Breast Implants: Should I Get Them?

A Personal Decision

When I tell people that I’m a plastic surgeon who specializes in breast augmentation in the Columbus area, I hear a lot of different opinions about this operation. Some of the feedback I hear is positive, some neutral, and some negative. So I wanted to cover what I see here in Columbus, Ohio, when it come to a patient’s decision to get breast implants.

First, the decision to have breast augmentation is very personal, and there is no right answer. It is impossible to know what another person is living or thinking, so each patient is making their own personal decision. This aspect alone is crucial, as I sometimes hear the opinion: “How could she?” OR “Why did she?” And these are questions that you cannot answer for someone else.

“I just want what I used to have.”

For some patients, there has been a loss of fullness from pregnancy or weight loss. The breast is really just a deflated, empty breast with stretched out skin. This can be a small amount of extra skin, requiring just an augmentation to fill it back up and out. Or it can be a lot of extra skin, which requires a breast lift in addition to adding the volume or fullness with an implant. These patient’s state they want to go back to the way they were prior to having their children or prior to a weight loss, but you really can never go back. So for these patients, we do our best to make the situation as good as possible. For many, all these life changes have left the patient with lopsided, asymmetrical breasts too. And this can be a real problem—in clothing and without clothing! In this special case, getting the breasts to be matched more closely can require different operations on each side, including different size implants. But whatever the situation, the patient makes the personal decision to move forward to feel better!

“I never have had any!”

For others, they have always been very small breasted—some a double AA and even smaller. Our inside joke is that this is a real emergency! But seriously, I see many patients who do not have any breast tissue at all, and all they want is to just have something. They are not looking to be like their friends who are D cup or DD cup, but they just want a B cup! These patients are so grateful and so happy in the end because they feel better. They tell me they feel prettier, sexier, and happier… and that is great for them.

 “I am a trans patient.”

A newer category of patients that I see now are MTF transgender patients who are looking to reflect the person they are on the inside. These patients are going through enormous transitions in their life, and this one aspect can make a huge difference. Often, the MTF trans patients will have some breast development with hormonal adjustment but won’t be at their ultimate goal. For these patients, the operation is life changing. There are nuances to this operation related to the MTF trans patient’s baseline chest wall anatomy, which makes choosing a plastic surgeon with an expertise in breast augmentation crucial. Fortunately, there are many types of implants to choose from to get the best fit.

“I got implants years ago.”

Finally, there are the revision patients who have had implants in the past and now are looking to change them due to the time that has passed or other issues. If they have gained weight, maybe they want their implants to be smaller. The opposite can be true also. And many of these patients have the older saline implants which are heavier and have ripples. If a patient has the older textured implants, they may desire to have them changed to smooth implants with a capsulectomy. I talk more about breast augmentation revision surgery in this earlier blog post.

Breast Wishes!

Whatever the reason or scenario that describes you, this operation is personalized and adapted to be just the perfect procedure for you. It is amazing how different we all are, so in the end, it will be your result. If you want to see the type of results you might expect, you can take a look at my patients’ before-and-after photos.

And again, no one else can make this decision for you or know what you are thinking. If you’re considering breast augmentation in the Columbus, Ohio, area, and you want to learn more, I invite you to come and see us at Aesthetica. You can reach us by requesting a consultation online or by calling us at (614) 569-2649. My team of assistants—the A-team—has worked together with me for over 15 years, and they’re experienced. We will guide you through the process.

Breast Wishes!