What to Expect After Breast Implant Surgery

When I call my breast augmentation patients the day after surgery or examine them at their first post-op visit, they want to know one thing: Is this normal?

They phrase that question in many different ways:

Is it normal for my implants to be so high?
Will my implants soften up and squish together?
Is it okay that one of my breasts is up higher than the other?
Is it too soon to be judging my final shape and size?
Did you give me the implant size I asked for? 

My answer to all of the above: Yes!

Saline vs Silicone Breast Implants

There’s an opinion asserted by breast implant manufacturers and by many plastic surgeons that silicone gel breast implants are better than saline breast implants. In my opinion, “It ain’t necessarily so.” I’ve performed more than 7,000 breast augmentation surgeries, many of them with saline implants. My patients who chose saline have reported a high degree of satisfaction; it’s been rare for a woman to request that I change her saline implants to silicone. Silicone gel implants may be stealing the spotlight, but saline breast implants still have much to offer. Here are seven...

Do Breast Implants Need to Be Replaced Every 10 Years?

Several times a week in consultation, I answer questions like these:

“I need to replace my breast implants after 10 years, right?” Wrong.

“You did my breast implants 14 years ago and I’m still happy with their appearance, but a friend just had her 10-year-old implants redone because her doctor said she had to. Is that true?” False.

Breast implants don’t have an expiration date. They only need to be replaced if they deflate (saline) or rupture (silicone), and they’re not fragile.

Is It Normal For My Breasts To Be Different In Size?

I got a private Facebook message from a young teen concerned that one of her breasts was bigger than the other. “It is normal for my breasts to be a little different in size?” she asked. She was wondering what she should do.

The short answer? I told her not to worry, to give it time. It’s not uncommon for breasts to develop unevenly during puberty, but by the time they stop growing they usually are more even. I also told her that there’s no such thing as perfectly identical breasts; most women have breasts that are slightly different sizes. It’s called asymmetry.

The long answer: In puberty, breast development can start first on one side or on both sides at the same time. It takes about 3-5 years for the glandular tissue to fully develop and for breasts to reach their full adult size. On average, most women are finished growing by age 18, although some might continue to grow into their early 20s.

“Can you fix my tuberous breasts?”

Dr. Ted Eisenberg Corrects Tuberous Breasts With a New Simpler, Safer, One-Stage Procedure It’s a question that women sometimes ask when they come in to Dr. Ted Eisenberg’s office for a cosmetic breast surgery consultation. They are asking about a congenital condition in which breasts might be longer and narrower, rather than round. The areolas may be puffy, there might be a lack of skin under the nipple, and the fold under the breast (the inframammary fold, or IMF) might be higher than usual. While plastic surgery websites and Internet forums describe a complicated approach to correcting...