Breast Augmentation Surgery To Know List 3.
What types of breast implant are there?

I would like to present a simple description of the different types of implant for the breast augmentation surgery. There are many of those who are curious about this but it is not easy to distinguish the different types because there are too many.

First, we can divide into two types of saline solution type and cohesive gel.
This can be further divided into smooth type and textured type.
There is a smooth / textured in saline solution type, and smooth /textured in cohesive gel type. Also, we divide the cohesive type to round type and water drop type.

Types of Saline-filled Breast Implants

Types of Cohesive gel Breast Implants

The water drop type cohesive gel breast implants does not have smooth type, it consists only of the textured type. (Saline solution has water drop type as well but we do not import that in Korea)

Saline-filled breast implants is used primarily for re-surgery therefore it is not used in the usual 1st breast augmentation surgery that has the objective of beauty. So we will discuss about the cohesive breast implant today.

Cohesive gel Breast Implants

Therefore, we will talk about 3 types; Round smooth type, Round textured type, and finally Water drop type implant.

1. Round smooth type breast implant

Cohesive gel breast implant is made by filling the gel into the smooth surfaced layer. This type of implant is soft and is bendable.
Many say that the smooth type implant feels better than the textured implant but this is because the smooth type has a thin layer. Also, if the implant goes into the body, it is difficult to feel the difference between the smooth type and the textured type.

Round smooth type Breast Implant

The smooth type feels very thin and weak so many think that the implant might tear when put into the body. The biggest problem with the smooth type breast implant is that there is not friction between the layer and the body so we do not know where the implant would locate itself.
The layer is rather slippery so if the implant is not exactly placed in the room provided for it, the implant may shift to another location.

2. Round textured type Breast implant

Smooth type lead to different forms after the surgery, and so in order to prevent this, textured type implant was developed. The skin would grow into the textured implant therefore limiting the thickness in the epithelium however this was a failure. Different forms were made with the textured implant as well. Also, there was no difference in possibility of having different forms for both smooth and textured type if the implant was placed under the muscle.

Round Textured type Breast Implant

Then why do we use the textured type? It is used to stop the misplacement or the shifting of the implant to another location. Smooth type has smooth layers making it easy to move about to another location and also leading to deformation of the implant.
However, the textured type has rougher surface so it does not move about easily. I usually recommend the textured breast implant. There is no assurance that the implant will stay at the location that I intended.

3. Water drop type Breast implant

All water drop type breast implant have textured surface / layer.
Water drop type was made so that it would look natural on the body.
There are many of those who do not know about this properly but the water drop shaped cohesive gel breast implant was produced and sold at the same time as the round type cohesive gel breast implant. It is false that the water drop type is an improvement over the round type.

Water drop type Breast implant

The origin of water drop type breast implant is Natrelle Style 410. It was first sold in 1993 and was the first product of its kind.
This is the strongest of its kind as a cohesive implant, meaning that it is very safe. This is both the advantage and disadvantage of Style 410. It is very strong so it does not lose its form. Also it can fill up the volume properly.

On the other hand, since this is the strongest of its kind, it is very difficult to place it into the body. Also, the final feeling is not as good on a thin person. Recently there have been side effects of seroma and double capsule in the Natrelle product reported by the doctors.





So Natrelle develops a lower model Soft Touch in Style 410 lineup.
There is higher level of cohesiveness, and so it became easier to put in the implant. However, the safety level decreased as much as well.

The tight gel leads to longer formation of the breast and also improves on the sagging breast by uplifting it properly. But those who are young may feel dissatisfied with using this type as it feels less smooth.

There is no right answer in how you choose the implant. There are pros and cons according to different situations.





If you want satisfaction right now, you might want a soft breast implant, however, if you are looking long term, you might want to have a stronger breast implant.

However, there are many doctors and patients who say that Style 410 is too strong.
So other companies such as Mentor, Silimed, Nagor, Arion, Polytech, Sebine decide to make a softer implant than Style 410 and a tighter one compared to other round cohesive gel products.




If we compare the tightness and the softness of the imported implants, we could rank them as, Polytech being the softness, Silimed, Sebin, and Mentor at a similar level, and style 410 being the strongest.


I will prepare another post on the differences between the brands. Today, we differentiated various types of implants into three types and talked about the basics.

There is no absolute correct answer on how to choose the appropriate breast implant. This depends on the body, preference, age, financial status, and the doctor as well. One cannot say which implant is better than another.

Thank you for reading.

Have a great day.

When I meet patients for breast surgery, there are many frequently asked questions and there are some facts that the patients do not know well enough. I would like to post on these one by one.

Also, I would like to set facts straight, especially those wrong information on the internet.
If any of you have had thought about having a breast augmentation surgery even once, I am sure that you will be able to have more structured knowledge and have good interviews with the surgeons.

Breast Surgery To Know List 1. Knowing your body

The most important part of your body in breast augmentation surgery is the shape of your upper body.
When you interview with the doctor regarding the breast augmentation surgery, the whole process is a matching process that includes the implant and your upper body.
At times you may think that since “I am tall, I need a large implant.” However, the height of a person and the implant does not have any relationship.

First of all, we need to analyze the upper body then decide on the type and volume of the breast implant. Also, we need to go over some precautions before the surgery.




First thing that we check is the breast and the cortical organization – mainly how much of the subcutaneous fat and mammary glands you have.
In putting this in easier terms, we look at how thin you are, how much fat you have, and how big is your current breasts.

This is the most important factor in having a breast augmentation surgery. If the fat that surrounds your upper body is thick, then one will not be able to make out that you have an implant and there is less possibility of after-effects as well.

In opposite, if you have less fat then, one will be able to make out that you have had an implant. Also, there would be bad side-effects.

There is a paradoxical aspect here.
If you have thick upper body that means that you have a large breast. If you are a person with such body, then you might not need a breast surgery.
However, if your upper body is thin, then you would have small breasts, and may need a breast implant, but, this implant may not be good for you.




There are some people who say that “the rich get richer” and “the poor get even more poor” about plastic surgery. In some aspects, this applies to breast augmentation surgery as well. If you have a large breast then it is advantageous to have a larger implant. If you have small breasts, it is less advantageous for you to have large implants.
Those with asymmetric breasts need to be aware of this.

If your left breast is larger than the right, then a larger implant will go on the right and a smaller on the left.
However, in reality, a larger implant can be put into the larger breast (left) but the smaller breast (right) will not be able to take in a large sized implant.
An implant goes into a very closed and tight space therefore, the implant can be folded, or look unnatural.




A lot of the patients set a larger breast as a standard and think that “I might have to put this big implant.” In such case, a much larger implant needs to be used for the smaller breast.

If you want to lessen the possibility of side-effects then, you must consider the smaller breast as the standard one. First, you need to decide on the implant size of the smaller breast, then decide on the larger breast so that the two breasts look more natural and to minimize the side-effects.

Next, we need to consider the bones of the upper body.


Bones on the upper body are important because it becomes the framework of how your fat/skin is laid out. Therefore, it is important to see how the overall frame is shaped.
If the both ribs are shaped inwards, so that the breastbone sticks out, we call this a bird chest. The problem with the bird chest is that if we out in the implants, there is a high pressure in the center of the body therefore, the implants can be forced outwards looking far apart.

The number 2 ~ 4 ribs stick out so the upper body may look very thick.




If the breastbone is too low, we call this funnel chest.
The implants in a funnel chest act differently than the ones in the bird chest. The implants mover towards the center and make your breasts too large causing a problem.

As you can see, the cause of the asymmetric breasts is the shape and size of the ribs.

The surgery procedure will differ according to the shape of the upper body bones therefore it is important to check on the upper frame.


Third, we need to check on the location and the location and the placement (proportion) of the nipples.

This is one of the most common factors that I check when I analyze the breasts or upper body shape.
The core objective is to look at the upper body proportion.

All beauty surgeries are successful if the upper body proportion is good. The surgery becomes more difficult if the upper body proportion is bad.

Let’s call the middle inward part of the two collarbones, #1, and call the nipples on both your breasts #2 and #3. When you link the three points, you will be able to see a triangle.




If this shape is close to an equilateral triangle, then we can say that you have a good proportion.
If the triangle looks like an isosceles with tall height, then you might be having sagging breasts.
In such case, we need to select appropriate implant and plan the surgery accordingly.

If the triangle is wide, then the breasts are far apart, so we need to have surgery that will place the nipples closer or recommend short type implant such as water drop implant.

Fourth, we need to consider the skin elasticity of that which surrounds the breasts.

The size of the implants depends on the skin elasticity. If the skin is elastic then we can use a larger sized implant. In opposite, if the skin is less elastic then it becomes difficult to use a large sized implant.

Usually, as you age, or after you give birth, you skin becomes more elastic. Those in 20’s and 20’s would have tighter skin.


Today’s post was the first one for “Breast Augmentation Surgery – To know list”. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me.

Thank you for reading. Have a great day.

Pectus Carinatum Breast augmentation Surgery 

I have personally analyzed statistically that there are about 12~16% of those with Pigeon chest. This is rather a common form of chest cage.



Pigeon chest is when the chest cage is roundly shaped by ribs, and breastbones. We call pigeon chest medically pectus carinatum.

The shape is formed because costal cartilage and breastbone stick outwards. A bad case of pigeon chest comes with scoliosis but there is almost no case where pigeon chest leads to respiratory problems and therefore, this is not a type of illness.

I use the term pigeon chest on a situation where the middle part of the chest sticks outwards and does not look pretty or good physically. Of course, there are many with pigeon chest who receive a breast augmentation surgery.

In most cases of pigeon chests, there are situations where the breasts look far apart from one another. This is due to the location of the nipples that are far apart.
Also, if the upper body sticks out, there the breast augmentation surgery does not lead to a natural look but there might be a bad case of bad looking upper block.

Difference between normal chest and pigeon chest

So, we mostly recommend water drop shaped implant for the pigeon chest breast augmentation. This is more effective for the upper block. Also, it is not good to use a large volume implant. There is a high pressure on the mid part of the chest, therefore, physically there would be more pressure on the chest if the implant is larger therefore, causing a push outwards, making the breasts look even more far apart.

Therefore, you need to be more conservative in selecting the implant size and to select water drop shaped implant.

Breast augmentation for Pigeon chest

There are cases where the chest from top to bottom comes out for where only the upper part sticks out in pigeon chests.

In the former case, the breasts look far apart, and most of the patients who come in for an consultation know that they have pigeon chests.

For the latter, the breasts do not look wide apart, and there are many of those who do not know that they have pigeon chests. If a surgeon is unaware of the bird chest and just conducts the breast augmentation surgery with normal sizing and implant, then there might be a bad upper block on the chest.







So there are at times when I have difficulties when consulting. The chest look different from a normal person but this is not something abnormal. This is just s characteristics of the chest. This is something similar to a nose surgery. Your nose might be a little closed or lifted. The surgeon must select the type of the implant according to the type of the chest and decide on the surgical procedure. However, if the patient does not accept the characteristics of her chest and accept it, then we might have difficulties in proceeding with the breast augmentation surgery.


I talked about percentage earlier on, but there are many of those who have costal cartilage and breast bone that stick out. This is not something abnormal. It is important to plan out the breast augmentation surgery according to the shape of the chest to have most effective results.




This is for today. I hope you understood the contents. Have a nice week.
Thank you very much.

There are many of those who have difficulty on deciding where to do the incision for the breast surgery.

Today, we will look at how you can make such a decision according to different situations.

Breast Augmentation Incision Options,

How to decide the incision site on Breast augmentation

1. Breast size 

If the breast size is rather small and if you are young, it is difficult to know about the breast anatomically. This is where the areola is very small also. For those who are in such a situation, the choice is limited to arm pit or belly button.

In opposite, if the breast size is rather large, then it is easy to know about the breast anatomically. The areola is clear to see. In such case, you do not have to worry about the scar wherever the incision is done.

If you want the incision on the areola but you have a narrow one, then we need to conduct the surgery from the arm pit or the bottom line of the breast.

If you want the incision on the bottom line of the breast however, if the line is not clear enough, then we need to conduct the surgery from the arm pit of the areola.





2. Revision

If we need to do a revision, then we need to fix the problem cause in the first surgery. If there is inflammation, problems with structure, rotation, position, etc and need second or third revision, the surgeon must have a good view of the overall surgery so that there aren’t any further problems caused and also for the surgeon to see and check if the problem has been fixed.





The location for the best possible view of the surgery is the bottom line incision. I recommend bottom line incision for the revision. If bottom line incision cannot be done, then I would recommend the areola.

If it is a simple revision, for example, if you just want to change the size of the implant, we can use endoscope on the arm pit. But most of the revision is required because 90% of them are due to severe problem.



3. Sagging breast

The difference between the sagging breast and other breast surgery is that we need to put the implant from the upper part of the breast and set initial prevention so that there is no wrinkle or double bubble line formed.

We need to conduct bilayer surgery in order to solve such as problem, and also use secure water drop shape type.



Also, such bilayer, water drop shape implant is most effective for the bottom line incision.

Bilayer level is differentiated according to how much the breast lags as well. In order to align the symmetry, and side effects, the surgeon must have 100% visibility. This visibility can be found from bottom line incision, and the procedure can be accurate and delicate as well.


4. Location of the scar

If you do not want to see the scar while you are lying down, then the incision at the bottom line should be avoided. If you do not want to see any scar around the areola, then the incision on the areola should be avoided as well. Also, if you are a model who takes a lot of photos, or are a fitting model who needs to wear sleeveless clothes, then you might not want the incision on the arm pit as well.




5. Large water drop shaped implant vs Small sized implant

Water drop shaped implant is very secure meaning that it is agglutinable and strong. If you have a small body but use a large volume implant, the implant would tear much of your skin when the surgeon puts it in. Such trauma causes a lot of bleeding and can be a cause that changes the structure or the location of the implant in the long term. If you want to avoid such a problem, then the best place for the incision would be the bottom line.

However, if the size of the implant is small, then none of these would be a problem. We can do the incision on the areola or arm pit or any other place that you want.



6. Size of the areola

If the Cohesive gel implant is to be successful, the diameter of the areola has to be about 2.5 cm. For saline bag implant, the size does not matter.

But if you want to use securely shaped water drop type implant, the process of putting in the implant is difficult, therefore, the areola’s width has to be bigger. If you have a naturally small areola, then it is advised that you do not do the incision on the areola for the water drop type implant.



7. Recovery period

If you want to get back to your normal life quickly after the surgery, then bottom line incision is recommended. The periosteum does not get damaged during the peeling stage so there is less pain and the surgery duration is very short so we do not need to use much of anesthesia. You can also recover mentally quickly as well and you do not feel awkward or bad after you wake up from the anesthesia. Athletes who perceive the recovery period to be important prefer the bottom line incision the most.

Before & After breast augmentation surgery [KIES-U Korea]

We looked at the various considering factors of each of the incision locations. On the internet, we can only refer to the advantages and disadvantages of the locations and the context seem like a reading from a textbook.

So this post looked at different situation and the appropriate incision locations. I hope such details would be able to help you out more.

Have a great day, thank you for reading.