A ^Retired Plastic Surgeon's Notebook

Gummy Bear Breast Implants and Gertrude Stein

Seattle Plastic Surgeon riffs on Gummy Bear Breast Implants and Gertrude Stein.

Gertrude Stein painted by her close friend, Pablo Picasso

Gertrude Stein painted by her close friend, Pablo Picasso

So, you ask, what does Gertrude Stein, that feisty feminist writer of the last century, have to do with the latest breast implants on the market??? I’ll start with a quote from Gertrude that rattles around in my head a lot: “A difference, to be a difference, must make a difference.” Wise words, in my opinion.   And so we come to the “gummy bear” breast implants which will be heavily promoted to the public by their manufacturers now that they are available for cosmetic use. The question is, of course, do they, will they, can they make a difference in routine breast augmentation?   And, if they do, is it a good difference?

About 6 or 7 years ago, I heard a presentation given by a very sharp plastic surgery resident on the topic of “anatomically” shaped breast implants.    She had experienced plastic surgeons look at a bajillion  before and after breast implant cases and to indicate whether anatomically shaped implants or standard round implants had been used.  They, the experienced plastic surgeons, could not tell the difference.  If my memory serves me, these were all saline implants because the study was conducted prior to the reintroduction of gel implants for cosmetic use.  So it could be that “anatomically” shaped gel implants do make a difference but the jury is still very much out and it will take some convincing to get me to jump on this particular bandwagon.  By the way, a bandwagon stops by my office about 2 or 3 times a week.

So why am I reluctant to promote the latest and supposedly greatest of breast implants?  Here’s why:

  • The “gummy bear anatomic” implants are form stable.  Form stable means firm.  And these implants are firm, sort of like an adolescent breast.  They stay put and do not shift with change in position like a natural breast.  This means when a woman with these implants reclines onto her yoga mat, her breasts stay up there at full salute.  A good look for an eighteen year old but for a 35 year old mom of three?  Not so much.
  • The “gummy bear anatomic” implants, if they do shift, can rotate or even flip and result in a bizarre and/or painful distortion of the breast.
  • The “gummy bear anatomic” implants have a textured surface that is supposed to adhere and stick to the surrounding chest tissues to prevent shifting around.  This textured surface can cause a problem with traction distortion and is also associated with late fluid collections (seromas).

I did many, many augmentations with anatomic saline and, through an implant study protocol, anatomic gel implants well over ten years ago.  I came to dislike these implants.  My re-operation rate for patients with anatomic implants was 2 or 3 times higher than for those with round implants.  It was a painful learning curve for both me and my patients.

So I’m trying to keep an open mind about these implants but will need to be convinced that they really make a difference.  Well over 90% of my breast augmentation patients are thrilled with their results with smooth round saline or smooth round gel implants.  It’s hard to argue with those results.

Thanks for reading!  Dr. Lisa Lynn Sowder

 

 

Category: Breast Contouring, Breast Implants | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

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