This post is sponsored by Associated Plastic Surgeons, a team of board-certified plastic surgeons in Leawood, Kan.
Does it make sense for active women to get breast implants? Not just bodybuilders and marathon fanatics, but regular women who simply enjoy running, playing tennis, or doing any other physically demanding activity in which smaller may be better.
That question gets asked a lot on popular cosmetic surgery forums, such as RealSelf. Most women interested in cosmetic enhancement like to maintain a fit, attractive build. Women who work out a lot tend to have less volume because breasts are composed mostly of fat cells. Losing body fat and building lean muscle is a combination that saps the breasts’ fullness.
And for some women, that can have an impact on their self-confidence. They work hard to stay healthy and look good, but their breasts just don’t meet their expectations. Enter breast augmentation as a solution. Active women who are thinking about getting breast implants have some special considerations they should know about the procedure to ensure the results won’t interfere with their lifestyle.
The first step is finding an experienced, board-certified plastic surgeon whom you trust to help you prioritize your fitness goals and give you great results. He or she can talk you through some of the following factors.
Size
This is the, um, big decision for most women. The idea is to get a bigger bust, of course, but runners and other high-impact athletes ought not to go too large. Implants can get in the way even when they’re strapped down by a snug sports bra.
“Even though you know you want your breasts to be larger, deciding on a specific size can be difficult,” according to the website of Associated Plastic Surgeons, a group of breast augmentation specialists in Kansas City. “We understand that it’s sometimes hard to imagine how a certain size implant will actually look after the procedure. Implants are measured in cubic centimeters (cc) rather than bra sizes, which can vary depending on the brand. It’s good to let us know if you have a certain bra cup size in mind, and together we’ll figure out how to translate that idea.”
Plastic surgeons around the country say smaller implants are becoming more popular as the cultural shift toward fitness gains a foothold. Overly large, fake-looking implants are becoming increasingly rare. That’s especially true for active women.
“The bigger the breast implants are and the more they protrude from the body, the more they change the center of gravity, and the more force they exert on the spine,” Dr. Theodore Shybut, an orthopedic surgeon and assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, told Fox News.
Overly heavy implants may strain the back and shoulders during physical activity, and they are also more likely to sag with frequent high-impact exercise.
Implant Placement
Unlike size, this decision isn’t one that most patients think about until they’re actually in the plastic surgeon’s office for their consultation. To put it simply, implants can either be placed on top of the pectoral muscles or behind them. It used to be much more common for surgeons to slide in the implants just behind the existing breast tissue, above the muscle. That probably makes sense for women who lift weights as part of their workout regimens, because they would not want to cut the chest muscle, but there are drawbacks to that placement. There are some studies that link above-the-muscle placement (clinically known as “subglandular placement” because it’s behind the mammary gland) with capsular contracture. “Cap con” is the most common complication following breast augmentation, and researchers are still trying to definitively determine its cause. It occurs when scar tissue that forms on the capsule created by the surgeon to hold the implant begins to harden. Mild capsular contracture can be an aesthetic issue, but more severe forms of the complication can be painful and require revision surgery.
Another benefit of behind-the-muscle placement is that the results tend to look more natural because the implants are covered by more real tissue. This is especially true for thin women who don’t have much breast tissue to start with. Athletes who choose this route must understand that they can’t exercise their chest muscles for a few months after the surgery.
Plenty of active women have breast implants — probably more than you know. But it is important to understand the unique issues faced by physically active women as you research the procedure and talk to your plastic surgeon about these concerns.
