Stretch marks are a significant source of anxiety for patients who are contemplating cosmetic breast surgery. These patients are hopeful that surgery will improve their stretch marks, but are fearful that surgery will actually make them look worse.
When breast lifts and breast reductions are performed, skin is actually removed. When this skin contains stretch marks dramatic improvement isn’t unusual. Unfortunately, breast augmentation alone doesn’t remove skin or stretch marks.
For the most part, breast augmentation has no significant impact on stretch marks. Occasionally skin stretching, caused by the underlying breast implant can make stretch marks less apparent, but this response is highly variable. In some cases, stretch marks can develop a reddish discoloration following this procedure and can actually become more noticeable.
Furthermore, there is no widely accepted treatment that actually removes them. This is a problem that patients have to live with until new technology is developed.
It’s unusual for patients who don’t have stretch marks to develop them following breast augmentation. This is especially true if the implants are placed beneath the muscle.
Consultation with a board certified plastic surgeon might be helpful. This surgeon after performing a physical examination might be able to further define your risk benefit ratio for these procedures.