However, this
page does include informative photographs of unclothed
female torsos and breasts, presented in a
straight-forward and non-offensive manner with an
educational intent. In most states, persons under
18 years of age are prohibited from viewing these
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You may wish to read the following while waiting for these photos to load.
What is asymmetry?
It has been said that only one woman in a thousand has
symmetrical breasts, while the other 999 have asymmetry.
The women whose photos appear on these asymmetry pages
are examples of the 999 whose breasts are not symmetrical.
Breasts can be asymmetrical in many different ways:
How well can asymmetry be corrected?
The amount of correction of breast asymmetry that can
be accomplished by augmentation depends upon the number
of the asymmetrical features and their degree of severity.
Minor asymmetry can be compensated for rather well.
Severe asymmetry cannot be corrected without leaving
considerable external scarring. The more features that
are asymmetrical, and the greater the degree of those
asymmetries, the less correction can be achieved by
breast augmentation.
As is apparent from the photos, many women whose breasts and nipples are not symmetrical also have other physical discrepancies:
Nipple-areola positions unequal:
This is the most frequent inequality, and it is a rare
woman whose nipples are symmetrically positioned. No
matter what the nature of the asymmetry, there is no
known breast augmentation technique that can move the
nipples without an incision, which leaves a scar around
the areola. As you will see from the photos, sometimes
adjusting the breast volume and contours can help
disguise the pre-existing asymmetry of nipple position,
but in reality the nipple and areola cannot be relocated
on the skin without the incision around the areola.
None of the women on this page had their nipple-areola
repositioned. From these photos it is apparent that enlarging the breast
not only enlarges the areola, but it also magnifies the
asymmetry, making pre-existing differences more noticeable
afterwards. Even very small differences will become
magnified. In the more dramatic cases of breast asymmetry,
where one breast has simply not developed as much as the
other, the nipple-areola on the less developed side will
be much smaller and higher than the other breast. Even
after augmentation, those differences in nipple-areolar
position and size will remain. Those with nipples positioned
unevenly in a lateral direction are noteworthy also: if the
nipples are widely spaced on the chest before operation,
they will remain widely spaced afterwards; if they are
close together before, they will be close together
afterwards. If one nipple is excessively too far to the
side before, it will remain so after.
Different breast volumes:
Differences in breast size can usually be adjusted,
by using slightly different volumes of saline fill in the
two implants. However, there is a strong limitation to
the ability to equalize the sizes: as explained elsewhere,
each implant has a narrow range of optimal fill volume,
and going outside that range will likely decrease the
durability of the implant and shorten its longevity.
Unfortunately, these ranges are not contiguous, the
result being that some volumes cannot be realized.
That in turn means that we are limited in our ability
to equalize the unequal breast sizes, and very often
have to accept some remaining size difference in order
to avoid decreasing the durability of the implants.
Asymmetrical breast position: Under-breast crease imbalance: Shape differences: An important reminder about upper pole definition: Because people do not have standardized tastes and
preferences, the women seen on these pages may have
less upper breast definition than you yourself would
prefer, or may have more definition than you would like
to see on yourself. Some women asked for the highly defined look,
and others for the smoothly sloping look. In all of the patients
shown here, the amount of upper breast definition was specifically
chosen in advance by the woman herself. An important cautionary instruction: No need to seek confirmation of the data: Please note that the information displayed is the
only information that will be made available about these
patients. As it turns out, additional information such as the
patient age, height, weight, her bra size, the implant
manufacturer and implant style, are actually less helpful
to patients than one might expect. For that reason, any
requests for such information will have to be declined.
keywords: Breast implants through the navel;
Transumbilical breast implants; Belly-button breast implants;
Through-the-navel breast enlargement; Through-the-navel breast augmentation;
Trans-umbilical breast augmentation; Trans-umbilical breast enlargement;
Belly-button breast enlargement; Belly-button breast augmentation;
Breast enlargement through the navel; Breast augmentation through the navel;
Navel breast enlargement; Navel breast augmentation; "Scarless"
breast enlargement; "Scarless" breast augmentation.
Some women with unusually high breasts request that
the implants be placed in a lower position to make the
wearing of clothes easier for them. A drawback of doing
so is that the nipples, which are not moved down, then
look a little high. Examples can be seen on these pages,
and those women who requested a major adjustment of
breast position were well aware that the nipples would
appear to be displaced.
Differences in the position of the under-breast crease
can be corrected reasonably well by breast augmentation.
In contrast, differences in the shape of the under-breast
crease are much more resistant to correction, particularly
if one crease is quite sharply defined while the other is
not very defined at all.
Differences in shape can be corrected to a limited degree
by breast augmentation. The amount of correction depends
upon the extent of the problem. The more severe the shape
difference, the less well it can be corrected.
As explained elsewhere on this website, the amount of
upper-breast definition is specifically chosen by each
woman. That is, each woman decides how sharply defined
she would like her upper breast curve to be, i.e. how much
of the very round look she desires. Each woman is
informed ahead of time how much upper definition she is
likely to achieve depending upon her anatomy and the
following factors:
About these photos
First and foremost, all of these women have given
permission for their photographs to be published. No
faces are shown, and the photographs are in strictly
medical format.
For each patient, the before photo is above, the after is
below. Below each before-and-after set is listed these
data about that patient:
For example: 12345 Axilla Under R280 L290 means:
The photos
09444 Navel Over R320 L310
17160 Navel Over R335 L345
21858 Navel Under R630 L630
22927 Crease Under R315 L315
30180 Navel Over R330 L330
30978 Navel Under R275 L300
33099 Navel Under R380 L390
33594 Navel Under R270 L270
34299 Navel Over R440 L450
34998 Navel Under R600 L630
35457 Navel Under R390 L380
35952 Navel Under R390 L370
36348 Navel Over R390 L390
36869 Navel Over R430 L430
37077 Navel Over R320 L330
37491 Navel Over R390 L390
37645 Navel Over R380 L390
38031 Navel Under R390 L370
38112 Navel Over R450 L450
39061 Navel Under R245 L230
40353 Navel Under R300 L300
40434 Navel Over R450 L450
41579 Navel Over R290 L300
42818 Navel Under R270 L255
42999 Navel Under R500 L480
43131 Navel Over R245 L235
43872 Navel Over R440 L440
43987 Navel Over R390 L380
44242 Navel Over R720 L720
44276 Navel Under R340 L330
44412 Navel Over R390 L390
Each woman is a unique individual, and her decisions and
her operation are unique to her. These photographs can
be helpful for getting an idea as to what has been
accomplished for other women. These photos must not
be viewed as if this were a catalog from which to choose
the details of ones implants and operation. A woman should not
make any decisions about her own implant size, shape, incision,
or muscle plane based upon these photographs. Only a
consultation between the woman and her plastic surgeon
can permit finalization of these important decisions.
Because the viewer is unable to discern the patients
build, height, weight, frame etc, some patients may appear
to have larger or smaller implants than they actually do.
There is no need to point out to us that the appearance
of any of these patients does not seem to be consistent
with the data listed about her. The data are correct.
To breast augmentation page
To breast augmentation-via-the-navel page
Gallery A
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This page and images are Copyright Richard V. Dowden, MD ©
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005,
2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011.
These photos may not be reproduced or
distributed electronically or in print.
Note that while the information given by Dr. Dowden
during a consultation is completely current and
up-to-date, the information on this website is only
as current as the last update, and therefore may
become somewhat out-of-date.
Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery
6770 Mayfield Road, Suite 410
Mayfield Heights, Ohio 44124
(440) 449-7470
Last Update: 21:37 on 06/07/2011