Breast Implants Q&A

80%

WORTH IT RATING

1,008 Reviews

Ask a Question

View Before and Afters

Average Breast Implants Cost: $6,000

Learn about Breast Implants

4,917 people and 831 doctors are talking about Breast Implants

Get Free Email Updates

Does Breast Implant Profile Matter in Preventing Bottom Out?

asked 2 years ago by Ms. K28 in Alabama
Latest answer by W. Tracy Hankins, MD
Question viewed 1,867 times
Tags: age 25-34, 5 ft 8 in to 6 ft 0 in, under muscle, A to C cup, bottom out, profile

I am 28, 5'8", weighing 136 lbs, with smooth Saline Breast implants (425cc each), under the muscle. I went from a 36A to 36C. I am facing revision 10yrs later. My left breast is bottoming out about 1/2inch. I am going with the memory gel implant, under the muscle with a repair to the left. My surgeon wants to go slightly larger to push me to a small D cup to add volume and close the gap/add cleavage.

Does the profile matter? Would I be able to get a high profile implant with less CC to get the same affect? I want to do everything I can to avoid another bottoming out!

12 answers to Does Breast Implant Profile Matter in Preventing Bottom Out?

Correction of "bottomed-out" implants

“bottoming out” is the term used to describe the condition which occurs when the breast tends to look as if it has descended on the chest wall after previous surgery, whether the surgery involved implants, a lift, or a reduction. In the case of “bottomed out” implants, sutures can often be placed in the lower pole of the breast to re-elevate the breast on the chest wall. This is called a capsullorraphy and can achieve excellt results in... more

W. Tracy Hankins, MD
Las Vegas Plastic Surgeon

Breast Implants "bottoming out"

Many factors can cause breast implants to bottom out. Women with extra large implants are at highest risk of having breast implants bottom out. This is one of many reasons I don't use extra large breast implants in my plastic surgery practice

Michael Law, MD
Raleigh-Durham Plastic Surgeon

michaellawmd.com

Implant profile and bottoming out

"Bottoming out" is a term that originally came from breast reduction surgery. Post-op, we would notice that, over a year or more, the lower half of the breast stretched out, while the nipple position maintained itself pretty well. While this can happen after augmentation, due to a heavy implant, or stretchy skin, some surgeons confuse this with descent of the implant pocket or "pocket expansion", which is a different situation. Here, the implant... more

Thomas Fiala, MD
Altamonte Springs Plastic Surgeon

Implant profile probably has little effect on bottoming out tendency but surface texture may.

Higher profile implants may actually cause you to have less cleavage and greater distance between the breasts. Breast implant contour will probably have little effect on the bottoming out. However, surface contour may have a slight effect. Textured implants may diminish this tendency but are becoming increasingly less popular.

Otto Joseph Placik, MD
Chicago Plastic Surgeon

Bottoming out

Going with a larger implant will surely put you at risk for further bottoming out. Bottoming out is a combination of your skin tone and size of the implant. The larger the implant is, the more bottoming out you will notice. If you already have this issue, you should discuss with your surgeon revision of the implant pocket and actually going with a smaller implant to avoid future problems. Over the last 10yrs your skin has aged and the tone decreased. Changes to your skin as a result of... more

Bahram Ghaderi, MD
Chicago Plastic Surgeon

Bigger implants will increase bottoming out

Hi, Thank you for your question. If you want to avoid bottoming out, I would not go bigger. This will only increase your chances of bottoming out because the weight on your breast will be heavier! Textured implants do aid in the reduction of bottoming out; however, they do come with some downsides such as creating a more noticeable rippling effect if your tissue is too thin and not being as mobile. You do have some other options such as a capsular repair to help hold your implant in place... more

Sam Speron, MD
Chicago Plastic Surgeon

Bottoming out with implants

Bottoming out with implants can be the result of multiple things. This can include poor skin tone, very heavy large implants, age, gravity, violation of the inframammary fold to name a few.

Steven Wallach, MD
Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Breast implant profile and preventing bottom out

Dear Ms. K28, I agree with the comments by Drs. Rand and Yuan. Bottoming out is a multifactorial loss of breast tissue integrity leading to progressive sagging. As we age, our tissues stop repairing themselves as well and the damage becomes visible. Larger implants are heavier and as a result they gravitationally stretch the breast skin envelope , especially its inferior poles, AND cause progressive dropping of the breasts along with pressure wasting (atrophy) of the overlying breast... more

Peter A. Aldea, MD
Memphis Plastic Surgeon

Breast Implant style and bottoming out

Implant size, not implant style, may have more to do with bottoming out in your case. Once the inframammary fold is repaired or reset, a smaller (and therefore lighter) implant will help prevent this problem from recurring in the future. The difference between high profile and moderate plus profile is a matter of millimeters. The most important treatment here is the surgical repair of the fold, not so much the implant style choice.

William Bruno, MD
Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

Avoiding bottoming out

It does not make sense to get larger, and thus heavier, implants to prevent bottoming out. While bottoming out is often a misused term and can be caused by many factors. enlarging the implant is usually not one of the treatments.

Robin T.W. Yuan, MD
Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

Breast implant bottoming out

The larger the implants the more the possibility of bottoming out becasue of the weight on the implants. Therefore, fixing a bottomed out implant and going bigger at the same time increases your risk of repeat bottoming out.

Richard P. Rand, MD, FACS
Seattle Plastic Surgeon

Does Breast implant profile play a role in preventing bottoming out of implant?

I don't think so. There are two key factors in preventing bottoming out. One is the adherence of the implant to the surrounding tissues. Textured surface implants are ideal for this as they adhere to the surrounding tissues like velcro. They are not a perfect solution as they can help create visible rippling if the soft tissue cover over the implant is thin. Another way to prevent drop out, or bottoming out, is to do a stitching of the capsule to anchor the bottom of the... more