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Hi Doris, I had a left mastectomy with tissue expander placement and fill and a natural right breast. The plan was to have a left saline implant.After going several months and 600cc fill my surgeon advised that I will not have symmetry in the breasts. It would not be a good aesthetic outcome.The left breast with implant would sit higher and have a rounder shape vs my natural right tear shaped breast.
I was distraught by the thought of having see- saw breasts,as well as the left breast would be colder to touch and less natural feeling with implant.
After discussion with plastic surgeon and consult and evaluation with a microsurgeon I had DIEP flap reconstruction.
I am very happy with my decision. The left breast feels and looks very similar to my right breast.
I think it is more realistic for surgeons to reconstruct two breasts with implants and get a better apperance and symmetry, than it is to do one breast with implant and one natural.
I hope my experience helps answer your question.
This is so helpful. I don’t have a final plan of reconstruction but I might have a similar situation as this
They will end up looking and feeling different from each other. If your remaining breast is a larger size like D or DD they won't be able to get a close match with the implant since there's not enough fat and tissue leftover after a mastectomy to use an implant to rebuild you to a larger size. If that is the case for you then they can do a reduction and lift of your remaining breast to make the sizes and shapes more equal. Even if the remaining breast is a size they can match with an implant the reconsteuctive surgeon may suggest a lift anyhow since the implant side will probably be perkier than your original remaining breast.
I have had multiple expander, saline, and gel implants. I find the gel implants to be the most comfortable type of implant to live with and they also look better than the saline implants in my opinion. Expanders are temporary and as you are now experiencing they are not very comfortable. The saline implants can have a rippled look to them and can feel hard and stiff, but they are more comfortable than the expanders. The gel implants feel softer and more natural both to live with in your chest and to look at or feel and gel are also less likely to get ripples.
That's a really common concern, and it's totally understandable to want both sides to look as balanced as possible!
The difference in appearance between a saline implant and a natural breast can vary from person to person. A few things that influence how closely they match include:
- Size selection — Your plastic surgeon Show Full Answer
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