer

Since achieving natural results often means a more moderate increase in cup size, breast augmentation with fat transfer could also help you meet your cosmetic goals. Breast augmentation with fat transfer eliminates the need for breast implants. The procedure involves taking fat from other areas of your body using liposuction and injecting it into your breasts.

Common donor sites include the:

• Abdomen
• Hips
• Thighs

Since implants are not needed, you will not have any scars on your chest, further contributing to natural-looking results. The procedure can help you increase your breast volume by one to two cup sizes.

Breast augmentation with fat transfer is a great option for women who have unwanted fat in another area of their body and would like to achieve the additional body contouring benefits that occur when this fat is harvested by the liposuction procedure.

What Will My Breasts Look Like After Breast Implant Removal?

In my previous post I discussed the many different reasons why more and more women are getting their breast implants removed. Whether it is for aesthetic reasons such as the desire for a leaner, more athletic look, or for possible health reasons like Breast Implant Illness, the first question I always hear from my Scottsdale, AZ patients is “what are my breasts going to look like”? For many patients, the thought of being without their implants, which often have been in place for many years, causes significant anxiety and concern. There is the fear of looking deflated, out of proportion or saggy. Fortunately, after implants are removed there are many ways to re-shape the smaller, natural breast tissue remaining to create a beautiful, aesthetically pleasing breast.

What will my breasts look like after Breast Implant Removal?

During the very first consultation I have with women who are considering breast augmentation, I always make sure they understand having implants will result in their natural breast tissue being compressed from the implant pushing it against the skin. Over the course of many years, this compression can be significant, depending on the size of the implant. This is important to understand because when the implants are removed, the patient will not be the same size as she was before her augmentation. Also, the skin will stretch to accommodate the implant which often results in loose skin when the implants are removed. And finally, many women have experienced significant changes in the size and shape of their breasts during the time when they had their implants due to weight gain, weight loss, breastfeeding, etc. Because of all of these factors, it is often very difficult to predict what the breasts will look like after the implants are removed. Typically, there will be some loose skin (the larger the implant, the more stretched, loose skin), loss of fullness in the upper part of the breast, and usually, some sagging where the remaining breast tissue sits too low on the chest. Fortunately, there are many ways to correct these issues.

Breast Implant Removal Consultation

The first thing I do when a patient requests a consultation for implant removal is take a complete and detailed health history as well as a comprehensive history of their breast surgery (or surgeries) and their implants. I want to know how long they have been in place, what type they are, saline or silicone, are they above or below the muscle, and has she had any complications with the implants such as deflation, capsular contractures or seromas. I also want to know if there is any history of breast cancer with her or her family members and if she is up to date on her mammograms. I also want to know if she is experiencing any symptoms which she feels are related to her implants. After that, a detailed physical examination is performed so that I can evaluate the quality of the skin, try to estimate how much natural breast tissue will remain and determine if there is sagging that will occur once the implants are removed.  After the history and physical is completed, I will often give the patient a few options to consider depending on my findings. 

Procedure Options

First, if the implants are saline and the patient is not sure she wants to remove the implants because she may not be happy with the way she looks, I can deflate the implants with a small procedure in the office using local anesthesia. Obviously, prior to doing this the patient will already be on the surgery schedule to have the implants removed (or replaced if she does not like the look) since once I deflate the saline implants they cannot be refilled.  After the saline is removed, the patient can see what they will look like without the implants prior to surgery. I recommend the patient live with the deflated implants for a few weeks to see if they are comfortable with their new size. Also, this allows the stretched skin to naturally tighten up a bit and may result in the patient needing less of a lift or not one at all, depending on the quality of their skin. After a few weeks have gone by, the patient is able to make a better decision regarding removing the implants or replacing them (often with a smaller size). Obviously, if the patient has silicone implants this cannot be done. 

The second option is to simply remove the implants and do no lift. I give this option to patients who have small to moderate sized implants with good skin tone and no existing sagging. Or if the patient does not want the additional scarring that comes with a lift and wants to live with her new size and shape for a while. I always tell patients they can come back at any time to get a lift if they are not happy with their shape after everything heals. Oftentimes, once the implant is removed the skin will naturally tighten up enough to create a good shape and no further surgeries are needed. 

And finally, the third option is to remove the implants and do a breast lift all in one surgery. I usually recommend this to patients who might be a little older and the skin’s elasticity is not great, to patients who already have sagging with their current implants, or to patients with really large implants and stretched out skin. There are many different lifts that I perform depending on how much skin I need to remove to correct the sagging. I will also reshape the actual breast tissue that remains to increase the projection of the breast and improve the overall shape. Obviously, the patient has to prepare to have additional scars on her breast following the lift, but it is often the only way to correct significant sagging, remove the stretched skin and improve the overall shape of the breast. 

Complimentary Consultation For Breast Implant Removal

If you are considering removing your implants, call my office and schedule a complimentary consultation, in person or virtual, and I will go over all of the options available to you.