Q&A With Dr. Eisenberg

There’s no typical breast augmentation patient. Dr. Eisenberg’s patients range in age from 18 to 70 and up. They are teachers and nurses, stay-at-home moms and company executives, policewomen and bartenders and more. What they have in common is that they want to look natural and proportional. They’re tired of padding their bras. They want their clothes to fit better. They want their pre-baby breasts back. They want to feel more feminine and less self-conscious. Read their stories.

Timing is everything when you are considering breast augmentation surgery. If you’re getting married, you’ll need to wait about 8 weeks after surgery before you can get a true fit on your gown. If you’re heading to a beach vacation, you’ll need at least three weeks before you can sunbathe and swim. When should you schedule surgery if you are entering a sporting competition, hoping to get pregnant or working hard to lose weight. Find out the details. https://www.lookingnatural.com/breast-augmentation/timing-your-surgery/

Breast implants only need to be replaced if they deflate (saline implants) or rupture (silicone implants), and they’re not fragile. Through the years, manufacturers have increased the strength of the implant shell; in my experience, only about 3 percent or less of implants break. I recently removed saline implants from a woman who wanted to go bigger after 19 years, and her implants looked the same as the day I put them in.

Most women think that being proportional means wearing a C cup bra. By and large (pun intended), they tell me that they want to be “a full C cup.” But a C cup can mean one thing if it’s made by Victoria’s Secret and another if it’s made by Vanity Fair. You might wear a B cup in a full-coverage bra and a C cup in a demi bra, even if the same company makes both styles. Because there is no standard cup-sizing system, I prefer to call it a C look. To achieve a C look, a 5-foot woman with a small frame might need a B cup while a 5-foot-8-inch woman with a large frame might need a D cup.

Breasts are sisters, not twins. The difference might be slight or more obvious: Nipple position, chest diameter, the amount of breast tissue, and the location of the breast on the chest wall all contribute to the appearance of your breasts. When one breast hangs a little lower than the other, it might give the illusion of being bigger. With all these variables, it is no surprise that no one has identical twins.

As early as three weeks after breast augmentation surgery, you’ll be ready for the beach. Your breasts will look their perkiest, like you are wearing a push-up bra – but without the bra. At that time, the incision will be healed enough so that water won’t penetrate it and possibly cause an infection, so you will be able to go in a hot tub, swimming pool or the ocean. You can go tanning as early as three weeks after surgery, too. Ultraviolet light, whether from the tanning bed or the sun at the beach, can make a scar redder for a longer period of time, so protect your incisions with sunscreen that has a sun protection factor (SPF) of 30 or higher.

You are not too young for saline implants, according to guidelines from the FDA and implant manufacturers, but you are not eligible for silicone gel implants until you are 22. Age isn’t the only deciding factor. You also need to be fully grown before you have cosmetic breast surgery, which means that there have been no changes in your height, weight or breast size for two years. Although most women finish growing by age 18, others continue to grow into their early 20s.

When you lose weight, it not only reduces the size of your waist and thighs, but it might also reduce the size of your breasts –sometimes dramatically – leaving you with saggy breasts and stretched skin. If you are planning to lose 10 percent or more of your body weight, it makes sense to wait until you have reached your goal before you surgery. In order to choose breast implants that will make you proportional, you need to know your true starting size.

“It’s been almost 15 years since I got my breast implants, and I do my yearly mammograms. No leakage or reduction, still round and beautiful breasts. They look more beautiful and even more natural than ever.” – Gayle G.

When breast implants are placed behind the pectoral muscle, the muscle blunts the part of the implant that peeks out of a tank top, bra or bathing suit, creating a more natural look. If someone touches your breast, he or she will feel your own breast tissue for the most part. It is common to be able to feel the implant on the side or underneath the breast, where there is little or no muscle coverage. The thinner you are, the easier it is to feel the implants, but it seems to be a nonissue for most women.

In most cases, a breast augmentation will not interfere with breastfeeding. That’s because the milk ducts are generally not disturbed during the procedure when implants are placed through an incision under the breast. However, not all women are naturally able to breastfeed, whether or not they have cosmetic surgery.

You don’t have to sleep on your back or sit up all night after breast enlargement, reduction or lift surgery. You can sleep any way you want from the night of surgery on, including on your stomach, if you are comfortable enough. You won’t pop or displace your implants by sleeping on them; they are extremely durable.

Because I place the breast implant behind the chest muscle, the implant interferes less with your mammogram. With over 300,000 women having breast augmentations each year, most radiologists have experience reading these mammograms. Likewise, the placement does not interfere with a manual breast exam by you or your gynecologist.

It depends on what you want to do. In general, three weeks after surgery my patients are okay doing aerobic activity (treadmill, stationary bike, etc.), running and lower-body weight training. They are usually comfortable doing arm exercises (upper-body weights) starting about six weeks after surgery. I have Triple Crown bodybuilders who go back into competition after getting implants. They start with light training at six weeks and heavier training after eight weeks. Likewise, there are a fair number of kickboxers among my patients, and they seem to be comfortable getting back to their sport at around six weeks after surgery. None of their implants has deflated.