While breast augmentation, despite the economy, remains a tremendously popular plastic surgery procedure, it certainly has its detractors. Not infrequently, I hear from patients and non-patients a questioning of why anyone would ever want breast augmentation. This is often followed with such statements as….’I would never do that to myself’…or…’How vain does someone have to be to want breast implants?’
While desires are certainly in the eye of the beholder and everyone sees everything from their own perspective and experience, misconceptions about motivations for breast augmentation are common. Some are certainly held by those women who already have way too much breast tissue (breast reduction candidates) or for those women who are in very stable relationships or have passed the age whether the psychosexual benefits of breasts are all that useful.
It is very clear that the vast majority (99%) of women who seek breast augmentation are not seeking to be dancers or professional models. Rather they are seeking to improve what is often a total or near total lack of any breast tissue. Whether it is due to developmental breast hypoplasia or breast involution after child bearing, the loss of breast tissue is often remarkable. For some, if you were just looking at pictures of their chest, you could not tell if they were adolescent boys or girls. In my Indianapolis plastic surgery practice, such patients are the norm not the exception.
While many breast augmentation patients are single, an equal number of them are married. In either case, having some breast tissue is integral to their psychological state of feeling like a woman. Having no chest support or shape also severely limits clothing options or what they will look like in them. The vast majority of bras, tops and dresses are simply not made with the flat-chested women in mind. And certainly the benefits of the design is not enhanced by the lack of any breast support.
While it is true that some breast augmentation patients are building on or enhancing what nature has already given them, the majority of prospective patients are seeking to become or return to a more womanly physical state. The psychological benefits of doing so are huge and potentially life-altering for some.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana