Can Breast Implants Make My Breasts Have A Normal Shape?

Q:  Dr. Eppley, I am a 24 year-old Hispanic female who is interested in breast augmentation. My breasts have shown very little growth and I don’t think there is any chance that they will grow any further at this point. But besides that they are small, they also look peculiar. My nipples and areolas are so big for someone who has very little breasts. Whatever breasts I have just seem to be like a ball that is right underneath the nipple and makes them stick out and point downward. I have attached some pictures of my breasts so you can tell what type of implants I would need to make my breasts look not only bigger but better.

A: Your breasts definitely show underdevelopment for the size of your chest but the real aesthetic challenge is their very wide spacing and a mild case of tuberous breast deformity. The small amount of breast tissue you have is herniating through the base of the areola, thus the very prominent nipples and protruding wide areolas with a very small breast base. This is the very definition of a tuberous breast deformity. Fortunately, the tuberous deformity is fairly mild and I believe could be adequately treated by breast augmentation alone. Given your ethnicity and to avoid a prominent breast scar, I would do a saline breast augmentation through a transaxillary (armpit) approach. I would wait and see how the nipple-areolar complex appears after being pushed out by the implant. There is the possibility that a revision of it may be needed after breast augmentation if it becomes more rather than less protrusive.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana