by Terrye Tebbetts
Over ten years ago, Dr. John Tebbetts wrote an editorial for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery journal entitled, The Greatest Myths in Breast Augmentation. It amazes me that these Myths are still timely topics in today’s world of breast augmentation!
Myth #1 – Bigger is better. Now tell me that is not still the general thinking of most women (and certainly most men) when the topic of breast implants creeps into conversation! If I had a nickle for every time I have heard a patient say, “well, if I am going to do this and spend thousands of dollars, I want to be sure I can tell a big difference!” Ok, I get wanting to get your money’s worth out of your breast implant operation but….there are other ways to be sure your dollars are well spent. How about making sure your investment in your breast implants is the safest it can be, lasts as long as possible for you and looks like they belong on you aging as gracefully as possible over a long period of time? That would certainly make it a worthy investment in my eyes. After all, any breast implant that is implanted, will make you bigger than you started out, right?
Here’s what Dr. Tebbetts had to say about the myth of bigger is better to surgeons:
“Without debating social implications and from the perspective of tissue effects over time, bigger breasts are not better. If breast envelopes consistently supported weight over time, mastopexy would not exist, If bras could circumvent genetics, gravity, pregnancy and aging, the price for bigger might be less and the spectacularly beautiful 18-year-old D-Cup breast would not be spectacularly saggy with an empty upper pole by age 30. The envelope of the average breast is designed to support a certain range of weight. When genetics, hormonal influences, weight gain, pregnancy, nursing, or breast implants exceed that range, negative effects predictably occur. Consequences of excessively large breast implants include ptosis (sagginess), tissue stretching, tissue thinning, inadequate soft-tissue cover over the implant, visible implant edges, traction rippling, parenchymal and subcutaneous tissue atrophy, potentially implant exposure or extrusion and a high likelihood of needing further operations with additional costs and risks in the future. Virtually all of these problems are preventable prospectively by limiting implant size.
What is “too big”? To some patients and surgeons, too big does not exist. There is always a rationalization that it is “what the patient wants”, plus some level of psychological, physiological or financial rationale as to why it is okay to do it. With luck, the patient may become a magazine centerfold or cover that the surgeon can frame as office wall art for marketing. Never mind that over her lifetime the patient will likely experience substantial negative consequences and potential reoperations caused by excessively large implants.
When implant volume exceeds 350 cc, even when that volume is required to adequately fill and previously stretched envelope, implant-soft tissue dynamics exert predicable negative consequences over time on the tissues of the breast. When patients request or require implants of 350 cc or greater, even for reconstruction, they should be educated thoroughly and acknowledge their acceptance of all of the risk listed previously in informed consent documents. Meeting a patient’s short-term desires is not as important as minimizing potential negative consequences for her over her lifetime. Will she really want breasts that large if she honestly knows what she is eventually going to get?”
Myth #2 – Patients do not deserve choices……
About the Author: Terrye Tebbetts is one of the most knowledgeable women in the world about breast implants, with 27 years of experience educating patients and 11 years as a patient herself. For more information about breast implants or breast augmentation Dallas surgeons, please visit www.thebestbreast.com.