If you are planning on buying a new house or condominium, you have numerous options to customize it before signing on the dotted line.
The same holds true when you are purchasing a car – you have several choices for customizing it to your tastes before you drive it off the lot.
So, it really shouldn’t be too much to ask the same of the breast implants for your breast augmentation. After all, aren’t you far more important than some inanimate object or structure?
Fortunately, you do have options when it comes to silicone breast implants. Yes, they can absolutely be customized to meet your needs and desires.
How is this accomplished?
This involves selecting them based on size, profile, shape, gel cohesiveness and texture.
Unfortunately, there are no color options. Just “clear”.
To give you an idea of just how many choices are available for you, all the different silicone breast implant options from just one manufacturer, Allergan, were counted. This excluded textured and anatomic shaped implants which the company no longer makes.
The total number of choices available added up to 534.
Yes, 534 silicone breast implant options but you still don’t have a choice in color. Only “clear”.
How are Silicone Breast Implants Constructed?
Silicone breast implants consist of a relatively soft, durable and flexible solid outer “shell” that consists of medical-grade silicone. They are filled with a cohesive silicone gel that superbly simulates the feel and consistence of natural breasts.
Especially youthful ones!
Given this “basic” construction, there is lots of flexibility in creating variations and different “models” of implants.
Customizing Your Silicone Breast Implants
There are various implant characteristics that need to be considered and appropriately chosen in order to help you to obtain the desired results for your breast augmentation. These include size, profile, shape, gel cohesiveness and texture. Typically, all this will be reviewed to some degree during your consultation.
Size
Various Sizes of Silicone Breast Implants
Size is the one parameter that everybody is aware of. It is the volume increase that will allow you to better obtain the look that is desired. However, it is also important to realize that this size should be reasonably compatible with one’s anatomy, proportions and tissue characteristics. A tremendously and disproportionately large implant not only will look fake and garner unwanted attention but it can also rapidly stretch out the skin, resulting in unnecessary breast drooping, thinning of the skin and deformities.
At the other extreme, an implant that is too small will have little impact on appearance and leave one generally disappointed.
Profile
Moderate, High and Ultra-High Silicone Breast Implants (left to right)
Profile is the relative width to height ratio of an implant for a given volume. That is, an implant of a given volume can be broader with less projection (low profile) or narrower with greater projection (high profile). Generally, women who are broader would benefit more from lower profile implants whereas women with narrower chests would be better suited having higher profile implants in order to obtain more appropriate projection.
The various implant profiles have different proprietary terminology and proportions depending on the implant manufacturer. For example, they may be categorized as low, moderate, high (full) and ultra-high (extra-full).
Shape
Round (left) and Anatomic (right) Silicone Breast Implants
Breast implants may (or may not be) be available in two general shapes – round or anatomical (teardrop). The latter is rarely used anymore for a variety of reasons. In fact. two of the three major implant manufacturers in the United States no longer offer the anatomical implants.
Silicone gel cohesiveness
The gel that is used to fill the silicone implants now is more cohesive and form stable than ever before. This translates into a “firmer” but still natural feeling implant that is able to provide and maintain a more stable and desirable shape for significantly better results – short and long term.
There are different levels of gel cohesiveness that are offered by the implant manufacturers. This means that for a particular implant size and volume, you can also choose between a few different degrees of gel cohesiveness. In reality, most women will see little or no benefit from the more cohesive levels and they can also be a bit pricier. However, women who are very thin and with little breast tissue, can definitely obtain superior results with these more cohesive implants.
Texture
Smooth and Textured Silicone Breast Implants
The outer shell of breast implants can either be smooth or textured (rough surface). Textured surfaced implants were originally designed as a strategy to try to reduce the risk of capsular contracture – the development of thick scar tissue around an implant that can result the breast feeling firm and appearing distorted. However, technological advances over time have made this surface strategy largely irrelevant. In addition, due to surface texturing being implicated in a very rare occurring form of lymphoma known as BIA-ALCL (especially one particular proprietary type), virtually all implants used in this country now are smooth surfaced.
Pursuing Your Customized Breast Augmentation
If you are interested in looking further into breast augmentation surgery and understanding the numerous options available, you can schedule your complimentary consultation by either calling us at the Arizona Center for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery at (480) 451-3000 or contacting us by email.
Steven H. Turkeltaub, M.D. P.C.
Scottsdale and Phoenix, Arizona