Your Questions
Your Questions
Q: Dr. Eppley, Hi! I’m 23 years old, and I would like to have breast augmentation. But I am a petite person and a ballerina. I wouldn’t want anything bigger than a medium B cup, is that possible? I really don’t know the difference between the types of breast implants so I don’t know which is best for me. How much does this surgery cost? Thanks.
A: Any size breast augmentation can be done, even for very small size requests. Implants comes in volume as small as 100ccs and go all the way up to 800cc in silicone and 960cc in saline (can be filled that volume from a 800cc implant) The cost of the surgery is somewhat dependent on the type of breast implant used so knowing what you would want is important.
While both saline and silicone breast implants are available, FDA-approved and can create excellent breast augmentation results, there are some differences between them that every woman needs to fully appreciate. While saline breast implants costs less (total cost $3,999) and can be placed through the smallest incision, they will one day suffer catastrophic failure (deflation) and are prone to developing rippling on the bottom edges of the implant in women who are thin with little breast tissue. Silicone implants cost more (total cost $4,999) and require a slightly larger incision to put them, but have virtually no rippling (most natural feel) and do not fail by deflation but by a ‘silent rupture’ process in which the breast does not lose volume or size. Because of the delayed awareness of an implant problem (which is harmless) silicone breast implants will last longer.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana
Q: Dr. Eppley, I recently had a breast augmentation with 175 cc implants placed under the muscle.. I went round and round with the surgeon, who had never placed implants that small. I showed him an “A” bra that I was interested in filling (I was a double A) and he assured me that that was where I would end up. No such luck. I am a very full B, and very much doubt that waiting for swelling to go down, drop and fluff, etc, will attain the very, very, very moderate look I wanted: again, an A cup. I had explained to him that I was looking to acheive an “A”, no more, to restore my former breast before the 20-lb weight loss. I am very upset to be so thin (5′ 10 and 120) and have much bigger breasts than I have ever had in my life! Would you deem me a good candidate for revision?
A: It is true that breast augmentation with implants under 200cc in volume is very rare. But yet they do make them as small as 125cc in volume. But most of such implants are used as an adjunctive component of breast lifting surgery.
Had I seen you before your desired breast augmentation procedure what I would have said is that no size of existing breast implant will make you an A cup, no matter how small you started. Even putting in a very small breast implant is going to make most women some form of a B cup even if it is a small one. Granted you are very tall and thin, but even a small breast implant will make some degree of a visible mound which is by definition a B cup.
That being said, where you do go from here…how do you revise what you have to reach your size goal? It would be extremely helpful to know whether you have saline or silicone gel implants and what projection/profile they are. For the sake of assumption, let us assume that you have silicone gel implants. There is no where to go in terms of size as the smallest silicone gel breast implant is 170cc, regardless of the manufacturer. If you have saline, then there is the possibility of downsizing particularly if the 175cc are overfilled. The smallest saline breast implant made is 125cc in the lowest or moderate projection style. By switching to this smaller saline implant, you would realize a 30% reduction in size (maybe more if they are overfilled) and perhaps some less projection if they are anything higher in projection than a low profile implant.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis,Indiana