Adjustable breast implants becoming a popular choice

• Reprints

Dr. Jeffrey Weinzweig, a Chicago plastic surgeon, uses “adjustable” breast implants for breast augmentation surgeries. | Submitted photo

Updated: November 4, 2011 6:04PM

Breast augmentation is the most popular cosmetic plastic surgery, with 296,203 procedures done in the United States last year. But many women who desire a bit of a fuller figure are apprehensive when it comes to choosing the size. It’s difficult to know if the fit will be a comfortable one until the surgery is already a done deal.

A Chicago plastic surgeon says he has the perfect solution. Dr. Jeffrey Weinzweig, medical director of JW Plastic Surgery, gives his patients the option of having “adjustable” breast implants. The surgery is the same, but during a window of three to six months afterward, a woman can request to change the size of her implants, making them larger or smaller.

“A woman comes in with one idea where she wants to be,” Weinzweig said. “But after a couple of months when the swelling settles down, she might wish the size was bigger … With the adjustable breast implants, we have the luxury of coming in three months later and asking, ‘Where do we stand now?’”

Permanent expanders

Weinzweig compares adjustable breast implants to those used in reconstructive breast surgery following a mastectomy. In reconstructive surgery, a temporary “expander” implant is used. The expander is slowly filled over a period of time, then it’s removed for a permanent implant.

Weinzweig said adjustable breast implants can be thought of as permanent expanders, although the time for adjustments is only three to six months after placement. Ports the size of a dime are placed just underneath the skin, connected to the implants. The physician can use a small needle to go into the port and inject more saline or remove some, as the patient requests.

Women usually want a little bit more, he said, as the swelling goes down. It’s difficult to tell at first if the size is a comfortable fit for her.

"It takes six months for the implant to really settle into its final position,” Weinzweig said. “It’s common for them to want to make them bigger. Maybe around 90 percent want a little more fullness.”

Women are less apprehensive knowing the size of their new implants isn’t set in stone from the beginning, he said. They can go into the procedure comfortable that they can change things a little once they see how they look.

After six months, the port is removed.

A natural look

Weinzweig said his patients come into his office with a fairly good idea what size they want to be. Women who are natural A or B cups might want to be a full C, he said. They might even bring in a magazine photo of the size they want for themselves.

“Their goals might be that they want a more feminine physique,” he said, “or they want their clothes to fit better. They might want to not have to look hard to find a dress that looks good on them. They just want to feel better about themselves.”

Most also want to look natural, and not like a caricature. That’s when Weinzweig sometimes has to step in and take into account a patient’s frame, the size of her chest wall, and her body type. Sometimes that’s not something a woman sees, herself, he said.

They also discuss her profession and other life situations. A woman might want to be a larger size when she thinks about her off-hours, but she will make a more conservative decision after weighing how she may be judged in her profession. The considerations are different for each woman, he said.

“It’s a very personal decision,” Weinzweig said, “far more personal than anything else you will buy.”

Weinzweig said he doesn’t charge more for a breast augmentation with an adjustable implant, although the implant itself is a little more.

“I have been doing it for several years,” he said. “It has become a lot more popular nationally the last couple of years. The reality is, you really can’t go wrong. You can see them in the mirror and can have the size changed as many times as you want in the window of those three months … I think this is all positive.”

Source: American Society of Plastic Surgeons