Many of the women who come to see Dr. Paul Pin about a breast augmentation procedure view it as the final touch on their efforts to improve their features. In some cases, they may be looking to return their breasts to a more youthful size and shape after they are done giving birth to children. Other woman may want to improve the look of their breasts following dramatic weight loss, such as following bariatric surgery.

Regardless of the reason why they want a breast augmentation, Dr. Pin’s patients all have a similar concern: how will their breast augmentation look if they continue to lose weight after surgery. Here, he discusses breast anatomy, how it might be affected by changes in weight, and what you can do to ensure that you will remain happy with the outcome of your breast augmentation, while still working on your fitness goals.

Breast Anatomy

The actual breast itself does not contain any muscle. Rather it consists of two types of tissue. The majority is fat tissue, which gives the breast its size and shape. The remainder is glandular tissue, which forms the mammary glands and ducts that produce breast milk.

The proportion of fat to glandular tissue can vary from woman to woman, and is not necessarily dependent upon overall body size. In other words, if you have a generally large frame, you could still have relatively small breasts or vice versa. You may even have small breasts with a large proportion of fat tissue to glandular tissue

Weight Loss and Changes in Breast Size

Because the breasts are largely made of fat tissue, they are likely to respond to changes in weight. This means that if you lose weight, there is a good chance that your breasts may also lose fat and shrink in size. However, it can be difficult to predict how much fat you might lose in your breasts because, similar to the amount of fat tissue in your breasts, it is determined by genetics and can vary from woman to woman.

How Might Weight Loss Affect Your Breast Implants?

As a general rule, Dr. Pin suggests that your weight be stabilized before you have your breast augmentation procedure. For example, if you are considering your surgery as part of a “Mommy Makeover” package after you are finished having children, it is a good idea to wait until at least six months after you are done nursing so that your breasts can return to their pre-pregnancy size.

If you continue to lose a small amount of weight after your breast augmentation surgery - between 10 and 15 pounds - there is likely to be little effect on the size of your breasts. However, if you lose 20 or more pounds after surgery, you may end up with breasts that are bigger than what you originally wanted.

Furthermore, if your implants have been placed behind your mammary glands (subglandular), as opposed to behind your chest muscles (subpectoral), the outline of the implants may show through your skin if you lose weight after your surgery.

If you are planning to continue working on your weight loss goals after your breast augmentation surgery, Dr. Pin can help you devise a plan that will both give you the weight loss results you want and keep you satisfied with the result from your surgery.