Demystifying & Destigmatizing Breast Augmentation

In the premiere episode of Asking for a Friend, we’re bringing in the experts from Donaldson to shed light on one of the most popular plastic surgery procedures: breast augmentation. 

Join Carrie, Jeffrey Donaldson, MD, board-certified plastic surgeon, along with Dr. Marguerite Weston, double board-certified functional medicine physician, and skincare expert Nikki Rucinsky, as they discuss everything you need to know about breast augmentation — from breast implant safety to finding the right size. Plus, you won’t want to miss the unexpected debate: Can a breast aug actually save you money in the long run?

Whether you’re considering the procedure or simply curious about the realities of plastic surgery, this episode helps break down the stigmas and offers transparent expert insights and the very real answers you've been looking for.

🎥: Watch the full video episode on YouTube here!

Transcript

Welcome to the Asking For a Friend Podcast, where we bring the experts from Donaldson around the table to explore everything from health and lifestyle to skincare and appearance. We're kicking off this podcast series with our very own Doctor Donaldson, a board certified plastic surgeon and owner of Donaldson, a health care practice that uses functional medicine, plastic surgery, aesthetic treatments and med spa to help patients achieve their health and wellness goals and feel confident from the inside out.

I'm super excited to hang out with Doctor Marguerite Weston and Nikki Rucinsky, who I also have the pleasure to work with. Doctor Weston is a double board certified functional medicine physician who began her own health journey as a functional patient. And Nikki is a medical aesthetician and guru of all things skincare. Great to have as a friend, by the way.

Today we're diving into everything you need to know about breast augmentation and sharing our own stories. We cover implants, safety, how to find the right size. It's always a huge question, and my personal favorite debate can breast augmentation actually save you money in the long run? Any? Yes it can. Let's dive in. All right guys, cheers. Here we go.

Thanks for having us, Doctor Donaldson. Yea thanks for coming. Liz was with us earlier and was gracious. And we had wonderful drinks and talked about really interesting things. And one of the things we're going to focus on tonight are breast augmentation. Right. It's breast augmentation. And kind of like combining a natural lifestyle, holistic lifestyle. And like for the women that still want to get breast implants and feel more confident.

And how do those two like marry. And like both here perspectives from a functional provider and a plastic surgeon, it'll be perfect. So I'm glad you said that because I'm actually asking for a friend. I do have a friend who's been wanting to get a breast augmentation but she is worried about, like, how she's going to feel after if she's still going to feel like herself, if she's going to feel unnatural.

If she's going to be, you know, judged for having these implants. So I want to know, like what your guys’ takes on are on that. Sounds great. Let's talk about it. Let’s hear it. I mean, I think like, who cares what we think? Yeah. As far as, like, what natural is for the person or the woman. I mean, natural is your own definition and how you feel.

Yeah. And I think you’re to feel confident and that's natural right. Like sure it's natural if you have multiple children and your breasts are saggy and don't look like. But if that's not how you feel confident. Yeah. Like if your natural is your 25 year old breasts and then that's your natural. Yeah. Like I think everyone's kind of on a different journey.

When it comes to that. I think the concern really comes from people who are just trying to be natural with their food, they want to eat all natural food and have all natural skincare and lead a natural life. I feel like just putting those foreign bodies into your body. Some people are like, well, I'm not natural anymore.

I'm cosmetically enhanced. And so I think that's just like a concern that people are dealing with. Yeah, I mean, I think it's legitimate. I mean, breast implants, fortunately, are made of really benign materials. So they're saline breast implants which literally are salt water. So for patients who are really concerned about the contents of an implant oftentimes or they’ll choose saline, and literally if it ruptures in your body, it's like drinking a Gatorade.

It gets absorbed by your tissues and it's hydrating so it goes flat and that's the risk. But, that is one of the most natural substances we can take in. Silicone is also a natural substance found in sand right? And so it's manufactured. But, it's a ubiquitous medical substance. And when patients have knee implants or heart valves or hip implants, there's a silicone lining or silicone coating.

And we know it's inert and it stays in the body and it gets kind of walled off by our natural tissues. And it's yes, it's a foreign body, like a splinter or a thorn could be, but it just gets sealed off, and kind of undisturbed. So, I think if it's, if it's really legitimate, just something someone can't get over, it may not be right for them, you know.

And that's fine too. Absolutely. So I got, I've got oh, I just have we were talking about a, I've heard they're the most studied medical device. Is that true? They are. I mean, 10, 15, 20 years ago, they were actually taken off the market, studied up and down. And I think millions of patients went through the studies, thousands and thousands of surgeons participated in the studies.

And they found that the things they were concerned about, namely, which were autoimmune diseases, just weren't scientifically linked. And so they were brought back to market. Interestingly, during that whole time, they were left on the market for breast reconstructive purposes. So patients who had had breast cancer, who had mastectomy and needed their entire breast rebuilt were always, had silicone as an option.

But, when it came back out for aesthetic purposes, the FDA asked for a couple of changes to be made. And so the shells became a little bit thicker. So they're less prone to rupture. And the inner silicone. I think more importantly, it was more cohesive. So before if you punched a hole in an implant 20 years ago, just sort of goo out all over the table, but now you can actually cut it in half and have two halves.

So it's more like a gummy bear. So even if it gets torn or ripped in some way, it really just clings together as a breast implant and it doesn't go anywhere. So with those changes, do you have to have MRIs? The FDA does still recommend you have MRIs. So every 3 or 5 years. Some patients are really consistent with that.

Other patients aren't. It depends. The textbook answer would be to remove the breast implant if it's ruptured. But oftentimes the patient won't know. It doesn't leak into their body. It doesn't go into the bloodstream. It doesn't pose a risk in that way. And so if there's a suspicion, if it looks different, if it feels different, we sometimes will go ahead and encourage that patient to have an MRI and find out for sure.

But chances are, of the way they're made, they're YouTube videos of cars running over them, and they're really almost indestructible. And we have patients who are competitive athletes jumping out of airplanes and doing things with, with safety and without any effect to their implant, so. How often do you see a ruptured implant like in your career?

I've seen several dozen from the old days, you know, back when the implants were less sturdy. I can't say I've seen any since the changes have been made. Yeah. How long ago were the changes, like, kind of put in place? Yeah, the big change was probably around ten years ago. That's funny because I had mine nine, 11 years ago and I had a rupture.

And so that's perfect. What did you do to cause that? You have to create something pretty heroic. Yeah. So I was training because I used to compete in bodybuilding. So I was about two weeks out from my first show. I was training with a military guy who was helping me through my training, and we were doing these crunches with a medicine ball, a 15 pound medicine ball.

And he was throwing them at me like all his force. And we were talking while we're doing it, but I was catching it as I would crunch and come back up, and then I just wasn't paying attention. I didn't catch it straight to my chest and wow, that was great. But what's good is that your implant ruptured so you didn't break a rib.

Exactly. See, it was a cushion. I needed it. Yeah, yeah, it could have been a lot worse. It saved you. So I'm on the opposite end of that. So I had so I was right at the change. I was probably around 20 years ago when I went to get mine. And they just had kind of. Well, they pulled the old silicone and they had like a different version out, but I had to like get them checked a lot and like be part of something like a study or it was something weird.

So I just opted for the saline just to play it safe. And I mean, they've lost I mean, I'm no, I'm gonna jinx myself on that one for like 20 years now. Yeah. And but I'm just, like, waiting for that to happen. And a million percent I'll get the gummy bear like without question. And that's what they said. The rupture rate is about 1% per year.

Yeah. So if we've had him for 20 years, the odds are you've had a 1 in 5 chance that one of them would have ruptured. But if you're beating the odds and that's great, I know I do. I had a patient probably a month ago who had saline. And she goes, literally I rolled over a bed and I heard *sound.*

Go, great. I know that's going to be my life and I'm sure I'll be on vacation. Some inopportune time is going to happen. I'll be like, I was like, but I’ll have the nice perky breast and then the sad mom breast and and I’ll have to get those little chicken cutlet things. Yeah, I should just I should take them on every trip or anything

important I go on, oh my gosh, it falls out of your suitcase. Oh don't ask. Oh yeah. Yeah. He's had a lot pre augmentation so. Oh yes, me too. Yeah. But I will say you know a healthy lifestyle is important to me. I've been seeing a functional provider for probably close to 20 years and see Doctor Weston now.

And you know it never stopped me from not feeling, you know, healthy. And I think you kind of pick the things that really matter. And I just was never really scared of it, like you said, there's silicone in so many other things that we put in our body, even, you know, people that are afraid of silicone implants, I.

Oh, and they went saline. I always try to talk to them about just how durable the silicone are and that they have to remember, like, and correct me if I'm wrong, but the shell of the saline implant is made of silicone. Exactly. So you're going to have silicone in your body regardless. So I'm like, you might as well get the durable version that you don't have to worry about rolling over one morning and losing it.

Right. But I feel like it's never prevented me from feeling less me, or it's made me more confident. It's, I mean, in so many ways, and I obviously, when that happens, I'll get them done again. So it's something that I don't regret at all. And yeah, that's how I, I get it. Most women aren’t getting them so they can have attention.

Yeah. No no I did. You just want to. Yeah. That's exactly how I like to put on clothes and be able to try things on. Yeah I think that's what people are most excited about once they get them, they want to go try things on. Yeah, I go yeah, I did it for me when I did it. I didn't do it for anyone else.

I wanted to feel more confident, more comfortable. But I was really nervous when I got my done initially because I lived in a really small town. At the time, I was the only person in the town that I had ever had plastic surgery done for anything, like there was no Botox, there was no fillers, there was no nothing.

And so whenever I got mine done, I was nervous. It, you know, a small town, everyone talks that everyone's going to be like, oh, did you know, did you hear? You know. But I didn't experience that, which was great. But I also was very always covered and like, I didn't want anyone else to really know for a long time because I was just I didn't want that judgment or anything like that.

But honestly, there are days I forget I had them done. Yeah, like, I just feel so me, I'm just there's just part of me now. Yeah, I can't imagine not having it. Yeah, yeah. I think most patients too, when they ask for something natural, they're wanting a versatile look. And so Friday night, you know, if you're out with your partner and you want to have a nice evening, maybe things are a little bit different than Monday morning when you want to be a little more subdued.

So I don't think it depends on natural is in the eye of the beholder. I think if someone wants something that's less obvious in certain situations then that's entirely doable. Fortunately, we have a vast array of implant models and sizes and shapes and forms, and so we can really customize that and tailor it to each person's individual concept of what they want.

And I think it can be quite natural. A lot of it has to do with and some patients, frankly, don't want it to be as natural and that's okay too. That's a choice. And since that definition is different. They rock those things, they’re pumped about them, they’re like woo hoo. like yeah they're fun. as they should be. We see all different types. If that makes you comfortable and confident.

Yeah. Rock it girl. yeah, but I love the approach that we take and I always talk to patients because they'll come in the office after they size and like I'm so worried. I don't know if this is going to look great on me. And I'm like, well, we have this down to a science. And it's not like we throw you in a room with every implant from 100 CCS, 800 CCS, and we're like, pick what you want.

Like there is a science behind what's going to fit you. And you're great about like, I'm going to measure you and then we're going to hand you something like a range that's going to suit your frame. It's going to look great. You can pick a moderate profile or high profile and you're going to try them on. You're going to see what you like.

And I always say go with your gut. Like go with what you try. Don't look at pictures of, oh, here's somebody with the same size I have. But I don't know because it's going to look different on everybody. Yeah. And it's so hard to explain to people. Patients come in with different ideas about what they want size and they might even bring inspiration.

photos which are helpful, but everyone's so different. The rib cage is shaped differently the way they're muscular anatomy I mean, the pec muscle originates in the shoulder and inserts onto the breastbone. Or how far apart the breastbone splays. It's just all factors into what implants we choose. And so I think it's important to give a variety and to say, take measurements and be scientific and say, here's a, here's a spectrum of implants that you can try.

None of these are going to be out in your armpits. None of them are going to touch in the middle. But within that spectrum you get to choose. And it's fun because they might bring their partner in and or a friend or someone who's had them done, a sister and they can look in the mirror and they might bring a bikini and a dress and see how that works.

But I think that natural volume is what we're after, particularly patients who have lost a lot of weight. They've had pregnancy, breasts, or whatever the case may be in their life. It flattens an upper chest and upper pull where we see the most. And to give that shape back to not have that gap. When you put on a pretty bra that you're trying to fill with something else to naturally fill the cup it is kind of the goal.

Speaking of that, it reminds me of patients we've had patients with come in and their bridesmaids dresses to try on. I got to see what this is going to look like for bridal gown. My bridesmaids dresses we've had two sisters in today that were literally cackling. Did you hear them earlier? Cackling I heard them down the hall.

I, like you guys, are having so much fun. I'm like, I'll just come back later. Just keep going, you know? And they were both trying them on and the sister was there to support the other one. But I had a feeling she might be in soon, but it was really it's really cool. It's such a fun appointment for sure.

We've had every combination: sisters, mother and daughter and best friends and every combination. It's fun. It sort of catches on. When does a lift come into play because, you know, friends ask me that all the time. Like, I really want to get an aug, but I don't know if I need a lift, how do you know if I need a lift?

Is it the pencil trick? Like, you know, you get that all the time? Yeah. They're different degrees. We call it ptosis or different degrees of sagginess of the breast. And it just depends. Everybody again is unique and different. For patients who have the most severe forms of ptosis or sagging, you know, and the most extreme example, if the breasts are down to the belly button, it's pretty obvious you need a lift.

You can't just add an implant. It's just going to make everything really heavy and even saggier so we do some, some tests in the, in the, in the procedure room and take measurements from the, from the base of the neck to the nipple. And we take measurements from the nipple down to the breast fold. And we try to determine how much sagginess is there and whether a lift would be appropriate. Within that spectrum,

There are a lot of lifts that are possible. Some patients need a mini lift where we just make the incision above the areola. Some patients, it's all the way around the aerial. You get a little bit more power if you have that vertical incision, you get a little more power if you add that horizontal incision. And so we have a lot of tools, a lot of techniques at our disposal.

Depending on how lifted a patient wants to be or how lifted, maybe they need to be ideally. Do you recommend doing those at the same time, or do you recommend doing one before the other? Most often I think it makes sense to try and do them together. That's a lot of variables to consider, but we fortunately had a lot of experience doing that and are very successful at it.

And there are some cases of patients who have really quite heavy breasts and quite low breasts. Maybe we'll actually do a reduction with a lift and then suggest staging that and going in and adding an implant later. But that's the minority of cases. Generally we're able to do them together. Do you find, like have you seen, patients come into your practice that have complained or like, just like I regret getting their implants or I think it has anything to do with, like, health issues or anything like that.

For the most part, no, for the most part, people are very happy. I have seen some patients who have gotten them out. They have questions about removal and the capsule. They feel as though they have had changes in their health because of them. And so I think, you know, some patients feel better when they get them out and some patients don't.

Yeah. And so that's hard. That's really a diagnosis of exclusion when people come in and they don't feel well. I don't, you know, go straight for the implants and like do you have implants. Well that's why I mean, I think that's sometimes an easy thing to blame. We first look at testing and the same thing we do with all of our patients.

We look at lifestyle and exercise and diet and lab work and things. Before I would say get your implants out. Yeah. That's been like my experience too with you with patients that have removed them with concerns. I think one of them thought that they felt better after removing them, that I can remember having spoken to them and then like we just had one recently who did it for that reason was like I feel no different.

and wanted them back, you know? So she's coming to get them back. Yeah. She's like, I, you know, I shouldn't have done it like I and I want them back. I miss them so you kind of get like every end of the spectrum, right. Absolutely. Yeah. And you know breast implant illness is a hot topic right now. That's probably a discussion for another time.

Yeah. But I think, you know, what's important to note now is that there's been no scientific evidence that links breast implants to any, any disease, whether it's autoimmune or, or other issues. So I think you're right. I think, if someone really has it in their mind that the implants are the cause and they've looked at other, other explanations and they're just not there, then it's probably reasonable to take them out and see, you know, some patients feel better, some don't.

So hopefully we'll understand that a little better at some point. I agree. I'll speak to you about this. Have you had you're too young? Do they even have to do a mammogram yet have you with implants? Oh my gosh. So, it's not fun, but it's doable. So let's kind of speak to that, like breast health and, like, once you get implants, are there limitations to that?

Does it do anything to disguise potential like, like seeing cancer or anything going on? Yeah. I mean, I tend to place most breast implants under the muscle. So with mammography it's important when you tell them mammography I have breast implants because they'll actually do one extra view that's in addition to the standard three view. So they'll do a fourth view.

And when they do that they can see the breast tissue. And so by going behind the muscle they're really able to see if anything pushes that tissue more forward. And it gives you more of a template to sort of smash the breast tissue against. So you can see that better. There's actually been a study that suggests that patients who unfortunately get breast cancer, those with implants, are likely to find it sooner.

There may be a little bias, because I think patients who have breast augmentation and are a little more aware of their breasts are looking at them, or maybe feeling them are kind of doing self-exams more. But I also think that it splays that tissue a little better so you can detect something sooner potentially. And I don't think that I don't think the American Medical Association is going to suggest prophylactically getting breast implants to prevent breast cancer.

But this would be great. It's been there. I love it. Now, you were mentioning to me earlier or had a patient ask, I can't remember, about other forms of detection other than mammograms that are kind of popular through like functional medicine in that, yeah. So some patients will ask about thermography. And so they're very different. Thermography just looks at heat sources, in the breast.

And so it's not recommended that it should not replace mammograms. Some of my patients will do every other one just to not have as much radiation. But I mean, you get the same radiation flying across the country in a plane that you do from a mammogram. So, I would not recommend doing it instead of a mammogram. Some patients may do it at six month intervals to make themselves feel better.

The current thought is that you actually have to have a pretty large breast cancer to see it on thermography. And then the next step when you have the positive is to do a mammogram So if you if you can't see it on the mammogram, like they're not going to biopsy based on your thermography, then I suppose the heat work like it's cancer, like warmer than if you're not.

I mean, it's just yes. Okay. And anything could be infection or could be anything. It's not specifically cancer. Got it. What about I know we're starting off Galleri to patients, sort of looking at early detection, is breast cancer covered and seeing well in those? So yes and no. So the, it actually detects more aggressive forms of breast cancer

better, the Galleri does. But as far as kind of the typical breast cancer that we're actually really good at detecting and really good at treating, it's not good at detecting. So it kind of it's nice because if you have a family history of more aggressive cancers, then Galleri would be a great option for multiple forms of cancer.

Over 50 kinds, not just breast. That's amazing. My friend actually just asked me about that because they saw that we had posted about that. So how does that work exactly? And what does it look like? Yeah. So Galleri testing looks at DNA. So it looks at DNA, but it's not a genetic test. And I think that's one confusing factor for patients.

It doesn't tell you if you have a gene or not. It's actually looking at the DNA. And so DNA that's associated with cancer has certain tags on it. So certain methyl groups. And there in certain positions on the DNA. And so they've looked at millions of samples. And so they look at DNA that's outside of the cell, and they compare it to tons of samples of cancer DNA.

And they compare it. And so it is really great at finding cancers that we’re very bad at finding right now. So, I mean, if you think about it, we only have colon, breast, cervical, prostate and lung. Those are our five screening tests for cancer. And there are many, many more. So things like esophageal pancreatic ones that are, you know, much more aggressive at a much higher mortality rate.

So it's good at detecting those kinds of cancers. So people who have either a family history or just increased risk themselves, they're over 50 years old, then Galleri's a good option for them. Cool, awesome. So I actually have a friend who was asking me the other day. She's kind of torn between if she wants to get implants or if she wants to do a fat transfer.

So like, what would be the pros and cons there? Yeah, in general, it's difficult to get an implant type of result from fat transfer. It's very hard. Most patients frankly don't have enough fat to transfer to make the difference that they want. Those who do. Sometimes it takes several sessions. About a 50% fat graft take is considered a good take.

And so, you may get a very subtle result and want to repeat it once, twice, three more times. There's the additional issue, which they've kind of started to figure out with screening. But it used to be that particularly with, with, the calcifications that you type that you see after fat grafting, they can kind of be mistaken as an early cancer or at least something suspicious on a mammogram, which leads to further testing, whether it's an ultrasound, an MRI.

So any confusion over whether there might be a lesion isn't great. And the final thing would be that this just look doesn't tend to be. So I think fat grafting has its place. Sometimes it can be used for a lumpectomy defect or some place for some sort of biopsy. There's a little bit of a divot. You can kind of fill that in and round that out.

But in general, a true augmentation through fat grafting, I don't think is as good of an option as an implant. Further studies are being done. I know a lot of surgeons are trying to gain more experience with it, and that may be something in the future, but it's not something I necessarily recommend now. Can you make them symmetric?

I mean, yes, most 98% of women are measurably different from left to right anyway. And so I think the subtleties are that Bobbie and Carrie always say they're sisters and not twins, you know, you're not. Oh my gosh I love that. right. Yeah. So it's, you know, it's yes. You can make them more symmetric. Perfectly symmetric isn't necessarily always the goal. Many of our patients come in and they want an operation.

But they wonder how can they optimize their experience. They want to be hands-on participant in their results. So I'm super excited to have you in our practice offering functional medicine, because there are a lot of patients who want to learn about supplements. They want to learn about what variables they can control to have the best outcome.

What do you tell them when you meet in consultation? So I think when we have a patient whose goal is surgery, we talk a lot about just pre-op, what you can do to prepare to heal better. And so a lot of it is going to be around diet obviously, you know, smoking, limiting alcohol. We talk about exercise.

We'll go over some supplements, especially if we have patients who really don't want to use any kind of pain medications. We'll go over other options for them. I actually love talking about breasts. If I ever have an option, like an opportunity to talk about breast health and hormones. I love talking about it. Because I think we just think these breasts are just appendages and they're like living things.

I mean, they can create milk. They feed humans. And so hormones are really important. And so I like talking about breast cancer risk, family history, breast cancer. We talk about hormone detoxification. Cystic breast really common. So there are things you can do to decrease that. And so I kind of use that opportunity anytime I can shift a conversation to hormones I try.

What about and I think that's helpful before, is there anything after that you tend to cover and it's important? Yeah. I mean, it's still much the same. It's a lot of diet. I think people underestimate how diet helps. And that's mostly protein. And protein is super important prior too, but then I mean afterwards as well, but mostly before. I think another important thing too is building up that immune system, that immune response for that healing process.

Just making sure, you know, again, with diet, but, you know, using certain supplements that can help with our immune system. I think patients also tell us it's part of their pre-op plan. Like do you normally have nausea afterward? Do you have trouble sleeping? So we can deal with that. Those things too, just with supplements and different recommendations for them.

So I feel like we're blessed to have you and our practice and our skincare program as well. And I have a lot of patients who say, you know, what can I do to optimize my skin, my scar? Well, it's not preventing stretch marks, particularly breast augmentation. Like I get stretch marks when they meet with you, you know, before or after kind of what are the things that you like to tell patients?

Yeah. So I mean, microneedling is a huge thing that we can do, especially for scarring. We have the regular microneedling and then Morpheus, which is the microneedling with radiofrequency. It is incredible for scarring, stretch marks, and tightening of the skin. So it's really good to have those options post-op because that is a concern. Right. You want to especially not only with breast augs but let’s say tummy tucks and things like that.

You're going to have scars. But you're, you're wanting to better your body and you want to look your best. So we have options even after the surgery. And we use silicone based scar gels may be the only thing scientifically proven, at least in the early going with all the scar gels on the market is something that contains silicone.

Which is ironic, yes, but we use silicone gel. We can use silicone tape. Yep. And it tempers that immune response and makes sure that that collagen lays down a little finer, more linear manner. The scars obviously are going to be red and raised and thick for the first few weeks. And then it starts to flatten and soften and become more skin colored again by about the six month mark.

So tell us, most patients that if the scars and where they want it to be within six months, then we have a lot of things for our disposal, from the Microneedling to the Morpheus, to laser therapy, to injecting steroid to try and temper that response and flatten it out more. Yeah, I actually had a friend who had a surgical procedure, not plastic surgery, just regular surgical procedure done.

And she has scars on her abdomen. I was like, you need this, you need the Silagen. Yeah. Here we go. Yeah. And some of them have SPF in it, which is great actually when you're outside because I mean the sun will. Yeah. Yeah. Change the scar real quick. Yeah. So that's not making sure. Yeah. Making sure of that sunscreen.

Yes. Last one. Yes. Listen sunscreen is life. It seems to be marketed or you need to get some kind of commission off of this. Yeah. Listen, look at all. Just wear sunscreen. It'd be a better world. I know it keeps you in business. Yeah. You know. Yes it does. Yeah. That's so true. I wish I had these options.

Like when I did mine originally, I feel like I went in so blindly, which is good. I mean, it all worked out great. Yes. It's nice that we have the resources that we have. And like, as far as any limitations, like, once you, you know, get implants, obviously we already confirmed you can get your mammograms and all that's normal, but is there anything you can't do, like once you get breast augmentation?

I mean, I've had patients who are competitive athletes and they're on stage or they're playing professional sports and patients are always back to full go. So that's assuming there's a normal natural recovery on their patients that would get a little off track. And we fortunately have the experience to help them if that becomes necessary as well. But those are few and far between.

And then by the end, everyone gets back to what they're doing before. I know, I'm always pleasantly surprised just how quickly breast augs recover. Usually I just say it's a long weekend when you're pretty much back to normal activities and they’re like what and I’m like yeah. I'm like, you have a sedentary job. It's literally a long weekend. Yeah, yeah.

I mean, if you're more active, obviously we have to make, you know, some kind of plan around that, but it's all very doable. In fact, some of our patients, because we use the ERS so they enhance recovery after surgery, which really decreases any sort of discomfort. We have to encourage them to slow down. Yeah. Exactly. Too much.

So that's a different issue. Agreed. So one of the things that I love seeing with our patients, and I am blessed to be able to work with them side by side with you is I get to see them after. You don't get to see them all the time. Like especially like three months out and like when they're fully healed and they're just like loving the results.

And they're always like, I knew physically this will transform me. But I didn't know, like emotionally and psychology, how much it would transfer me and how this bothered me all the time, and I just didn't feel confident or I didn't like myself. And now that I've done this, I have more energy and I want to work out and I feel confident to go to the gym and I want to lose weight and I like it's amazing.

I've you've probably seen that too. And I mean you’ve probably met some patients like that as well. Yeah I think it really it oftentimes will kick off a series of really positive changes. You know patients whole outlook on on life. But the just the things you mentioned exercising makes more happier when shopping for clothing just the way things fit.

More confident with partners, whatever the case may be, it's just as it can be. It can change across many different forms of the patient's life. It can also break the bank when you want to go buy all the new clothes, because of the way how they all look and you actually like feeling confident and so that's like that's not such a great thing, if you don’t have that in the budget.

Yeah. Be mindful of that. Like save a little extra for the new clothes that you're gonna, like, want to buy afterwards, but you save on bras. Yeah. You don't need the, like, $80 Victoria's Secret bras anymore. I wear actually comfortable bras and you look amazing or no bra. And just get those little sticky things. Yeah, it's awesome. I haven’t bought a regular bra

in like six years. It's amazing. I just yeah, you know, they're so uncomfortable. I know 1,000,000%. That was a game changer. Yeah I expected yeah. But you do save money on bras so you can buy the cheap ones like $20 for three of them on Amazon. Yeah, yeah. So see, changing the world. One breast aug at a time.

Breast aug will change your life. Save people money. Come on. It's so true, though. It really does. It opens so many doors. After you get one thing done for yourself, you realize how much better you feel after you did that one thing. You're like, well, what else can I do? Yeah, I want to, you know, I finally have the confidence to maybe go do X, Y, and Z, and that made me feel better.

So I want to do this now, and this makes me feel better. And I want to go see a functional medicine doctor because my doctor won't listen to me. And yeah, I can't tell you how many times I have and how many times when somebody comes for an aug, they're like, oh, what about my what if while I'm in here, what about my stomach?

You know, it happens all the time. Yeah, I think a lot of patients realize that, once they fix something and kind of get through that process and are really pleased, that might lead to something else. I think there's also a fair number of patients who just there's kind of one isolated issue, and they take care of that and they're thrilled and they move on.

You know, and I think that, those changes often aren't sequential with surgery as much as making those changes in their lifestyle, too. And kind of it's a pleasure to see patients go to and see you pre-operatively, but then post-operatively just say, gosh, I feel so much better about this now I understand I can make these other changes too.

But also on the flip side, you don't operate on everybody. Yeah. And so I like that that you, both you and Doctor Sieffert really I mean kind of look at motive. Like if someone just really wants, you know, they don't feel confident and they want breasts like, great. And that's the perfect candidate. But I think some people, their unhappiness might run deeper.

And I think you guys are both really good at identifying that. And you'll kind of veer them towards functional or talk to them about other things. And I don't think every surgeon I’m quite confident that most surgeons don't do that. And so I appreciate that part of it. Well, it's definitely a two way street. You know, when patients come and see us in consultation, they're interviewing us to see if it's a fit, but we're interviewing them to see if it's a fit.

And there are some patients who just might be a better fit in a different office or might be a better fit not having surgery at all. And I think it's important to let patients know that because we're trying to hit home runs, we're trying to make real positive changes for people. And if it's just not going to solve that underlying concern that root causes, even say, then it doesn't make sense to treat it some other way.

Yeah, I agree, and like you said, the flip side to you, if you you'll always like let me know if somebody's in, you know, if they're office and talking about how I just hadn't been able to lose weight. So I really want to get this tummy tuck now because of this. And you're always like, I think you really need to see, you know, Doctor Weston, maybe start there, let's figure out what's going on and then, you know, so you're just really honest about that.

And it's nice that we have those resources in our office. Like offering that to people as an option. And then it's so much better to have the, you know, cherry on the sundae when after they're done Yeah. Then they have. Yeah that's good. Yeah. 1,000,000%. And I also think that we have a lot of trust in our team at large.

And so the message to patients out there that if they're mean to the front desk to say something to you that isn't sitting well, that's going to get back to me. And ultimately I think it's not a fit. So it has to make sense for our team as well as for me and for the patient. 1,000,000%. So what do you guys think at the end of the day, can a natural lifestyle and plastic surgery coexist?

Absolutely. I mean, I think it really comes down to each individual patient. Everyone's definition is different. Everyone's goals are different. And so I think for some patients, maybe not, for others, absolutely. It's a personal choice. And everything has pros and cons. And I think if we live by the adult code, we inform patients of the potential risks and we put informed patients, usually it's obvious what those potential benefits will be and let them make an informed decision.

So yeah, most of our patients are young, healthy. They want to be healthy. They just want wellness in general. And so I think they really go hand in hand. Yeah, absolutely. It's all about being the best version of you and being confident. Yeah. All right guys so thanks for sharing your perspective on you know can natural and plastic surgery coexist.

I really appreciate it. And I'll be sure to tell my friends everything that we talked about, that's just great. So I, I'm just so blessed to be able to work with all of you and just so educated and just open minded about all these things. So. Well, thank you so much for coming, and I hope you can come to another one.

Yeah. And I think we should talk about aesthetics. I mean, we haven't done that yet, right? Oh, I have a little Botox. Do it. Another laser. Yeah. Nonsurgical. so I love it. Let's do it. That's a great segue. You're going to totally be a part of that one though. Oh, yeah. You know it, I love it. Well, cheers. Cheers.

I hope you feel as informed and empowered as I do, getting answers to those big questions on breast augmentation. And we got plenty more answers to come. Join me next time on asking for a friend where we'll get answers to top questions on fad diets, beauty gadgets and longevity hacks. And the beauty gadgets are hilarious, by the way.

What really works and what you should start doing today. And if you like what you heard today, don't forget to hit subscribe, share this episode with others and follow us on social media of course. Until next time.