Dr. Ip Tells Us Everything We Need To Know Boob Jobs!

 

WARNING: This article contains medical images that may not be suitable for those under 18 years of age.

 

Breast Augmentation is a growing trend in women of all ages. Everyone wants to feel good about themselves, and sometimes this is all it takes. However, before you go under the knife for a confidence boost, there are a few things you need to remember.

Our favorite California miracle worker, Dr. Steven Ip, sat down with New Theory to explain further more what breast augmentation is all about.

NT: The trend of breast augmentation is growing in America and all over the world. In all of your years of practice, what type of changes have women commonly asked for?

Dr. Ip: What you find is that there are patients that asked for some pretty extremely stuff. Mainly, for these patients, they get freakishly big or want big implants. When you get really big implants it will lead to a lot of issues like bottoming out, over stretched skin, occurrences that can be very hard to correct; that’s one category of patient. The other ones that have had issues are patients that have had surgery done, sort of like botched surgery where they’ve had multiple tries and the breasts really look horrendous. When you look at the before pictures, you think, “Wow, that’s crazy.” Some of the changes are just unbelievable. But, it’s never the end of the world, it’s always fixable. You just need to find the right person to fix it.

NT: How do you respond to a patient who asks you for this type of excessive surgery?

Dr. Ip: When a patient asks for things that are too crazy, in my line of work I don’t really deal with that every day, so I tell them, that isn’t exactly a good idea. That’s when they usually find someone else who will do it, possibly in another country and then they usually come back. That’s when you have to fix the problem that they have had done.

NT: Do these requests come in often?

99% of the patients though have very reasonable expectations, reasonable goals, and they do great. 

NT: What is your advice to women on size? Is there a scale for your certain weight or height that determines which size would be appropriate?

Dr. Ip: It is all about proportion. It is also about making sure the implants stay within the boundaries what your body actually has. You can change some things, but you can’t change everything. Most patients that come in, they don’t have a lot of breast tissue. They start off very flat chested. They’re just happy to be more feminine and have a better-proportioned body. Most people that I take care of have a normal job. They go to work and want to look presentable in their professional life and then when they go out with their friends they want to be able to put on a nice dress or a swimsuit and not feel self-conscious about how they look. That’s what it’s made for.

When I decide on implants, I try to education my patients. I explain to them why I use calibers and measure out how wide their chest wall is, exactly where the nipple position is and how wide the actual breast pocket is. From there, we sit down, and I show them on a chart what actually fits their body. It does have to stay within the boundaries of the body. I think if you go beyond or way beyond what the body allows, that’s also when you run into complications. 

NT: There are a lot of myths about how your life changes after breast augmentation. One I’ve heard commonly is about breast feeing. Is it safe to breast feed with implants?

Dr. Ip: A lot of patients breast feed, it’s all anatomy. When you put in the implant, it’s away from the gland. Usually, I put it underneath the muscle, so the breast tissue is still intact, and the breast tissue and the glands are fine. There are ducts that drain the lobules, and that’s what makes up the gland. If you don’t disturb the drainage pattern, a lot of my patients that see when they’re 18 go on to college and get married, then have kids and breastfeed. The breast mound itself is still functional; physiologically the same. You’re still going to be able to let milk down to breastfeed as long as you don’t violate the ducts. 

NT: Do breast implants screening for breast cancer in any way?

Dr. Ip: What we do is still follow the cancer guidelines, such as when you have to go for your first mammogram- which is between 35-40 years old- so we follow all the standard guidelines. When you do get breast augmentation surgery, and it’s time to get a mammogram, you notify the mammographer that you have implants and what they do is they is called displacement views. That’s when they push the implant to one way and squash the breast tissue the other way. What happens then is you get three different views; side, up, and oblique, same as a routine mammogram. If something suspicious is seen, then you can get another test. The best would be an MRI. That visualizes all the breast tissue. The reason we don’t use an MRI to scan for breast cancer regularly in this country is because it’s too expensive. 

Huge thanks to Dr. Ip for giving New Theory the 411 on Breast Augmentation.

If you find yourself on the west coast and considering breast augmentation surgery, contact Dr. Steven Ip’s Office!

NEWPORT BEACH, CA
351 HOSPITAL ROAD #319
NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92663

 (949) 548-0300

BEVERLY HILLS, CA
416 N BEDFORD DR #306
BEVERLY HILLS, CA 90210

 (310) 839-0776