San Antonio, TX | Breast Implants | San Antonio Plastic Surgery Institute

The women I see for breast augmentation, every single one of them says, "I don't want to be too big." My job is to help them figure out what that means, because everybody's concept of what 'too big' is is very different. My job is to give them education and options. I think there's a whole lot of stuff that goes on here that's really important for breast augmentation. I think the operative portion is important too; but the operative portion, once we've made a plan here, is much more straightforward.

The hard part, the decision making, the information, all the choices, all that happens here, and I really want to help the patient figure out what it is she wants. Sometimes they want me to just tell them what they need, but I want to help them figure out what it is that they want and what they're hoping to get out of breast augmentation. So, when it comes to figuring out an actual size implant we're going to put in for a patient, then we're going to figure that out in the office. I don't want to waste time in the operating room, when they're asleep, trying to figure out what I think looks good. We're going to make clear on the front end and I'm going to do whatever we decide.

Many women who are interested in breast augmentation are scared that if they get breast implants they're going to look over-done. What I realize is that they equate breast implants with looking over-done; whereas, in fact, there's many other women who have breast implants that just look good, and the woman who's considering it doesn't realize that those people have implants. While a few women are looking for a large, noticeable change, many women want a very subtle, natural-appearing change, so I want to help them understand what their options are and figure out what decisions are available to them, what size implants would be available to them. I spend a lot of time trying to help figure out what it is that she wants and then, hopefully, get that for her.

So, in general, one of my goals might be for a woman, if she's had a breast augmentation, six months later she's at the pool and two people see her who don't know her, and person number one says, "Do you think she's had work done?" and person two would say, "I don't know. Maybe, maybe not, but who cares? She looks good." The goal is to look good; it's not to look over-done or plastic.

One of the things that people are concerned about is their recovery. I have to tell you, most of my patients don't hurt very much. Of course, some people hurt more than others, but most people have a pretty quick return to work. They're sore for about a day or so and after that it's usually not too bad. On general principles, we usually ask people to take it easy for two weeks; but, during that time, they're able to go to dinner, and go to movies, and hang out, and work, and do whatever they do as long as they're not being too aggressive with their physical activities.