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Possible to Get Under Muscle Breast Implants Without Cutting Muscle?

asked 2 years ago by g1 in San Diego, CA
Latest answer by Otto Joseph Placik, MD
Question viewed 973 times
Tags: under muscle

I've chosen sub-muscular placement for my breast implants, but I want to clearly understand the best technique for placement. Some surgeons say they can avoid cutting the muscle by splitting along the muscle fibers and inserting the upper part of the implant under the upper portion of the muscle and laying the lower part of the implant atop the muscle (pectoralis). This avoids detaching or cutting across the muscle which worries me because I'm athletic.

14 answers to Possible to Get Under Muscle Breast Implants Without Cutting Muscle?

Position of breast implants has to be individualized.

Hi. 1) Some women do better with breast implants over the muscle. 2) When they are "under the muscle", they are only partially under the muscle (the top half). 3) When under the muscle, the pectoral muscle always has to be "cut" to some extent, but this just sounds scary, and doesn't do any harm. 4) My best advice is don't try to make technical choices that are complicated even for well trained plastic surgeons. Find a surgeon you trust, make sure he or she... more

George J. Beraka, MD
Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Possible to Get Under Muscle Breast Implants Without Cutting Muscle

Possible to Get Under Muscle Breast Implants Without Cutting Muscle? Yes, it is possible but not desireable

Otto Joseph Placik, MD
Chicago Plastic Surgeon

Implants under rhe muscle

For the implants to sit properly, you need to divide the lower border of the pectoralis muscle. If you do not, the implants will sit too high.

Steven Wallach, MD
Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Development of the dual plane will not compromise your pectoralis major muscle

As the other consultants have outlined, in development of the subpectoral, submuscular or dual plane pocket, most surgeons will release, divide or cut the muscle's attachments to the breast bone to ensure that the implant settles on the front of your chest wall and does not "lateralize" when you press your hands on your hips. I would agree that even in the most athletic patients, this surgical manuever does not compromise their ability to exercise, post-op. ... more

Lavinia Chong, MD
Orange County Plastic Surgeon

Muscle Modification with Breast Augmentation

Hi there- Here are my thoughts.... There is no doubt in my mind that (unless you are a body builder and lift heavy weights for hours each day) you will be better off in the long term if your implants are placed under your muscle. Even though you are athletic. The muscle modification that occurs in the average operation is NOT enough to permanently affect a patient's ability to engage in sporting activities, or limit her performance in them. I personally have several profession more

Armando Soto, MD
Orlando Plastic Surgeon

www.DrArmandoSoto.com

Submuscular placement for breast implants

If you want the most natural-looking breast, you will need a subpectoral implant, in which the implant is placed under the muscle. This procedure requires the merest incision—about three centimeters in the crease under the breast or at the edge of the nipple—and diminishes the incidence of capsular contracture, the formation of hard scar tissue around the implant, which occurs in 10 to 30% of cases. Once the incision is made, the surgeon creates a pocket into which the implant... more

Michelle Copeland, MD, DMD
New York Plastic Surgeon

Cutting pectoralis muscle for breast augmentation

You do not necessarily need to have the muscle cut, but if it is left entirely intact, your implants will likely move when you contract your pectoralis muscle. Many patients do not like this, so you just need to consider this prior to surgery. Good luck, /nsn.

Nina S. Naidu, MD
New York Plastic Surgeon

Pectoralis muscle does NOT need to be cut to get subpectoral implants

No, the muscle does not have to be cut in order for the implant to be properly positioned. I always leave the muscle intact along it's origin on the ribs and breast bone. There a few fibers that need to be released, but about 90% remain intact. This does create greater risk of the implants moving up and requires a slightly longer recovery period, but fewer problems as far as loss of coverage of the implant, visible wrinkles or window shading of the pectoralis muscle. The pectoralis... more

Daniel P. Markmann, MD
Baltimore Plastic Surgeon

DiscoverTheBeauty.com

Muscle dissection for breast implants

Most often the attachments of the pectoralis muscle have to be detached fron the ribs to allow the implants to settle into the correct position. Although implant retraction with pectoralis muscle exertion can occur with this technique, none of my patients, including athletes, have complained about a loss of strength. Aside from cosmetic issues, the subpectoral position offers better protection against capsular contracture because the muscle acts as a barrier against the normal bacteria... more

Bruce Genter, MD
Abington Plastic Surgeon

Sub-muscular breast augmentation does require muscle separation

In order to place an implant under the chest muscle, the muscle must be separated from the ribs and breast bone in order to create a place which will center the implant under the nipple. If you know your anatomy well, you will see that the breast extends well below the chest muscle, and a correct sub-muscular augmentation will result in only the upper half of the implant under the muscle. This means that the muscle will be separated, cut, split, along the lower inner muscle attachment. Some... more

Peter E. Johnson, MD
Chicago Plastic Surgeon

www.peterejohnsonmd.com

Split muscle technique avoids cutting the muscle for implants under

The split muscle technique was specifically designed to avoid having to cut the muscle attachment on the ribs, which is done with the "dual plane" and every other version of implants under. When the muscle is detached this way, it may contribute to animation deformities when the muscle flexes. The split muscle technique leaves all of the attachments of the muscle intact, so function is not compromised, the breast doesn't distort as much with activity, and you still have coverage... more

Richard Baxter, MD
Seattle Plastic Surgeon

Submuscular breast implants and muscle cutting

Whenever I do a submuscular, which in my practice means subpectoral, there is always a small amount of muscle divided close to the sternum. This is done so the implant doesn't sit too far out and it doesn't "wink" when you flex the muscle. Some doctors have been placing them subfascial however I personally see no benefit to this. I know of no one who splits the pectoralis muscle and places the implant under the upper part and on top of the lower part. Remember, that the muscle... more

Steven Schuster, MD
Boca Raton Plastic Surgeon

www.schusterplasticsurgery.com

Under the muscle implants

The best way to place the implants under the muscle is by going under the lower border of the muscle and creating the pocket. There is a need to release some of the fibers from the chest (but not all) so the implants don't sit too far apart from eachother in the midline and every patient has different anatomy in regards to how many fibers need to be released to achieve this. Splitting the muscle as you described is more injury to it than what I am proposing, in my opinion. more

Richard P. Rand, MD, FACS
Seattle Plastic Surgeon

Under the Muscle Implant Placement Modification

You need to understand the normal anatomy of the Pectoralis major and the reasons for placing implants under the muscle. Because the shells of ALL breast implants ripple, especially when placed in the hanging sideways position (the way it is in the breast) to hide such rippling the implants must be covered with as much of your tissues as can be recruited. Failure to cover the breast adequately (due to placement of implants that are larger than the available soft tissue coverage, placement... more