Should My Breast Implants Be Over or Under the Muscle?
Published February 16, 2023
Getting breast implants is not a decision you must make overnight. A lot of deliberation and thought should go into it. After all, these kinds of procedures are quite literally life-changing.
However, the procedure doesn’t involve only a single decision; there are more.
You must decide on your breast implants’ size, shape, material, and even projection. But one thing that may come as a shock to hear is that you also need to decide on its placement.
A Brief Overview of Breast Implant Placements
Before the procedure, you must choose where the specialist will insert the artificial device or implant. There are two possible options: submuscular or subglandular.
You may also know them as over-the-muscle and under-the-muscle placements.
Each placement involves two main body parts: the breast tissue and the pectoral muscle.
For your reference, the pectoral muscle, also known as pectoralis major, is the largest muscle in a person’s upper chest. The implant would obviously be underneath the breast tissue regardless of the placement. But the difference lies in how it is positioned relative to the pectoral muscle.
Submuscular (under-the-muscle) placement is when the implant is underneath the pectoral muscle, while subglandular (over-the-muscle) placement is when it’s on top of the muscle.
Though the idea is simple, the placement can have a significant impact on the procedure.
Breast Implant Placement: Over vs. Under the Muscle
The placement of your breast implants can have both short- and long-term effects on your breasts after the procedure. That’s why it matters a lot which of the two placements you choose.
That said, let’s look at the pros and cons of each option, starting with over-the-muscle.
Under-the-Muscle Placement
Pros:
- Your implants may feel more natural and less noticeable
- There’s a lower chance of capsular contracture
- Imaging with mammograms will be easier
Cons:
- The surgery may take longer
- You may feel more pain during the surgery
- Your recovery will be slower
- Future breast augmentation procedures would be more difficult
Over-the-Muscle Placement
Pros:
- The surgery may take a shorter
- You may feel less pain during the surgery
- Your recovery will be faster
- Future breast augmentation procedures would be easier
Cons:
- The implants may feel less natural
- The implants would be more noticeable
- There’s a higher chance for capsular contracture
- Imaging with mammograms will be harder
Summary
In summary, if the breast implants are under the muscle, they would usually look better and more natural, which makes sense since the implants are deep underneath your breast.
This placement also minimizes the likelihood of complications like capsular contracture, and it doesn’t make mammograms less effective. But it has a couple of drawbacks.
For one, since the implants must be placed underneath the muscles, it’ll take more time to complete the surgery. It would also require surgery to be done on the pectoral muscles, resulting in a more painful procedure and slower recovery. But those are only short-term effects.
The only long-term effect of this placement is the fact that future breast augmentation procedures would be more difficult. Those are the pros and cons of under-the-muscle implants.
The pros and cons of over-the-muscle implants are exactly the opposite.
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About The Author
Lenard Arceo is a professional blogger who is deeply passionate about health and beauty trends. Over the years, he has written articles on a myriad of topics that have helped millions of people.
