Which is the best incision for breast implants?

Which is the best incision for breast implants? Aurora’s Specialist Breast Surgeon Adrian Richards shares his thoughts.

Essentially there are 4 ways of introducing a breast implant and these are as follows:

1. Through a 3-4 centimetre incision in the fold underneath the breast.
2. Through the armpit.
3. Through an incision at the base of the areola (the brown area which surrounds the nipple).
4. Via the tummy button.

Option 4 is only suitable for saline implants which are collapsible and can be inserted through very small holes.

To my knowledge no-one in England uses this incision and it’s very difficult to accurately place the implants.

An incision underneath the nipple has advantages in having a concealed scar but can only be performed if the areola is wide enough to allow for insertion of implants.

Insertion by the armpit is really only suitable if the implant is going to be placed completely under the muscle and accurate placement is often difficult.

My personal favourite incision is underneath the breast, which gives me very good control of the height of the fold and allows me to accurately place the implants.

There is also one further way of inserting an implant which most people do not know and this is the hidden incision if someone is having a tummy tuck procedure.

The implant can be inserted internally from the access used to move the tissue from the lower part of the tummy as performed in a tummy tuck procedure.

But generally, for safety reasons I recommend the inframammary incision in 90% of cases.