What’s the ideal breast shape? There really isn’t one. Some women prefer teardrop-shaped breasts, while some like them rounder. I always ask patients who are considering getting breast implants at my Toronto practice about their preferences. The young crowd seems to like them very round and high, and my more mature ladies typically prefer a totally natural, teardrop shape.
Most ladies want some upper pole fullness when dreaming of the perfect breasts. Over time, however, the breast tissue and skin stretches due to gravity. Pregnancy and breastfeeding can accelerate this process. Adding implants alone will look great initially, but over time this added weight will increase the sagginess because the skin has lost much of its elasticity.
A breast lift helps reposition the Nipple-Areolar-Complex (NAC) to a more youthful position and will restore for some time the upper pole fullness. That being said, despite all the gland remodeling and suspension techniques I perform, the breast tissue will always go down to some extent and reassume a more teardrop look. For this, you can curse gravity.
This is the optimal outcome for many of my patients. Yet, I have about 40% of my patients asking for rounder upper poles, permanently so to speak. Not as natural, true, but desirable for many. They want the appearance of wearing a push-up bra without the bra, which means fuller, tighter cleavage.
An anatomical implant would defeat the purpose by adding more to the lower pole and less to the upper pole, but adding a round breast implant will definitively help in giving this upper pole a rounder, fuller look and this is always considered and discussed in my office.
Combining A Lift With More Upper Pole Fullness
What happens when a patient is happy with her current breast volume but wants a lift and more upper pole fullness?
Teardrop or round breasts?
This is when I discuss excising some breast tissue in the lower poles and adding a weight-comparable, round breast implant to replace the amount of tissue excised. This alleviates the heaviness and pull-down look of heavy lower poles and adds to the upper pole, while preserving a similar volume as requested by my patients. In some cases, I may even suggest a larger reduction, again, to alleviate the overall weight of the breasts.
This is a common practice in Brazil that we discuss every September at the Sao Paulo Breast Symposium.
I have found in nearly 18 years of practice that doing this technique of combining lower pole excision and adding a “compensatory” breast implant or adding fat grafting to the upper poles (and often the cleavage areas), is very gratifying for my Toronto patients who desire upper pole fullness.
If you’d like to learn more about which techniques would be best for you, I encourage you to contact us online or call us at (416) 929-9800 to schedule a consultation. We will discuss your aesthetic goals, lifestyle, and much more to decide what will give you the best results!
In the meantime, view our photo gallery to see real examples of my work.
Dr. Marc DuPéré
