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  • Which Implant Gives the Most Natural Looking Breast?
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It's a really interesting question about breast implant placement for a natural look, because everybody defines natural differently. We have people coming in asking for enormous implants, but they want them to look natural. So you have to reach some understanding of what the definition of natural is.

I think the keys are, you have to match the implant diameter to the base diameter of the breast. If you try to go bigger, then it's going to get squeezed in there. It's going to force the implant to ripple. It will put more stress on the tissues, and things will stretch out and change over time in ways that you probably don't want. So that's the key thing, measuring that base diameter. Then, once you know that, you have options in terms of low, moderate or high profile implants to vary the size within that given diameter.

So, just spending a lot of time thinking about what volume you want, and then matching the size to that base diameter.

The other issue about placement is over or under the muscle. And I think that's a question that's over simplified, at least the way I approach it. If you go over the muscle, you don't have the coverage, particularly over the upper part of the breast, and it can look pretty fake. If you go under the muscle, you get better coverage, but doing the technique that most people do, you are at risk for, what are called animation deformities, which are very common.

So for quite a while now, probably eight or nine years, we've been doing this technique called a split muscle. So that leaves all the natural attachments of the muscle intact, which most people don't realize, you're actually cutting part of the attachment of the muscle using the most common technique. But this way we leave the upper part of the muscle on top of the implants so you can get the benefit, in terms of appearance. It leaves the lower part, which is normally detached, behind the implant so it still functions normally, as well. So you have this compromise, where you get the benefits of under the muscle without the usual drawbacks of going under the muscle. And it's a really good way to correct animation when it has already occurred.

Which Implant Gives the Most Natural Looking Breast?

Doctor Richard Baxter discusses the differences in implants and techniques and how to achieve natural looking breasts.