More women trading in large breast implants for smaller sizes

“Surgeons are seeing a definite shift in the look many women are asking for, away from the very round, prominent ‘stripper boob’ towards something more in keeping with their natural shape” said Dr. Daniel Mills, The President Elect of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.

In fact, the demand for implant removal, with or without replacement, has grown by almost 10% from 2010 to 2014 and, in the US, nearly 24,000 women had a removal procedure last year.

Women who have had very large implants inserted have begun to realise what women with large breasts have always known – that large breasts can get in the way especially when trying to play sport or exercising at the gym.

So when it comes to breasts, bigger is not necessarily better. In plastic surgery, our aim is always to produce a natural look so that our patients can feel normal again. But many plastic surgeons have been pressured by patients who ask for very large breasts with fullness in the upper pole – something which is very far from natural.

The recent trend back to the use of silicone gel filled implants has also resulted in anxiety for many women who realise that the risk of rupture of the implants increases with time and that rupture may go undetected. Indeed, in our practice we have seen several cases of silicone gel implants that have ruptured only 4 years after insertion.

When a woman decides to have her implants removed there are a number of options. She could just revert back to her normal natural breast size; she could have her implants replaced (and I would always recommend a saline implant placed behind the muscle); or she could elect to have the volume of her breasts increased by using her own fat. In our hands, this has become an excellent procedure and we have transplanted up to 400cc of fat into each breast with up to 80% volume retention.

So it is good to know that women who wish to have their breast implants removed now have a number of excellent options.