The most useful question in an augmentation consultation is not ‘what will this look like at three months?’ but ‘what will this look like at fifteen years, after a pregnancy, a few kilos either way and the ordinary pull of gravity?’. Implants chosen for the second question tend to satisfy for decades. Implants chosen from a photograph often do not.
Dr. Valente’s approach to breast surgery in Dubai starts from that longer view. Here is what it means in practice.
What ‘Natural’ Actually Means
Natural is not a size; it is a relationship. A result reads as natural when the breast is in proportion to shoulder width, chest wall and hips; when the implant’s base diameter fits the breast’s own footprint rather than spilling beyond it; and when the upper pole has a gentle slope rather than a pushed-up shelf. Tissue-based sizing — measuring your breast’s width, skin stretch and existing volume, then choosing an implant your tissue can carry — is what produces this. Choosing by cup-size ambition alone is how unnatural results happen.
How Implants and Breasts Change Over Time
A breast with an implant is still living tissue, and it still ages. Skin and ligaments stretch gradually under the implant’s weight — the heavier the implant, the faster. Weight changes and pregnancy alter the natural tissue over the implant. Gravity does its slow work on any breast. And the implant itself is a manufactured device: it is not designed to last a lifetime. Modern implants have no fixed expiry date, but they need periodic review — and most patients should expect at least one further breast operation at some point, whether exchange, lift or removal. Routine checks, and imaging when advised, are part of owning implants responsibly.
Choose a Size for Your Future, Not the Photo
The largest implant that technically fits today is rarely the one you will be glad of at fifty. Larger, heavier implants stretch tissue faster, descend sooner, interfere more with sport and are more likely to need corrective surgery later. It is no accident that a visible share of today’s explant and downsizing patients chose maximum volume years ago — something we discuss in the shift to natural results. Dr. Valente will tell you plainly when a requested size is more than your tissue can carry well; hearing that at consultation costs less, in every sense, than learning it at revision.
Round vs Anatomical, Honestly
Implant marketing gives shape more importance than your tissue does. In a soft breast with reasonable coverage, a round implant of appropriate profile takes on a natural teardrop appearance when you stand, because gravity distributes the gel. Anatomical (teardrop) implants can help in specific anatomies — very tight lower poles, thin coverage, some reconstructive cases — but they carry a small risk of rotation. The honest summary: in most cosmetic cases the difference is smaller than the brochures suggest, and profile and base width matter more than the round-versus-teardrop label.
Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
Augmentation with standard techniques does not usually prevent breastfeeding, though no surgeon can guarantee normal lactation for any individual — some women have difficulty breastfeeding with or without implants. Placement matters: incisions around the areola carry a somewhat higher theoretical risk to the ducts than an incision in the breast fold. If pregnancy is on your horizon, say so at consultation: it may change the recommended size, the implant plane or, occasionally, the advice on timing — because pregnancy itself will change the result, and some patients do better to wait.
If you are considering augmentation, a consultation with Dr. Augusto Valente offers an honest, measurement-based assessment of what your tissue can carry well — now and in fifteen years — with a written, itemised quote and no pressure to book on the day. The full guide to how implant size is chosen explains what that measurement session covers.
Written by Dr. Augusto Valente Plastic surgeon in Dubai
