Feeling of touch after the breast augmentation

There are three things that interest you the most when doing breast augmentation; shape, volume and feel. Today I would like to talk about this “feel”.
There are common questions that the patients ask about “feel”. Below are the questions.

1. Does smooth feel better than textured?
2. Does tear drop shape feel better than round type?
3. Does the touch (feel) get better with massage?



I sure that some of you have already realized what I am trying to say. We cannot say those 3 things above for sure.

Which implant has the best feel? 

The implant with the best sense of touch is not cohesive gel but basic silicone gel implant.


There are many who studied through the internet but do not know anything about cohesive gel.

Cohesive means cohesiveness. Cohesive refers to sticky silicone gel.

Why was it made this way?

This was made to avoid leakage of the inner substance when the exterior gets damaged.
The stickiness makes the substance stay together so that the substance does not come out easily. This helps maintain the shape of the implants and makes it more durable also.




The old type of silicone gel did not have any cohesiveness.

These products are not compact but disperse easily. Of course, these products are not manufactured any more.

But which do you think feels better? Cohesive gel or this old type gel?

I think everyone can guess the answer. The answer is the basic old type gel. Less cohesiveness, i.e. easily dispersed product leads to a softer touch and jelly like feel.
Cohesive gel cannot have a good touch feel compared to the old type. It has substance stuck together that does not disperse easily.

The first truth is that “Cohesive gel does not have good feel.” The implant with the best touch is the illegal liquid silicone.




The implants advertised on the natural feel and touch at first, but changed to focus on the safety and durability.

The conclusion is this. Why do we not use the liquid silicone or the old type? Although these feel better?

It is because these products have low safety and low durability. If the exterior is damaged, the substance inside leaks out and as a result, the shape is damaged also.

These implants have less durability so the re-surgery is necessary. This is why we hear that “the implants need to be changed every 5 years.”

The implants originally focused on the sense of touch but after the regulations set by the US FDA in the 1990’s the implants have been focused on the safety and durability. This is how the “cohesive gel” entered the market.
 


 
Differences between the round type and the tear drop type

Let’s talk about the 2nd “truth”. The implant that feels good has less gel inside it. Most of the round type implants imported to our country has less gel on the inside.
Let’s think about a balloon that is fully filled with water and the other that is less filled. Which do you think feels better? Of course, it would be the one with less water filled.




Most of the imported cohesive gel implants in our country are less filled also.
In opposite, most of the tear drop type implants imported since last year are much filled.

Allergan tear drop implant has the most cohesiveness. If you touch it, it feels hard. Polytech implant is one that is filled the most.

In conclusion, the round type implants in Korea are not fully filled and have less cohesiveness therefore; these implants feel “good”.

But the truth is that it does not matter.

There is not much difference. All cohesive gel implants are alike. The cohesive gel implants are not focused on this sense of touch.

The implants should not only focus on marketing the parts that attract the customers.

In order to feel good, dissection must be done properly and the appropriate level of epithelium must be maintained.

The sense of touch is not depended on the manufacturer.
This depends on how careful the surgeon is rather than which product has been used.





One must select an implant based on the durability, product life, possibility of getting damaged, shape stability, etc.

There are some patients who say, “I want to use the tear drop type, but I am hesitant to use it because I heard that it does not feel good.”

A patient needs to use the tear drop type if it is necessary to use it. This is not similar to shopping where a customer chooses and buys the one that she likes.

An implant, once put into the body, needs to stay in the body for a long time therefore, it is important that you have the accurate information when selecting one.

This is all for today.

Thank you for reading.