Similar to other age-old questions like cats vs dogs, tastes great vs less filling, Edward vs Jacob, Miley vs Taylor there’s smooth vs textured breast implants! Which is right for you?
Let’s start with the simple one. If you want a more natural shape, not the fullness in the upper portion of the breast, then you want shaped implants. And for shaped breast implants, there’s no choice – you can only get textured. The reason all shaped implants are textured is to reduce the chance the implant will turn inside the breast. If a round implant spins or turns, it doesn’t affect the shape of the breast but if a tear-drop shaped implant turns, your breast will look sideways! So that’s why you don’t have a choice between smooth and textured breast implants when it comes to shaped implants.
As for round implants, you have a choice. So how do you choose? You know the facts and make an educated decision. Based on multiple studies, there’s evidence that textured implants, when placed under the muscle, can reduce the incidence of capsular contracture. Capsular contracture is when the natural scar tissue that forms around all implants gets thick and distorts the breast, making it feel hard and even causing pain. That being said, even smooth implants can reduce capsular contracture when placed under the muscle, but not to the same extent as textured implants.
One potential problem with textured round implants is that they don’t shift, which sounds good but may not be. In most breast augmentation procedures, the implants start out high on the chest and then “drop” into a natural position. Since textured implants resist movement, the implants could stay high and not ultimately drop into that natural position.
Lastly, there’s a very rare type of lymphoma that is potentially associated with textured breast implants. However, there’s only been 34 cases of this type of lymphoma in association with breast implants worldwide. Another way to view this statistic is only 3 out of 100 million women get it! While we don’t know whether all of the breast implants associated with this lymphoma, ALCL, were textured implants, we do know that many were.
Now you know the facts. The rest is up to you and your doctor to discuss. If you’re looking for a board-certified plastic surgeon and pricing on their procedures, click here.
