Breast Implant Surfaces (Textured/Smooth)

4. Breast Implant Surface

Textured Surface Breast Implants
Smooth Surface Breast Implants

You've picked out a round or anatomical implant. What surface should the breast implant have? You can choose a smooth surface breast implant or a textured surface breast implant for your breast augmentation.

Textured Implants

Why do some breast implants have textured surfaces? All types of solutions have been attempted for decades to prevent scar tissue from becoming unacceptably hard around the breast implant. Although the body causes scar tissue to form around any foreign object in the body, the condition is known as capsular contracture when it becomes painful or unacceptably firm. Textured surface breast implants are an attempt to solve this problem.

Detour: Read more about capsular contracture . . .

Scar tissue typically forms around a foreign object in a uniform manner, which allows the scar tissue to tighten and cause contracture. By adding a textured surface, manufacturers hope to prevent scar tissue fibers from laying down uniformly. According to a number of studies, a textured surface is not likely to reduce the risk of capsular contracture but other studies do find a reduction in contracture. Ask YOUR doctor what his or her experience has been and what is best for you.

Unfortunately, the same characteristics of a textured surface that may cause the scar tissue to form erratically around the textured implant (an intended benefit) may also cause the implant to appear rippled in appearance. Furthermore, textured implants often have thicker shells and may be firmer in appearance and palpability.

Whether or not the texture helps or hurts with contracture and rippling issues, anatomical implants basically require a textured surface in order serve a secondary purpose of keeping the implant from flipping over. So, if you chose "anatomical" when choosing your shape of implants, chances are you picked a textured implant by default.

Smooth Breast Implants

Most breast implants have a smooth surface. Since there is little consensus on whether textured implants will actually reduce the rate of contracture significantly enough to warrant other potential disadvantages discussed above, many doctors prefer to use smooth, round breast implants. Most often, breast implants are placed under the muscle in order to potentially reduce the incidence of capsular contracture.