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*Treatment results may vary
Five months post explant, very happy
I haven't posted any progress photos in a while and I know many of you browsing the site are contemplating explant. I thought it would be helpful to see how things can look over the months. I am still super happy being implant free and have zero regrets. Though my breasts are small - I'm a 34A - I am very pleased with the natural shape. I like a sloped breast, never liked the fake coconut implant look. With a push up bra I look pretty full. Right after my surgery I bought silicone bra inserts (much better to have them on the outside than on the inside!) but I never wear them as I found I prefer my shape with a smaller bust. I look slimmer and taller. Best wishes to all on their journey through explant. Be brave! You've got this!
Article from the UK Telegraph - The Era of Big Plastic Boobs is Coming to an End
Long article but fascinating (and from 2015 so they are really passe' now) -
The Telegraph
The era of big plastic boobs is finally coming to an end - but why?
Radhika Sanghani
26 JANUARY 2015 • 2:15 PM
In the early 2000s, big boobs were everywhere. Glamour model Katie Price seemed to go up a breast size every year, Victoria Beckham’s breasts were ‘up around her neck’ - to use her own words, and ‘boob job’ was the term du jour.
Until now.
New figures reveal that boob jobs have dramatically dropped in popularity, with 20 per cent fewer women opting for breast augmentation compared to last year, according to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS). At the same time, breast reductions have seen a small increase of three per cent.
It all suggests that the era of Wonderbra's ‘Hello Boys’ boobs has finally come to an end – especially given that one of the women to undergo breast reduction last year was none other than breast implants’ unofficial poster girl: Price.
Back in November 2014, she underwent breast reduction surgery to downsize her 32FF chest to the natural 32B she had pre-surgery. Posh Spice too seems to have shed light on her changing chest (it looks much smaller now), dropping this hint to Allure magazine last year: “I don’t have them anymore. I think I may have purchased them.”
With these celebrity role models going back to smaller, natural boobs, it’s not surprising that British women have followed. What’s more surprising is that this trend for pneumatic, bouncing boobs every really existed.
“It was a fashion thing,” says Jackie Lewis, consultant plastic surgeon and BAAPS member. “It was the 'in' thing to be big breasted, this whole ‘I’m a Baywatch bimbette.’”
Sarah Pedersen, professor of communications and media at Robert Gordon University, explains that it’s just part of a fashion timeline. Larger boobs were popular back in the 1950s, after the hunger brought about by the second world war, and came back in fashion after the ‘heroin chic’ look of the 1990s, led by Kate Moss:
“We tend to have responses against what was previously in fashion. It tends to go in peaks and troughs. At the moment larger breasts are out though I’m sure they’ll come back. We tend to react to what went before.”
[RS bleep] and ads were to blame
Of course, most of the women who opted for breast implants probably felt they were doing it for their own confidence levels and self-esteem. But Natasha Devon, founder of the Self-Esteem team, says that the boob job trend showed how insecure we are as a nation, and how we respond to fashion and advertising:
“When you look at how breast implants are advertised, women are led to believe that having boob jobs would make them more attractive and popular. But obviously it can’t change that.”
She also thinks that the rise in boobs was fuelled by [RS bleep] and images of large-breasted women such as Jodie Marsh and Price. Typically, young men watch [RS bleep] from the ages of 12 to 16, and during that period of their lives, chances are the only naked women they’re seeing are either online or tabloid Page 3 girls.
“They end up thinking that all women not only have big boobs but are completely hairless,” she says. “That creates a pressure on young women because they overhear what men say. They think that’s what men find attractive.”
But now, thankfully, this pressure seems to be decreasing. Lewis thinks it’s do with a more positive social climate, where young girls have stronger feminist role models and are more aware of body image: “I think people are more realistic now. It’s the social climate. The Sun pulled Page 3 briefly last week, and it all shows there must be something in the social climate that has changed the way people think, especially how women think about themselves.”
'A boob job was like a new handbag'
She also thinks it’s do with austerity, where post-recession “people have decided there are better things to spend money on than cosmetic surgery.” Another major factor is the major breast implant PIP scandal that started back in 2012.
“I do think the scare did really bring it to the public awareness that there are downsides to breast augmentation,” she says. “I think people now are just a lot more careful. Before people were having a boob job like buying a new handbag and not thinking seriously about the consequences of what they were doing.
“But now a lot of the high street places that young girls went to for breast augmentation have closed.”
It all suggests a positive change, where women are thinking more carefully about the risks involved in such a serious operation, and rejecting social pressures to have larger chests. But at the same time, body image experts think that women favouring smaller breasts is still ultimately controlled by the fashion industry.
“One fashion has been replaced by other things,” says Devon. “Probably it’s just that smaller boobs are having their moment. It’s probably thanks to people like Keira Knightley.” She thinks that as boob jobs decrease, bottom implants surgery will increase as young women want to look more like Beyoncé and
“What young people in particular want is to feel special and get attention,” she explains. “The fact that so many people have boob jobs now is probably contributing to their diminished popularity. Probably a lot of young women, have mothers who had this surgery. They want to be different and special. They’ll move on to the next thing.”
The change could also be tied up with reality TV. For years programmes likeThe Only Way Is Essex dominated our screens, showing large-breasted, fake tanned women. But while they may have originally contributed to the rise in boob jobs, now they might be playing a part in the decline.
“We watch reality TV and we judge and say, oh my god look at her,” says Pedersen. “When you’re shown these people and told this is how they look and dress, then there’s perhaps a reaction to say ‘that’s not what I want to be like, this is not me.’”
All of these various factors have now contributed to the start of this new era, where smaller breasts seem to be in fashion, and breast reductions are the fourth most popular cosmetic surgery amongst women.
'They were weapons of mass destruction'
Hollie Maguire, 39, joined the trend in having her boobs reduced, when she had surgery to change her 38H chest to a 36DD. She tells me that her boobs were initially “part of her identity,” but they became “disproportionally big” to the rest of her body.
“It was like I was carrying a rucksack on my front. They were weapons of mass destruction. When you’re growing up they get attention from the wrong sort of men. I’d be leered at as opposed to admired. As a young girl it’s quite dangerous. But now I feel as if my body is my own.”
Maguire rejects the idea that her decision was part of a fashion trend – instead she says it was about feeling more comfortable in her body. But at the same time, she does seem to be part of a group of women who don’t want to “be leered at” for their big breasts, and so are joining women like Beckham and Price in reducing their breast sizes.
It’s a never ending cycle ultimately ruled by the fashion world, and Devon says that it’s one that will only end when one body shape is no longer presented as the most desirable; when there is no social pressure on women to look at certain way.
“The way forward is to have diversity and to realise that women are one of the only mammals to come in such a wide range of shapes and sizes,” she explains. “We have to accept them all.” Quite.
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2017
The Telegraph
The era of big plastic boobs is finally coming to an end - but why?
Radhika Sanghani
26 JANUARY 2015 • 2:15 PM
In the early 2000s, big boobs were everywhere. Glamour model Katie Price seemed to go up a breast size every year, Victoria Beckham’s breasts were ‘up around her neck’ - to use her own words, and ‘boob job’ was the term du jour.
Until now.
New figures reveal that boob jobs have dramatically dropped in popularity, with 20 per cent fewer women opting for breast augmentation compared to last year, according to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS). At the same time, breast reductions have seen a small increase of three per cent.
It all suggests that the era of Wonderbra's ‘Hello Boys’ boobs has finally come to an end – especially given that one of the women to undergo breast reduction last year was none other than breast implants’ unofficial poster girl: Price.
Back in November 2014, she underwent breast reduction surgery to downsize her 32FF chest to the natural 32B she had pre-surgery. Posh Spice too seems to have shed light on her changing chest (it looks much smaller now), dropping this hint to Allure magazine last year: “I don’t have them anymore. I think I may have purchased them.”
With these celebrity role models going back to smaller, natural boobs, it’s not surprising that British women have followed. What’s more surprising is that this trend for pneumatic, bouncing boobs every really existed.
“It was a fashion thing,” says Jackie Lewis, consultant plastic surgeon and BAAPS member. “It was the 'in' thing to be big breasted, this whole ‘I’m a Baywatch bimbette.’”
Sarah Pedersen, professor of communications and media at Robert Gordon University, explains that it’s just part of a fashion timeline. Larger boobs were popular back in the 1950s, after the hunger brought about by the second world war, and came back in fashion after the ‘heroin chic’ look of the 1990s, led by Kate Moss:
“We tend to have responses against what was previously in fashion. It tends to go in peaks and troughs. At the moment larger breasts are out though I’m sure they’ll come back. We tend to react to what went before.”
[RS bleep] and ads were to blame
Of course, most of the women who opted for breast implants probably felt they were doing it for their own confidence levels and self-esteem. But Natasha Devon, founder of the Self-Esteem team, says that the boob job trend showed how insecure we are as a nation, and how we respond to fashion and advertising:
“When you look at how breast implants are advertised, women are led to believe that having boob jobs would make them more attractive and popular. But obviously it can’t change that.”
She also thinks that the rise in boobs was fuelled by [RS bleep] and images of large-breasted women such as Jodie Marsh and Price. Typically, young men watch [RS bleep] from the ages of 12 to 16, and during that period of their lives, chances are the only naked women they’re seeing are either online or tabloid Page 3 girls.
“They end up thinking that all women not only have big boobs but are completely hairless,” she says. “That creates a pressure on young women because they overhear what men say. They think that’s what men find attractive.”
But now, thankfully, this pressure seems to be decreasing. Lewis thinks it’s do with a more positive social climate, where young girls have stronger feminist role models and are more aware of body image: “I think people are more realistic now. It’s the social climate. The Sun pulled Page 3 briefly last week, and it all shows there must be something in the social climate that has changed the way people think, especially how women think about themselves.”
'A boob job was like a new handbag'
She also thinks it’s do with austerity, where post-recession “people have decided there are better things to spend money on than cosmetic surgery.” Another major factor is the major breast implant PIP scandal that started back in 2012.
“I do think the scare did really bring it to the public awareness that there are downsides to breast augmentation,” she says. “I think people now are just a lot more careful. Before people were having a boob job like buying a new handbag and not thinking seriously about the consequences of what they were doing.
“But now a lot of the high street places that young girls went to for breast augmentation have closed.”
It all suggests a positive change, where women are thinking more carefully about the risks involved in such a serious operation, and rejecting social pressures to have larger chests. But at the same time, body image experts think that women favouring smaller breasts is still ultimately controlled by the fashion industry.
“One fashion has been replaced by other things,” says Devon. “Probably it’s just that smaller boobs are having their moment. It’s probably thanks to people like Keira Knightley.” She thinks that as boob jobs decrease, bottom implants surgery will increase as young women want to look more like Beyoncé and
“What young people in particular want is to feel special and get attention,” she explains. “The fact that so many people have boob jobs now is probably contributing to their diminished popularity. Probably a lot of young women, have mothers who had this surgery. They want to be different and special. They’ll move on to the next thing.”
The change could also be tied up with reality TV. For years programmes likeThe Only Way Is Essex dominated our screens, showing large-breasted, fake tanned women. But while they may have originally contributed to the rise in boob jobs, now they might be playing a part in the decline.
“We watch reality TV and we judge and say, oh my god look at her,” says Pedersen. “When you’re shown these people and told this is how they look and dress, then there’s perhaps a reaction to say ‘that’s not what I want to be like, this is not me.’”
All of these various factors have now contributed to the start of this new era, where smaller breasts seem to be in fashion, and breast reductions are the fourth most popular cosmetic surgery amongst women.
'They were weapons of mass destruction'
Hollie Maguire, 39, joined the trend in having her boobs reduced, when she had surgery to change her 38H chest to a 36DD. She tells me that her boobs were initially “part of her identity,” but they became “disproportionally big” to the rest of her body.
“It was like I was carrying a rucksack on my front. They were weapons of mass destruction. When you’re growing up they get attention from the wrong sort of men. I’d be leered at as opposed to admired. As a young girl it’s quite dangerous. But now I feel as if my body is my own.”
Maguire rejects the idea that her decision was part of a fashion trend – instead she says it was about feeling more comfortable in her body. But at the same time, she does seem to be part of a group of women who don’t want to “be leered at” for their big breasts, and so are joining women like Beckham and Price in reducing their breast sizes.
It’s a never ending cycle ultimately ruled by the fashion world, and Devon says that it’s one that will only end when one body shape is no longer presented as the most desirable; when there is no social pressure on women to look at certain way.
“The way forward is to have diversity and to realise that women are one of the only mammals to come in such a wide range of shapes and sizes,” she explains. “We have to accept them all.” Quite.
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2017
The lifetime cost of implants $$$$$
The True Cost of Augmentation
Health crunched numbers from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and patient surveys on realself.com. Here's what you might end up shelling out, given that insurance typically covers only severe complications.
Silicone breast augmentation, age 22: $6,000
MRIs (at up to $2,000 a pop) to screen for rupture at ages 25, 27, 29 and 31, as recommended by the FDA: $8,000
Revision surgery to replace aging implants, age 32: $8,000
MRI screenings at ages 35, 37, 39, 41, 43 and 45: $12,000
Explant procedure at age 47: $4,000
Breast lift accompanying explant (optional): $8,000
GRAND TOTAL: $46,000
Health crunched numbers from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and patient surveys on realself.com. Here's what you might end up shelling out, given that insurance typically covers only severe complications.
Silicone breast augmentation, age 22: $6,000
MRIs (at up to $2,000 a pop) to screen for rupture at ages 25, 27, 29 and 31, as recommended by the FDA: $8,000
Revision surgery to replace aging implants, age 32: $8,000
MRI screenings at ages 35, 37, 39, 41, 43 and 45: $12,000
Explant procedure at age 47: $4,000
Breast lift accompanying explant (optional): $8,000
GRAND TOTAL: $46,000
Provider Review
Dr. Thomas Vaughan
Dr. Vaughan and his staff were very kind and put me at ease about my decision to explant. The surgery and recovery were completely painless. The nurse in the OR squeezed my hand while I was getting the local injections which helped me through the only uncomfortable part. They played soothing music during my procedure and Dr. Vaughan explained what he was doing each step of the way. My recovery has been very quick and painless. I was back to work in four days. I highly recommend Dr. Vaughan and his staff at Plastic and Hand Surgical Associates.