Breast Augmentation

Ensuring Beautiful Augmentation Results in Tuberous Breasts

woman laying down

It’s very natural for women to assume that breast implants can resolve their aesthetic concerns, and this is a fair assumption when those concerns are limited to just increasing volume. However, for women who are interested in breast augmentation to improve their natural breast shape as well, the situation becomes more challenging, especially in the case of tuberous breasts. Taking the right surgical approach is essential for ensuring beautiful results.

Foundational Shifts

The tuberous (or tubular) breast develops during puberty, when the skin of the breast constricts so much that glandular growth is forced downward into a narrow shape instead of the upright, mounded profile of a typical breast. This displacement of breast tissue concentrates toward the nipple, resulting in larger than normal areolae and nipples.

Achieving successful augmentation results in tuberous breasts requires more than just adding volume with breast implants. The tissue of the breast must be restructured to allow acceptance of the implant and a natural settling of the surgical pocket. This is accomplished by lowering the inframammary fold and using internal incisions to release tension and encourage the breast to expand outward. The nipples and areola are reduced and recentered as well.

In patients with tubular breasts, silicone implants are recommended; their firmer texture better enables them to serve as a foundation for the new breast shape. Surgeons must also be prepared for mild to significant asymmetry, as the degree to which each breast is affected by the deformity often varies. In some cases, staging the surgeries can offer a higher success rate compared to performing them simultaneously.

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January 20, 2014
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