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Do Small Saline Breast Implants Ripple Much?

asked 1 year ago by kaitlyn58 in Buffalo NY
Latest answer by Scott W. Mosser, MD
Question viewed 1,084 times
Tags: saline implants, A to B cup, rippling

I am currently a 32A and would like to increase to about a B size. I have read that saline implants tend to ripple, especially in petite women. However, I ONLY plan to have 250cc saline inflated to 270cc subpectorally. Will rippling be barely noticable, because the implants are small and SUBPECTORAL?

26 answers to Do Small Saline Breast Implants Ripple Much?

Rippling and what it means

Essentially, rippling is the visible signs of folding of the implants through the breast. There are two factors involved: Thickness of the overlying soft tissue (muscle, breast gland, fat) Qualities inherent in the implant (silicone vs. saline, saline fill volumes) For thickness, this is usually the one area that we cannot easily change. Women with smaller breasts and less overlying soft tissue will "show" the implants more. Placing the implant under the muscle... more

David Bogue, MD
Boca Raton Plastic Surgeon

www.drbogue.com

Saline implant rippling

All saline implants ripple when filled within their suggested volumes. Whether or not you are aware of it is dependent on a number of factors. The softer the implant, the less the ripples. As the implant pressure increases either by overfilling or by external pressure (capsular contracture), the ripples get smoothed out. The chance of seeing or feeling the rippling depends of the amount and thickness of the tissues covering the rippling. Thus, implants that are beyond the dimension of... more

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

Ripples with implants

Saline implants have an irregular edge on the outer margin of the implant, silicone implants also have this irregularity but it is less noticeable. When the implant is placed in a patient it sometimes appears as a ripple on the breast . Usually it is more easily palpated than seen. Most of the time when it is visible the overlying tissue is thin. But in most patients this deformity is not visible .When placed under the muscle it is less likely to become "rippled."... more

Walter D. Gracia, MD
Arlington Plastic Surgeon

Rippling in saline breast implants

Rippling can be caused by several things. It has more to do with the amount of tissue covering the implants, how loose the skin is and how much the implants are filled. So the size of the implants is not really a major contributor, though of course larger implants can be more visible for a number of reasons (not just limited to rippling). You can try to minimize rippling by placing implants beneath the muscle and/or using smaller implants and overfilling them slightly. In patients who have... more

Scott W. Mosser, MD
San Francisco Plastic Surgeon

www.drmosser.com

Rippling with small implants

If the implants are placed under the muscle and are overinflated and are on the small side, they are less likely to ripple than a larger implant. A larger implant will thin out the overlying breast and muscle and the thinner layer will more likely have rippling show through. Your best bet, however, for no rippling would be a gel implant.

Lisa L. Sowder, MD
Seattle Plastic Surgeon

Rippling, saline implants, and size

Perhaps I can sort out the issues here. All saline-filled breast implants inherently feel "ripply" because they are filled with saline. All silicone gel-filled breast implants inherently feel like tissue because they are filled with gel. Actual rippling in the sense of visible rippling of the shell of the implant is a mechanical problem caused by a number of things including over-filling or under-filling (saline), improper sizing, surface texturing, capsule... more

Scott L. Replogle, MD
Denver Plastic Surgeon

Both saline and silicone implants can ripple

The best way to avoid rippling is to place breast implants behind the muscle and avoid choosing a size too large in relation to your natural breast tissue and chest dimensions. Slightly overfilling saline implants help as well. Its important to understand a few things about rippling: visible rippling is rare in smaller implants behind the muscle Although saline implants have a slightly higher chance of visible rippling, rippling can occur with both saline AND... more

Adam Hamawy, MD
Westchester Plastic Surgeon

Saline implants ripple more than silicone gel implants even under the muscle.

Most often saline implants under the muscle, sub pectoral, give very nice results even in small breasted thin women. There is always the risk of rippling which is significantly higher in saline verses gel implants. So if you have the option of silicon gel implants under the muscle verses saline under the muscle, the I would definitely recommend you chose gel under the muscle or under the breast.

Carl W. "Rick" Lentz III, MD
Daytona Beach Plastic Surgeon

Saline implant ripple may be less that you think

A saline implant does have a tendency to cause a palpable ripple, often at the level of the fold under the breast, or out to the side, though in a submuscular position, visible ripples are rare. It is easy to be over concerned about the risk and I think you would do well with a saline implant. The relative softness is the same as a gel, and will tend to stay softer over time. The incision is smaller and so is the cost. Gel is 'popular' but the saline implant is likely to remain... more

Peter E. Johnson, MD
Chicago Plastic Surgeon

www.peterejohnsonmd.com

WHY do Breast Implants RIPPLE?

ALL breast implants ripple. The rippling is a function of the action of the filler on the surrounding shell. Saline breast implants tend to ripple more than silicone gel filled breast implants. In addition, textured surface implants will ripple more than smooth surfaced implants. This basic fact is the major reason why we cannot place just any size implant into any woman and expect an attractive result. For an attractive result, the patients PRE-surgical breast tissue must be able to... more

Peter A. Aldea, MD
Memphis Plastic Surgeon

Rippling after Breast Augmentation

Hello Kaitlyn, Excellent question! Rippling is due to several factors. If a patient has very thin skin, rippling is more likely regardless of silicone or saline implant placement. If the implant is wider than your chest and is pushing out against your skin, rippling is more likely. Textured implants, especially if placed over the muscle have a higher chance of rippling. The best way to minimize chance of rippling with saline implants is to pick a smooth implant... more

Michael A. Jazayeri, MD
Santa Ana Plastic Surgeon

Rippling is related to the thinness of the overlying breast tissue

Even though you are planning to undergo a subpectoral or dual plane breast implant procedure, the most common area where you may experience "rippling" is in the lower outer quadrant, because the coverage is exclusively skin and breast tissue. The pectoralis muscle will mitigate against rippling in the upper pole but may also be appreciated in the lower inner quadrant, if the implant is a "standard" profile saline and/or underfilled. Your PS has discussed... more

Lavinia Chong, MD
Orange County Plastic Surgeon

Rippling and saline breast implants

All saline breast implants are prone to rippling and wrinkling. Small implants placed subpectorally may be less likely to do so, however this depends on how much soft tissue (breast tissue) you have already. The more tissue you have, the less chance of visible or palpable rippling. Silicone implants have a lower incidence of rippling and you may consider converting to silicone if you are very concerned with rippling. Best wishes, Dr. Bruno

William Bruno, MD
Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

Rippling, small implant

Rippling is due to capsular contracture or underfilled implant. It can be visible if the overlying breast tissue is thin. If it is a small implant with good overlying breast tissue chances of rippling is reduced. sanjay parashar

Sanjay Parashar, MD
Dubai Plastic Surgeon

Saline implants and rippling

essentially all saline implants ripple regardless of size or fill. the biggest variable determining how visible this will be is the thickness of the tissue around the implant- ie how much skin, fat and breast tissue you have over your implants. This is the reason almost all plastic surgeons place saline implants under the chest wall muscle. If you are quite thin, I would advice you to consider silicone gel implants

Jack Peterson, MD
Topeka Plastic Surgeon

Why choose saline if you are worried about rippling?

Although most of the discussion here is about rippling and whether saline ripples even at smaller sizes, I ask you another question. If you are concerned about rippling why would you choose saline over silicone (unless you are under 22 or have some other contraindication)? The smaller the implants the less they will ripple, provided they are filled to the maximum recommended volume. I am a firm believer that the smaller implants under the muscle will have less noticeable... more

Steven Schuster, MD
Boca Raton Plastic Surgeon

www.schusterplasticsurgery.com

Even Small Saline Implants More Likely to Ripple

All saline implants are more likely to ripple than silicone implants are. The fact that you are having your implants placed below the muscle makes the rippling less likely to be seen or felt, but the chance is still greater for rippling with saline.

John Whitt, MD
Louisville Plastic Surgeon

Saline implant rippling is helped with overfilling and submuscular positioning

You've got relatively small implants that are 'overfilled' and in the sub-muscular position- as long as you have adequate soft tissue coverage, its unlikely you'll have issues with rippling. A patient like yourself is exactly the type of woman that I would recommend a silicone implant to. Wrinkling is less of an issue with silicone implants,

Scott Sattler, MD
Bellevue Plastic Surgeon

Saline implants and rippling

All saline implants eventually ripple in my opinion. This occurs most commonly when a woman has diminshed breast tissue or when an implant is placed subglandular. As women age, the breast tissue decreases and this will lead to an increased risk of rippling.

Samer W. Cabbabe, MD
Saint Louis Plastic Surgeon

There are many factors that contribute to the exiistence or visibility of rippling in breast implants

There are many factors that contribute to the exiistence or visibility of rippling: Postion of implant (over or under the muscle) Position of patient (prone or supine) Type of implant (moderate or high profile) Shape of implant (anatomic or round) Implant material (silicone or saline) Degree of implant fill (saline) Soft tissue coverage ( Surface texture (Smooth or textured Amount of breast ptosis (sag) Degree of capsule formation or capsular contracture Weight gain... more

Otto Joseph Placik, MD
Chicago Plastic Surgeon

Rippling in saline implants

The issue of rippling isn't really about the size even though large implants thin the tissue more and may cause more rippling. The muscle doesn't cover the whole implant either so it really depends on how thin you are and if the implants can be overfilled a little bit.

Richard P. Rand, MD, FACS
Seattle Plastic Surgeon

Rippling with breast implants

I almost always place saline implants under the muscle but I now primarily use silicone which results in a more natural breast. The manufacturers have altered the implants so the chances of capsular contracture are now about the same as with saline but the ripples are much, much less. Watch my videos.

Edward J. Domanskis, MD
Orange County Plastic Surgeon

Saline Ripples

All implants ripple. The amount of the visible rippling depends on the volume proportion the implant is filled to and the amount of native tissue covering the implant. Implant size does not specifically correlate.

Marc Schneider, MD
Fort Myers Plastic Surgeon

Implants Ripple

Interesting question you pose. By amount of surface volume the smaller volume could appear to have less ripple effect vs a larger volume implant's surface area. But it is a personal interpretation of the rippled appearance, whether a small or large implant. From MIAMI Dr. Darryl j. Blinski