The prevailing trend in breast augmentation surgery is “natural” results: not just natural-looking breasts but natural-feeling ones as well. But what if we told you that it was possible to enhance your breasts with your own natural tissue—no saline or silicone required?
If you’re seeking an alternative to traditional breast augmentation with implants, Boston’s Coastal Plastic Surgery has you covered. In this blog post, I’ll share the top 4 things you need to know before deciding whether a natural, traditional, or hybrid breast augmentation approach is right for you.
1. Natural Breast Augmentation Uses Your Own Fat
Unlike the synthetic implants used in traditional breast augmentation, natural breast augmentation (or fat grafting breast augmentation) uses a patient’s excess body to pad and shape the breasts subtly.
Your board-certified plastic surgeon will perform liposuction (usually around the belly or buttocks) to collect the fat to be redistributed. This fat is then purified in a centrifuge before being injected into the breasts to enhance their size and appearance.
2. Natural Breast Augmentation Is Subtle
Breast augmentation with fat transfer often delivers results on a more modest scale than traditional breast augmentation. Natural breast augmentation patients can typically expect to increase their bust by 1 to 1.5 cup sizes, making it an ideal procedure for women seeking a subtle change to their appearance.
3. Natural Breast Augmentation Lasts a Lifetime—But May Change Over Time
Breast implants typically last 10 to 20 years before needing to be exchanged for safety or aesthetic reasons. By contrast, autologous fat transfer does not have an expiration date. Your fat cells will settle into their new location and can remain there indefinitely.
It’s important to note that fat cells are finite. They can shrink or enlarge in response to diet and exercise, but they can’t regenerate. Your naturally augmented breasts can maintain a smooth, consistent appearance for decades, provided that your weight remains stable.
However, it is possible to have touch-up procedures to refine your breasts further. If the fat has begun to migrate or has not settled as predicted, your plastic surgeon can inject more fat to fill out those areas.
4. Hybrid Breast Augmentation Is Possible
Women looking to change the size and shape of their breasts may be better suited to traditional breast augmentation. However, they may still choose to include fat grafting into their procedure in a hybrid approach (read more in our related blog post).
Fat grafting can pad the implant for a softer, more natural feel and to cushion it from being visible under the skin. It can also smooth any contour irregularities that may arise from the initial procedure. Patients who pursue this hybrid approach have the benefits of enhancing their breasts to their desired shape, size, and texture while also ridding one of their “trouble areas” of unwanted fat.
Women with significant breast sagging, however, may benefit most from a breast lift, which raises the position of the breasts, reshapes the areolae, and removes excess skin. This procedure is often combined with breast augmentation.
Final Thoughts
Natural breast augmentation is ideal for women seeking a subtle enhancement to their breast size and who may not want foreign objects (such as synthetic implants) inserted into their bodies.
Traditional breast augmentation allows women to change both the size and shape of their breasts with greater customization and control over the final outcome.
Combining the two approaches in a hybrid procedure may yield optimal results if your ideal breasts call for significantly more volume and distribution of fullness while still maintaining a soft, pliable, and natural texture and feel.
If you are interested in what a breast augmentation can do for you, please request a consultation or call us at (781) 740-7840 .
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