Auto-augmentation: using your own tissue instead of an implant

Imagine wanting a breast augmentation, and being able to achieve the same result without an implant under your breast. Is it possible? In some cases, the answer is yes!

Breast augmentation typically uses an implant to enhance and augment the breast.  These implants are filled with either silicone gel or saline, and their purpose is to simulate breast tissue—both the feel and the appearance of breast tissue.

At the Kryger Institute, we offer several exciting techniques of breast enhancement using your own tissue to augment the existing breast, hence the name auto-augmentation. How does it work? A Thousand Oaks breast lift is done, making the breast perkier, rounder and more youthful. Instead of discarding the excess skin and tissue from the lower part of the breast, this tissue is tucked deep under the breast serving as an “implant.” This “implant” is the most natural substitute for breast tissue available because it is your own tissue.

This technique can only be performed if you have the right anatomy. Particularly, you must have sufficiently large breasts (e.g. C cup or larger) that are also very saggy and droopy. In essence, this is the perfect operation for the woman who wants a breast reduction, followed by a Thousand Oaks breast augmentation.  As opposed to the traditional breast reduction, the scars are much shorter, the breast is much rounder and fuller in the upper chest, and the overall appearance and feel of the breast are superb.

What if your breasts aren’t large enough for this type of auto-augmentation, but you don’t want an implant? Another new and exciting option is breast augmentation with Thousand Oaks fat grafting. Fat is liposuctioned from the abdomen, hips, or thighs, carefully processed in the operating room, and then meticulously reinjected into your breasts. Obviously, you have to have sufficient excess fat to “donate” to your breasts, and no, another person cannot donate their fat for you (unless they are your genetically identical twin). In general, fat grafting to the breasts will result in only a modest increase in the size of the breasts, and it may require more than a single round of injections, since only about half the grafted fat survives.

In summary, these are just a couple of the latest techniques in breast surgery that are offered by Dr. Kryger, one of a handful of Thousand Oaks Plastic Surgeons in the country who is experienced with these techniques.