Breast Augmentation After 40

With child-bearing completed and menopause around the corner many women older than 40 are opting to have breast augmentation surgery.  Dr. Boris Ackerman is reporting that many of his breast augmentation patients are women past the age of 40.  Dr. Ackerman says, “many of my 40 plus year old patients simply want their bodies back, many of these women are done with having children, work out hard and eat right but simply can’t achieve their goal without having surgery.  The bottom line is that having children and breast feeding will take their toll on the breasts.  Most of the mothers past 40 say their breasts simply look deflated”.

Many women past the age of 40, that are interested in breast augmentation,  also have a breast lift performed.  Aging causes female breasts to lose volume and the breast begins to sag.  Dr. Ackerman says “the most common term we hear is I just want to have my breasts look perky again”.  For many  women this condition causes a bit of insecurity and for many it makes them feel older than they really are.

Dr. Ackerman also reports that many of his patients say they always wanted breast augmentation done but wanted to wait till after having children.  It is perfectly safe to have breast augmentation prior to children, many women opt to wait.  Most women can breast feed after having implants but for some it does cause problems with nursing, so many do wait because of this potential issue.

Will Breast Implants Interfere with Mamograms?

This is by far the most common question Dr. Ackerman receives from his 40 plus year old breast augmentation patient.  Dr. Ackerman recommends putting the breast implants under the muscle, which puts them in a separate space from the breast gland.

Another common concern is whether or not the implant will rupture during a mammogram.  Dr.Ackerman says, “breast implants should not rupture or become displaced with a mammogram even though they are squeezed and contorted during the mammogram procedure”.  He goes on to say “if your implants are more than 10 years old, you should have them replaced as they do have a shelf life of about 10 years”.  As the breast implant gets older, the outer shell loses strength and can leak.  When the outer shell loses its integrity it can break.

Dr. Ackerman recommends all women that are having regular mammograms done should have their implants replaced if they are older than 10 years old.