Do saline injections into breasts for a “temporary breast lift” work? Is this safe?

Simply injecting saline directly in the breast tissue can be dangerous and place you at risk for infection as you will need several hundred cc's of saline injected into the tissue.  

The idea that a doctor could  augment your breasts without surgery - on a temporary basis  - would be amazing if it was actually possible.  Can you imagine how great it would be if you could choose a cup size based upon your particular plans for the night?Unfortunately, if it sounds too good to be true - it probably is...  Although on the surface - injecting saline into the breast tissue sounds harmless enough - in practice  - it is not harmless.  You can cause injury to the underlying breast tissue, induce an infection, scar the breast, and ultimately lead to negative changes to the appearance of the breasts.  However - if anyone ever gets a better idea of how to do this - please tell me since I love the concept!

Injecting saline is only temporary so it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I will occasionally inject saline in a lip or the midface to demonstrate what a filler result looks like. The saline will be gone in a day or two. Deep injections will risk bleeding and hematomas in the breasts.   

Injection a sterile saline into the breast was certainly temporarily make it larger. Even the injection of sterile saltwater however is traumatic and then repeatedly would create damage to the breast tissue.

Saline injected into the breasts will enlarge them and give them a minimal lift, but I definitely would not recommend you get them. You'll need many CCs to make any improvement, are at a high risk of developing an infection, your breast tissues will stretch out (leading to more sagging as they deflate) and the effect lasts only a day or less.

Saline can be injected into breasts for a very temporary enlargement. Remember Goldie Hans gigantic lips in one scene of First Wives Club?  However, this is a very temporary enlargement, and provides minimum benefit.  Plastic surgeons have used tissue expanders, bags that can be filled with saline, for many years in all types of reconstruction.  Even so, these expanders are not meant to be permanent.  Repeated saline injections would probably cause some tissue damage and loss, and is not recommended.

 I use saline that I slowly inject into the breast as an office visit procedure. I fill the breasts up to whatever size the patient wishes. This slowly does disappear over a day or so but gives the patient an idea of what she will look like as well as maybe even helps her fill out her wedding dress for that special day! My patients like it and I get a better idea of what size implant they would prefer. I have been doing the same for cheek and chin implants for many years.

I'm not sure why anyone would want to do this because the saline would be quickly absorbed by the body.  I guess if you wanted to have fuller breasts for a few hours for some sort of photo op, it might make sense but other than that, I'm not sure what the motivation is.Saline injection could introduce bacteria into the breast. 

"Safe" is a relative term. While the saline itself is not dangerous to your body, the injecting of it directly in to the breast tissue is painful, could result in infection, and has the potential to stretch your tissue. It would only produce a very temporary result, perhaps only an hour or two. I would be very wary of any doctor that suggests this. If you are not comfortable with the idea of a breast implant for some reason, perhaps fat transfer would be an option worth looking in to.

This procedure is not recommended as it is a very temporary result, and there is a high risk for infection.