The Inframammary Incision for Breast Augmentation

The infra-mammary incision

Located in the fold beneath the breast, the inframammary incision is the most widely used incision in augmentation and is the standard against which all other incision locations must be judged. The reasons?

It gives the surgeon excellent access for breast augmentation in a wide range of breast types, offers better control of the operation in many instances, places the incision closest to the pocket compared to any other incision, requires the surgeon to go through less normal tissue compared to any other incision, has no critical adjacent structures (nerves or blood vessels), and is a "gold standard" that most surgeons learned during their residency training. More women have had (and continue to have) augmentation through an inframammary incision compared to all other incision locations combined.

The greatest advantage of an incision beneath the breast is the degree of control it allows the surgeon in a wide range of breast types and the fact that it minimizes damage to normal tissues and potential damage to adjacent critical structures.

More augmentation patients have had this incision location than all other incision locations combined.

The only trade-off of an inframammary incision is the presence of a scar in the fold beneath the breast.

The trade-off of the inframammary incision is the scar beneath the breast. Properly placed in a patient with normal healing, after the scar matures, the scar is less noticeable than the imprint of your bra on your skin when you remove your bra. A very small percentage of patients form less than optimal scars (more about that later). If you have formed very heavy scars on your chest area in the past (that did not improve with time), you may want to consider another incision location. No test can predict the quality of scar you will form. But for the vast majority of patients (well over 90 percent) , the inframammary scar location is an excellent choice.

So why would patients consider other incisions? In our experience, two main reasons:

1. If a patient has a "head trip" or preconceived negative ideas or concepts about an inframammary scar without understanding the trade-offs of other scar locations, or

2. If a patient has a personal friend or acquaintance who has had another incision approach and is happy with it. It’s human nature to think that if your friend is happy with a certain incision approach, you should choose that approach. In fact, that’s not true at all once you’re really informed.