Breast implants can cause stretch marks in some women

Stretch marks can be caused by implants.  I published an article about this.  We looked at the numbers of women who got stretch marks and what some of the causes were.

Out of  about 2000 patients, I have seen 27 women get stretch marks.  Only a handful were severe, and most were mild to moderate with just some faint redness for 3 months and then fading to white, and hardly noticeable.  

The factors that were involved were:

1. Placement of the implant (on top of the muscle seems to be higher than under the muscle).  

2.  Size of the implant (the larger the implant, the more chance of stretch marks).  

3.  Age (only two of the patients were older than 26, and no one over 32 years of age).  

4.  If they had stretch marks previously (no one had stretch marks that had not had them previously.  

I've actually seen fine, pink stretch marks develop after breast augmentation. 

The patient was a very light complected woman who had never had pregnancy or weight fluctuations. We agreed upon a saline, moderate profile 375cc implant and the surgery went uneventfully. 

She first noticed the pink stretch marks about a month post-op and asked me whether I'd ever seen them, which I hadn't. 

After talking with some colleagues across the country, it seems that other patients who had similar historical factors (skin type, implant size, etc) occasionally experience stretch marks. 

Fortunately, my patient's pink stretch marks eventually became white and inobtrusive. 

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In my experience breast implants will not cause any new stretch marks. The ones I have seen after augmentation already existed before the operation.

The cause of stretch marks is usually related to a dermal injury from increase stretch on the elastic and collagen bundles of the skin. This is usually seen in the abdominal skin following multiple child birth. Even in these cases, genetic predisposition is an important factor.

The general recommendation is not to choose a very large implant. The quality of the skin is an important  factor determing whether stretch marks could develop after breast augmentation.

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Hello,

This depends upon the nature of your skin and the implant size you have placed. Larger implants in thinner-skinned women stretch more. Most women with mid-sized implants do not form new stretch marks.

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Although most patients who undergo breast augmentation do not experience any stretch marks or striae, some can.  A person usually develops stretch marks or tears in the dermis during periods of rapid growth in the presence of high circulating hormontes (steroids), for example, during puberty or pregnancy.  If one's skin envelope is quite tight and desires a large augmentation, this type of patient could potentially suffer from some stretch marks, depending on their genetics.  These stretch marks initally are red in nature but whiten with time.  Usually post partum women with stretch marks find that breast implants improve the appearance of their stretch marks.

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Anytime your skin is rapidly stretched, beyond its limits, stretch marks may result.  However, they do not commonly result after breast augmentation.  Most stretch marks that are seen after breast implants are usually stretch marks that were already there to begin with, but since the skin was not stretched out, they were not as easily visible.

Most young women getting breast implants have youthful, elastic skin, that tolerates stretching without developing stretch marks. More mature women getting breast implants may have lost breast volume, and replacing it with an implant doesn't stretch the skin as much. The women prone to getting stretch marks are those women with tight, thin skin who are getting "large" implants.