Breasts are an important part of a woman’s body as they provide femininity to your overall appearance. Since breasts are an integral part of the feminine gender, they are always kept at a higher priority in an aesthetic sense. If you have concerns regarding your breast size, shape or symmetry, there are a variety of surgical procedures that can assist you. Breast implant profile and projection play a big role in the outcome of breast surgery. These include breast lifts, breast reduction, or breast enhancement using breast implants. These procedures have become very widely accepted cosmetic procedures and the techniques have improved and evolved.
Specialist Plastic Surgeon, Dr Mark Doyle performs breast surgery with meticulous care and expertise. He has been in practice for 30+ years and continues to deliver exceptional results for all his patients.
Breast implants tend to be the most reliable way of adding volume and shape to the breast. This is because the profile and projections of the implant can ensure a consistent breast size.
Breast implants make your boobs larger, but without a breast lift, the breast cannot be lifted in position. If you have sagging breasts, a breast lift with implants is often recommended.
The choice of breast implants depends on your aesthetic goals but may also be influenced by your skin laxity, body composition, existing breast tissue, lifestyle, and more. Remember, getting good results depends on a variety of aspects of your surgery. It’s important to plan the surgery carefully but also to follow pre-surgery and post-surgery instructions. This includes not smoking, eating well, rest, not exercising or doing too much too early, and understanding the healing and recovery processes and time frames.
There’s a lot of information you’ll want to be aware of and ready for before moving on to the surgery. So be well versed with the above questions, and begin to consider your options before your initial consultation with Dr Doyle. You can also look into recovery after breast augmentation surgery.
Silicone implants, as the name suggests, contain silicone gel inside a bag made from silicone. They give the best natural look and feel depending on size and profile. and they often result in a more natural aesthetic look. These are the most popular breast implants used by Dr Doyle at Gold Coast Plastic Surgery. They do not deflate, and even in the case of a rupture, the silicone tends to remain within the capsule (scar tissue) surrounding the implant.
Saline implants have a rubberised silicone outer shell and contain sterile saltwater inside them. They come empty and are filled during the procedure. These implants were hugely popular two decades ago but have now been replaced by silicone breast implants in terms of popularity.
Saline based implants have the advantage that if they leak inside the body, the implant filling can be absorbed with minimal complicationSs. Another benefit is that since they are filled after being placed in the breast pocket, they often have a smaller incision scar.
A drawback of saline implants is that they tend to give a ripple effect that can be seen through your breast skin. This is particularly true if you don’t have a large amount of natural breast tissue on top of the implant. They also don’t feel as natural as silicone implants.
Breast implant sizes come in different shapes and sizes.
The size of your breast implants is chosen from the options presented by Dr Doyle during your initial consultation. It’s fairly common to use different size implants on each side to correct small asymmetries between the breasts.
You may have a question, “How many cc of breast implant do I need to achieve a B cup, C cup or D cup bra size?”
Most plastic surgeons measure breast implant size in cc or cubic centimetres of liquid volume, so it can be quite confusing to estimate your needs. Cup size measurements can be unreliable as they rely on the amount of natural breast tissue you have before surgery.
As a rule of thumb, It takes around 200cc of breast implant to increase from an A cup to a B cup and may take 250cc for a full B cup. If you are a full B cup and want to enlarge your breast two cup sizes to a D cup, then you will need at least 350cc-450cc of breast implant size to achieve that enlargement with a natural breast shape.
Learn more about implant sizes in our blog, How to Choose the Right Breast Implant Size.
The texture of the breast implant can range from smooth to textured surfaces with a variety of shapes, sizes, and fill. Textures include:
Their smooth surface cannot grip onto the tissue surrounding the implant and advanced surgical techniques are required to keep them in the correct position.
Nanotextured breast implants have been shown to act the same as smooth surface implants. They have been specially designed to lessen the risk of chronic infection in the breast. They have a very low risk of capsular contracture and are not associated with breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma.
Textured implants are cautioned against and are never used by Dr Doyle due to the link between textured implants and breast implant-associated lymphoma.
The projection of breast implants refers to how far the breast implant extends forward in front of your chest. As the profile increases so does the cup size.
Breast implant profiles can be categorised as:
A low profile implant gives you the least projection or extension from your chest and the least amount of implant fill. They are most commonly used when a woman wants a small and subtle increase in breast size.
A moderate profile implant gives projections between high and low profile and has a moderate implant fill. These are the most commonly used breast implant profiles as they can provide a natural look, with a good amount of cleavage.
These give the highest amount of projection from the chest and will have the greatest volume of implant fills. These are more commonly suited for women who are looking for a more projected look from the side profile and a large cup size.
These are the basic breast implant shapes that come in various sizes:
Round implants create a soft well-rounded appearance giving a fuller look at the top portion of the breast and a high projection. Because the implants are symmetrical if they rotate, their shape does not change.
Teardrop implants as the name suggests, share the shape of natural real breasts both in looks as well as feel. Dr Doyle uses teardrop implants with a nano surface. They rely on gravity shifting the silicone in the implant to create a teardrop shape.
Breast implant placement is another important factor to consider while getting implants. To put it simply, the surgeon is going to make an incision in your breasts, create a pocket and place the implant in the pocket. Placements are most commonly done in the following 3 ways:
Under the muscle type of placement helps achieve a more natural look. The implant is placed underneath or behind the pectoral muscle which allows the soft tissue to cover the breast implant. Submuscular implant placements usually have a slightly longer recovery but more natural results.
These are placed in front of the pectoral muscle. Over the muscle implant placements are suited for breasts with a good volume of breast tissue. Having enough breast tissues helps to hide the outline of the implant and can safeguard against rippling. These are more comfortable and have faster recovery and procedure time.
These placements are partly behind the pectoralis muscle and partly behind the breast tissue.
The dual-plane technique comes in very handy in cases of breast deflation with ptosis (sagging), which occurs after having children, breastfeeding, losing weight, or naturally with time. In the dual plane approach, the upper muscle coverage of the implant reduces the risk of rippling and implant visibility in the upper part of the breast. It also reduces the risk of capsular contracture and disruption of cleavage (symmastia), with improvement in mammography accuracy. And, the lower part of the breast implant that is covered by breast tissue benefits from a smoother implant-breast transition, enhanced shape, and a more natural look and feel.
The incision is performed under general anesthesia and is made in one of 3 places. They are:
Breast implants do come with risks and complications that may be short-term or long-term.
Short-term complications can include pain, post-surgical infection, excessive bleeding, anesthesia, and silicon-induced hypersensitivity reactions.
Long-term complications may include
Also, the FDA recommends that women who have silicone gel-filled implants should get an ultrasound five to six years after the implant surgery. Then, it is recommended to have MRI scans about every two to three years to check for any silent ruptures.
Breast implant profiles should be chosen by considering your body proportions and the final result you want to achieve. They need to fit your body frame.
If you have a narrow rib cage or chest, you can use high profile implants but if you have a larger chest measurement you would want to have moderate profile implants.
If you want to achieve a natural look, your implant should be equal to or smaller than the breast width.
Low-profile breast implants give you the least projection or extension from your chest and the least amount of implant fill.
Yes, Full profiles are the same as high profiles. The full profile name is mostly used by manufacturers of the implants whereas the high profile is mostly used by cosmetic surgeons and the patient.
It means how far the breast implant extends forward i.e. In Front of your chest.
A low profile implant gives you the least projection or extension from your chest and the least amount of implant fill. A high implant gives the highest amount of projection from the chest and will have the greatest volume of implant fills. Low profile implants give a small cup size and high profile implants a large cup size.
No, the ultra-high profile implants look more bubbly, fuller, and more fake. They contain a very soft gel which isn’t very stable. The higher implants you opt for, the more augmented look you get.
Low implants give you a wide and flat look. It gives you more of a natural look and also requires less amount of implant fill.
The most popular breast implant size is a 350cc implant.
The most common breast implant sizes vary from 350cc-500cc which is similar to C cup size. The 700cc is a very large stretch so the implants are higher than the full D cup size. Unnecessarily big implants tend to arise more problems like the unnatural look, back pain, larger scarring due to large incisions and stretching of the breast tissue.
Full profile implants are those implants that give you in between moderate and extra full projection from your chest. High profile is also known as full profile implants.
If your breast implants are high then it means it was either incorrectly placed or the implants are new.
Sometimes new implants tend to rise high to allow it to drop while healing. It takes around 2-4 months to heal and come back to a natural position.
If you are considering breast augmentation, book a consultation with Specialist Plastic Surgeon, Dr Mark Doyle on the Gold Coast.
Dr Mark Doyle is a Specialist Plastic Surgeon with over thirty years of experience performing Breast, Body, Face and Nose surgery. Dr Doyle is a fully qualified Specialist Plastic Surgeon with 30+ years of experience. He has completed all required training and only carries out approved surgical practices. There are absolutely NO undertrained doctors or cosmetic doctors acting as surgeons in our clinic.
As a highly esteemed plastic surgeon, Dr Mark is committed to achieving the best possible results for all his breast, body, face and nose patients, both men and women.