If you're dissatisfied with the size or shape of your breasts, breast augmentation surgery can help. Breast augmentation is a very common medical procedure that can use either breast implants or fat grafting to increase breast size. Breast implants have been used for decades, whereas fat grafting is a newer procedure. Both give natural results and are quite safe. What's the difference between the two? Read on to learn more about breast augmentation surgery and how to determine if breast implants or fat grafting is the best choice for you.

Breast Implants

Breast implants are the traditional technique used for breast augmentation. A cosmetic surgeon makes a small incision in the armpit or beneath the breast in order to insert an implant into your breast. You can choose to use either saline implants or ones that are filled with silicone gel. Silicone implants are more expensive, but they feel softer to the touch than saline ones do.

One of the biggest advantages of choosing implants for breast augmentation is that the surgery is so common. It's very well-researched, and cosmetic surgeons routinely perform the procedure. It's easy to find a qualified surgeon that has examples of previous patients who have had a breast augmentation surgery using implants.

Rarely, however, breast implants can leak or rupture. When this happens, you'll need to have them removed and replaced. Scar tissue can also form around the implants and cause capsular contracture. The scar tissue compresses the implant and forms it into a very hard sphere, which causes an unnatural appearance. If this happens, you'll need to have the scar tissue surgically removed.

Fat Grafting

Fat grafting is a breast augmentation surgery that's performed in two steps. In the first step, a regular liposuction is performed on your body in order to collect some of your natural body fat. After that, it's placed into a medical device that liquefies it. Once your fat has been turned into a liquid form, it's injected into the breasts in order to make them larger.

The primary upside of fat grafting is the additional liposuction procedure that's involved. It can be used to spot reduce fat anywhere on your body, which gives it an added benefit that breast implants don't have. In addition, fat grafting uses your own natural body fat instead of saline or silicone implants. As a result, the recovery time after fat grafting is shorter and there are zero visible breast scars — no incisions are necessary.

Unfortunately, fat grafting costs much more than breast implant surgery since you need to have a liposuction performed as part of the procedure. Additionally, you can't obtain a substantial amount of size improvement with fat grafting. Only small amounts of fat are collected. You can expect a size improvement of one or two cup sizes with fat grafting, whereas breast implants can provide an increase of three sizes.

How do you determine which one is best for you? If you're willing to pay the increased price and want liposuction performed for body sculpting, then fat grafting is an excellent choice. Otherwise, breast implants are often a better way to go. If you're interested in breast augmentations, schedule a consultation with a cosmetic surgeon in your area — you'll be able to see past results and get a feel for whether a fat graft or breast implants will be the right choice for you.