Should I Get A Lift With Breast Implant Replacements?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I currently have 10 year old 450cc mod+ dual plane. I’ve never been happy with them. I started out with very small tuberous breast. My surgeon over dissected my pockets so they bottomed out almost immediately, plus I have lateral displacement when I lay down. This was compounded by pregnancy. I’m hoping that I can exchange my current implants for larger implants with some pocket revision and internal support. I would like much more volume, cleavage. I’m 5’6” 138lbs and I believe my BWD is around 16-16.5 cm. I really believe i could support 700-800cc. What do you think? I would love to have other procedures but I’m not prepared for the recovery at this point. I’m very interested in how you would approach this and what you feel is appropriate. Thank you!

A: Thank you for your inquiry and sending your pictures. Well, your implants are positioned a bit low. They are reasonably symmetric and that would certainly be a positive. When it comes to lifting and replacing the implants with larger volumes, you have to recognize that these are two procedures that fight against each other. Larger implants need more space and weigh more while lifting strives to reduce the internal space (which is what added support does and create an uplifted volume.

Thus you can see that substantially larger implants work against effective lifting due to their size and weight. There is no question that you can go from 450 to 700 cc without a problem, it is just trying to lift them at the same time that is the issue. While the short term effects may show the benefits of both in the long-term weight and gravity will win almost no matter what support you provide.

Thus, in my experience, you have two options. Keep the pocket you have and go to 700 or 800 ccs. This would be the safest bet without risk of significant problems. The second option is to do an internal bra with implant size increase no greater than 100 cc or 500 to 550ccs.

Dr Barry Eppley

Plastic Surgeon