Focus on Breast Augmentation Part 3: Inframammary Incision

We are on the third of four incision-related features regarding Breast Augmentation in the Inland Empire. After we finish up incisions, we will move on to other aspects of Breast Enlargement.

Part Three of our Focus on Inland Empire Breast Augmentation: The Inframammary Incision

Historically, this is the most-often used incision for Breast Augmentation patients. As newer techniques have come along which carry significant advantages — our next feature will be the Transumbilical incision for the TUBA breast enhancement procedure, very popular in our Inland Empire office — this approach may not seem, at first glance, to offer much in the way of advantage. However, each approach does have its pros and cons, and in many cases this is an excellent approach for reasons to be detailed below.

Inframammary Incision

Q. What is the Inframammary Incision?

A. An inframammary incision is a 3 to 4cm cut which places the incision in the inframammary fold. The inframammary fold is also known as the IMF and is the part of the human anatomy below the breast and where the breast meets the chest.

You can learn more about the Inframammary Fold here.

Q. Why choose the Inframammary approach?

A. This approach has a few advantages. For one, the incision is very near the implant placement site, giving the surgeon much direct control. Also, this incision does not affect the nipple and therefore doesn’t carry the risk of loss of nipple sensitivity that the Periareolar incision does.

This approach usually requires the least time in surgery, again due to the proximity to the breast implant location.

Q. Sounds great! What are some drawbacks to the Inframammary approach?

A. First of all, this does create a scar on the underside of the breast, and depending upon how a patient scars and the surgeon’s experience and understanding of this factor it may be difficult to place it exactly in the inframammary fold. If for any reason you feel this may be a concern, check with your surgeon regarding experience with your skin tone or type. Email us here or call (909) 590-2299 to set a meeting with the doctor.

Dr. Farzaneh has a great deal of surgical experience with different skin tones and types, and consultations are complimentary if you have any concerns in this regard.

One other issue is that it can be hard to change breast size again in the future with this type of scar — a new breast size may mean the scar no longer rests in the IMF. So even though the original incision site can be used as an entry point again, the advantage of reusing that point may be lost if you make a major size change and use a surgeon with less experience in looking forward to potential future changes you may wish to make. Be sure to talk to your surgeon about this if you anticipate you may want to make a change a few years down the road; you can contact Dr. Farzaneh in the Inland Empire by calling (909) 590-2299 or emailing us here.

Q. Is this best for saline or silicone implants?

A. This is an excellent incision point for either saline or silicone gel / memory gel implants, but there is definitely an advantage to using this incision site for silicone gel implants — again, mainly proximity to the breast. Since silicone implants can not be filled after insertion (as saline implants can), certain other incisions are not viable for silicone options.

The Inframammary approach is a tested and often-used incision method which has many advantages. In our next post, we will finish up the incision portion of our Breast Augmentation study with the Transumbilical incision.