I am 5' 120 lbs, and want this to look natural. I really don't want bigger breasts, just better ones. Any advice?
Some women who need a lift and believe they are a D actually have more loose skin than breast tissue. They may wear a D but their actual breast tissue may only be a B-C range. Doing a lift alone in that situation would automatically make you appear smaller. The implant can help provide shape and fullness, as well as maintain volume. Since an augmentation automatically increases your size to some degree, I think you need to have a detailed conversation with your board-certified plastic surgeon.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
If you have plenty of breast tissue, but they are too low, that is a classic indication for a breast lift procedure primarily.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
Yes, just do a lift! A lift (mastopexy) will change the contour of the breasts, while an augmentation will change the size. You can do one or the other, or both. In your case, if you don't want to change the size, just do a lift! Good luck.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
For your small size (height and weight) and a D already, you don't need an implant. Of course, I haven't seen your pics and would be glad to give my opinion if you send them. I have done many lifts on D's without an implant and they look great. A lift does not alone give upper pole fullness, but you have enough breast, so it shouldn't be an issue.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
Breast implants will only increase the size of your breasts and will not provide much, if any, of a lift. So, if you have some sagging or drooping of the breasts, a mastopexy is appropriate and can be combined with the breast augmentation.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
It is possible to do just a lift and have a very nice natural look. We do that all the time here.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
With a lift, you will be somewhat smaller. But an implant that is too big may not be what you want. If you like your size, then a lift and maybe a small implant would be more suitable.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
Try just the lift first.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
There is no need for breast implants in every breast lift or mastopexy. The breast can be shaped, firmed and lifted with a proper breast lift especially when there is adequate breast tissue. Typically implants are used to help provide a base to build the breast on, but with your own breast tissue an auto augmentation with breast lift can be performed.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
You're facing a complicated situation. From the size of your current breasts, there's probably a good chance that you have a fair amount of ptosis in your breasts. In order to get the type of look you're looking for, you may have to do a combination of augmentation and mastopexy. This sounds counterintuitive because you want to stay the same size. But you're plastic surgeon will likely need to remove some of your breast tissue to be able to reshape your breasts, but that will leave you deficient in volume. Therefore, you may need a small implant to keep your breast size the same. This is not uncommon to do to keep patients the same size when doing a significant lift.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
It would be impossible to give you good advise without photos or an examination. However, sometimes the best thing to do to maximize shape is a small reduction in addition to the lift with small low profile implants. This will give you a natural look, not make you larger, and give you upper pole fullness.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
Implants fundamentally make a woman larger, so since you don't want to be bigger implants won't be your fix.
I don't know what you mean by "better." What's wrong? Droopy? Odd shape? No one can make a suggestion without seeing a photo. But in general I would say that a patient who wants to look better without going larger would need some type of a lift and repositioning of the breast tissue.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
There are multiple characteristics of the breast one evaluates when deciding the best method to give the patient the look they want. Volume, Degree of Sag, and Quality of Breast tissue. If you are happy with volume and have good breast quality - Breast lift. If quality of tissue is inadequate - remove some breast volume and replace with an equal amount of implant.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
Best thing to do is communicate with your surgeon. I ask my patients to bring in pictures of breast sizes that they like and even dislike. I review these photos with the patient and discuss if it is reasonable with their body type, size,etc.. I take these photos to the operating room with me and when the patients is on the operating room table, I use temporary sizers to view how different cc's look on the patient. I sit the patient up on the operating room several times and compare them with the photos that they have chosen. When I see that I have achieved the patient's goals, I remove the temporary sizers and put in the implants. There is no guess work. I have all sizes from both manufactorers available to me at all times. This procedure takes more time BUT gives more exact results.
Published on Jul 11, 2012
Without photos it is truly difficult to see stand your goals. If you don't want bigger breasts, do you want lifted breasts? If so, a lift alone will not give you upper breast fullness. It will lift your nipple but it still may leave you with a "scoop" to the upper breast. The implant will give you the upper breast fullness
Published on Jul 11, 2012