Do breast implants cause stretch marks because of the skin stretching? Is there any way to tell ahead of time if you are likely to have stretch marks from getting breast implants?
The occurrence of stretch marks after breast augmentation is rare. It may be more likely to occur in younger patients, patients with pre-existing stretch marks, and those seeking very large implants.
The formation of stretch marks is not totally predictable.
Large weight gains, especially over a short period of time, can cause extensive stretch marks (think pregnancy).
Large breast implants are more prone to causing stretch marks than smaller implants.
There is no guarantee what size of implants will cause stretch marks, since there are many variables such as genetics that factor in.
Stretch marks are caused by a loss of balance between skin resiliency and skin stretch. Breast implants may make stretch marks appear more visible in some cases if the skin is stretched far beyond is resilient capacity.
If you are concerned about stretch marks, you may consider moisturizing your skin consistently before surgery and in the immediate postoperative period. Our office recommends an Omega Intensive Cream that we routinely prescribe in our office. This complements the natural ability of the skin to moisturize and stretch with a newly implanted prosthesis.
The best indication as to how an incision will heal ( whether it will leave a "bad" or thick "keloid" scar) is how a patient has healed before. That is the scarring is dependent on the persons genetic makeup. The same is true for stretch marks. Some women are prone to stretch marks - they have them even though they were never heavy or even had children. Other women have gained and lost weight or had large babies and do not have stretch marks. Immediately after surgery stretch marks which were present before surgery can be more noticeable . Once the swelling has gone down in general the stretch marks return to their appearance before the surgery.
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